eBucks, the reward of choice, in partnership with First National Bank (FNB) and Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) planted the first half of the more than 2500 indigenous trees and shrubs from the eBucks Big Green Maze in Cosmo City on 12 April 2008.

Visited by nearly 10 000 people, the eBucks Big Green Maze was constructed to celebrate the allocation of R1 billion worth of eBucks by the programme's partners to its members. The greatest share of these rewards was allocated by FNB, eBucks' biggest partner.

Lezanne Human, CEO of eBucks, said the Cosmo City planting day forms part of the final step in transforming the eBucks Big Green Maze into a sustainable entity. "The maze was conceptualised in line with our sustainable business philosophy which guides our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment and neutralize our carbon footprint through planting projects with with Food and Trees for Africa."    

"Apart from the obvious benefits to the community in creating a greener living environment, the planting of the trees and shrubs will also go a long way towards offsetting our carbon footprint," said Human

"FNB Housing Finance has a credit linked housing development for the targeted market within Cosmo City which, when completed, will house approximately 1014 families. We are thrilled that eBucks has chosen to donate plants to our homeowners as we actively support the "greening" of Cosmo City," added Marius Marais, CEO of FNB Housing Finance.

All elements used in the construction of the maze have been recycled. This includes the two viewing decks and benches which have been donated to the two schools in Cosmo City and installed during the last week. To further enhance the learning environment, the eighteen 800 litre trees were also planted at the two schools in time to surprise learners returning from school holidays on 14 April. 

Half of the 2500 plants were donated to the approximately 600 homeowners within FNB's affordable housing project in Cosmo City, as part of Food and Trees for Africa's 'Trees for Homes' programme. The remainder of the trees and shrubs will be donated to homeowners in the governments' RDP housing project in that community.

"As a new urban development with so many new houses there is a great need for urban greening in Cosmo City. The more than 2 500 trees and shrubs donated by eBucks will go a long way towards a more sustainable settlement and enhanced environment for Cosmo City residents," said Jeunesse Park, Founder of Food and Trees for Africa. 

More than 20 different indigenous trees and shrubs were used to construct the eBucks Big Green Maze. They were all carefully selected to ensure that they would be suitable for the Cosmo City environment into which they would be planted.

Human emphasized that 'greening' is very close to hearts of eBucks employees, a group of which volunteered to assist with the planting on the weekend, and forms a core part of the programme's corporate social responsibility commitment.

About eBucks:

eBucks, the rewards programme offered by First National Bank (FNB) and RMB Private Bank, is acknowledged as one of South Africa's leading rewards programmes with highly active members spending in excess of 80% of the eBucks earned in any given month.