Africa Wild

'Beating Plastic Pollution' the focus of World Environment Day

South Africa
Tuesday 5 June 2018 - 8:30am



JOHANNESBURG – Tuesday marks World Environment Day, which highlights the need for positive environmental action.

The United Nations' theme this year is "Beat Plastic Pollution" and the official event is being held in India.

South Africa has raised the price of plastic to encourage recycling and beat pollution.

A study of plastic fragments found on South Africa’s beaches found most plastic pollution derives from local sources.

https://www.enca.com/world/beating-plas ... onment-day

Plastic pollution really is the scourge of the world!!

Excellent choice.I see it more and more around everywhere we go especially after it rains the amount of plastic washed up on riverbanks etc .Obviously what we see is most likely only a small percentage of what is washed out the rivers into the sea.

We did a Mediterranean cruise last year for the SO's significant birthday.
I was shocked at how much plastic was floating in the sea.

The worst are the micro pellets, that you cannot see, but are used for a lot of things

Somebody has started to clean up the famous plastic "island" in the middle of the pacific ocean.

In Switzerland they have managed to lower the consumption of plastic bags making people pay for them, even the tiny ones.

We also have to pay for them but I still see people buying them every time they shop!

Maybe not enough Here the use has dropped by 80%.

2018-06-27 22:16
Aletta Harrison

More than 30 local celebrities and influencers will pledge to give up plastic shopping bags in July, backing the Rethink the Bag campaign's latest initiative.

The Plastic-free July campaign kicked off at the Two Oceans Aquarium on Tuesday evening with big names such as Jack Parow and Roxy Louw in attendance.

"We're spreading the message for people to try and reduce the amount of single-use plastic that they use – and in this case, the shopping bag in particular," Aaniyah Omardien, founder of NPO the Beach Co-op, explained.

"It stays in the system for more than 400 years... and we only use it for 12 to 14 minutes."

According to Omardien, plastic bags are part of the so-called "dirty dozen" twelve items that are most commonly found on beach clean-ups.

Although the Rethink the Bag campaign has been running since 2011, founder Hayley McLellan likes to think of the new initiative as a relaunch.

SA uses approximately 8 billion plastic bags a year

McLellan has been campaigning against the use of plastic shopping bags since 2007, when she herself stopped using them. She says the movement has gained a lot more momentum in the last year.

"Last year was a bit of a tipping point for this conversation about single-use plastic in general worldwide and this year it's just exploded, which is so exciting," she said.

McLellan is working closely with the V&A Waterfront to go plastic shopping bag free and has scored a few high-profile victories with retailers such as Bargain Books getting on board and Spar Eastern Cape committing to phasing out plastic bags.

According to McLellan, South Africans use approximately eight billion plastic shopping bags every year – most of which end up in landfills and the remainder making their way into the ocean where they cause serious harm to marine life and break down into sinister microplastics.

"This is said to be now the greatest environmental crisis we face currently.

"Basically if we don't do something about the way we're behaving with single-use plastic... the scientists tell us that by the year 2050 there'll be more plastic in the ocean than fish, which is just incomprehensible – it's wrong on so many levels."

New habits

While phasing out single-use plastics may seem like a mammoth task, Omardien said ordinary South Africans can make a difference.

"We as citizens can do a couple of things – we can certainly put pressure on retailers to reduce their packaging; we can definitely try and reduce our own consumption and also push for more recycling to happen; and then also to participate in beach clean-ups to make a difference that way – so those are the three things that we can do right now," she said.

"Take your shopping bag wherever you go, whenever you go shopping. You have to create a new habit, it takes a little bit of forethought in the beginning, eventually it just becomes normal, natural," McLellan said.

https://www.news24.com/Green/News/local ... s-20180627

The problem is also largely that the first thing that check-out people ask you " can I give you a bag ? "
In other words , they are trained specifically to sell you a few measly plastic bags , instead of first greeting you politely , and to ask you whether you have your bags .
I take my own bags along , and it is the first item that I present before unpacking the trolley .

Me too.