This past weekend I spent some time with my grandson on Kommetjie beach, in Cape Town. It was a really unpleasant experience. There was no place to sit with him that was not covered in litter.
Later, I took a few big bags and started to collect some of the rubbish. In the 20 minutes before declaring defeat, I had filled three bags, but it had hardly made any difference.
Most of the litter was bottle caps, straws, plastic earbuds, cigarette lighters and plastic bags – all of which have a devastating impact on sea life. Sea birds and penguins eat the plastic bottle tops and cigarette lighters and then die from starvation. Sea turtles inhale the earbuds and plastic straws and suffocate to death. Whales die from the plastic bags they accidentally eat. If you don’t believe me, just Google it … but be warned it is really disturbing to watch.
Eight million tonnes of plastic waste is deposited into our oceans every year. It is estimated that at this current rate, there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish by 2050.
Litter has tripled since 1994
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, 94% of litter washing up on South African beaches is made of plastic, of which 77% is packaging. The amount of litter washing up daily around Cape Town has tripled from 1994 to 2011, far outstripping the 60% growth in the city’s human population over the same period.
It is important that all of us try to reduce our plastic footprint. Of course, many argue that individual behaviour can’t make an impact, but every one of us can make a difference, and supermarkets and drink companies will change if enough of us protest and complain about the unnecessary use of plastic.
However, to make a real difference we urgently need regulations by the government. It was Valli Moosa, who years ago took the courageous step of introducing a levy on plastic shopping bags. At the time consumers and the industry shouted blue murder. Yet, we all adjusted – to the point where we don’t even notice the 60-odd cents we pay for a plastic bag any more. So, it is clearly time for more stringent regulations – not to punish people or the industry, but because it is the right and necessary thing to do.
South Africa was a trailblazer with the plastic bag levy, but since then we have fallen behind in terms of anti-plastic legislation. Thirty-four out of 54 countries in Africa have passed legislation banning certain types of plastic. We have none.
If we don’t do anything our oceans will die and in addition to the tragedy of losing marine life the economic benefit from fishery and tourism will be destroyed.
Microplastics
Shockingly, microplastics are also finding its way into our water supply and into our bodies, which could have devastating long-term health implications for us all. Researchers have even found microplastics in breast milk, foetuses and sperm.
Of course, the plastic industry will put up a massive fight, but the government should not let that deter it. Two years ago, I accompanied some parliamentarians to Kenya, to look at the huge success they have had in banning plastic bags and other single-use plastics. It struck us that so many of the companies in Kenya that had accepted the ban were South African. If they can do it there, they can also do it here.
The Kenyans and many other countries such as Rwanda, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan and Macedonia have also proven that there were no significant job losses since introducing these bans, but that many new jobs were created.
Humans are adjustable and inventive. We don’t need these single-use plastics, we can find other alternatives. The whales and other marine animals have no option when it comes to their environment, nor can they adjust their lifestyles to accommodate the mountains of plastic they have to swim in.
If we want our grandchildren to still be able to go to a beach and play in the sand or look at whales and penguins outside of museums, we must urgently take drastic action. DM