Tackling Plastic

Plastic pollution has a major impact on waterways such as Princess Vlei, harming local animals and creating an unsightly environment for those who go there to find beauty and peace. 
    But it has also become a major global threat, choking our oceans and waterways, killing thousands of sea birds and other animals each year, and multiplying other threats such as as climate change - the production produces greenhouse gases, it weakens ecosystems resilience, and contributes to flooding in cities due to clogged stormwater drains.  . It is now found everywhere, including in our blood, our brains, and breast milk.

Greenpeace installation illustration the impact of plastic on sealife

     Plastic packaging and bottling has hugely enriched companies like Coca Cola, which take no responsibility for the waste they cause. Much is made of recycling as a solution, but only 9% is recycled, much of it can only be recycled once or not at all.
     It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but every action helps in tackling this life threatening issue. In May, the Princess Vlei Forum hosted a Tackling Plastic Workshop to explore how this issue can be taken up in local communities and schools. The workshop was attended by 15 participants, including 4 facilitators from the Princess Vlei Forum. Others were teachers and learners from Harmony Primary,  and Crestway High School, students from CPUT, and a members of the Ingcungcu Sunbird restoration Project.  
    The workshop aimed to give participants concrete ideas for tackling plastic in their commmunities.
     The workshop started with a presentation by Kamva Nose, which explained what plastic and microplastic pollution is, how it shows up in our bodies and in the environment, and how it impacts our personal health and our ecosystems. He also looked at the 5 R’s - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and repurpose. While recycling, reusing and repurposing have an important role to play, it is clear that our priority is to put reduce and refuse plastic, through consumer choices, and putting pressure on policy makers to make polluters pay, on  and own industries to find alternatives. 
   

The presentation was followed by a group discussion. It  became clear that plastic has become entrenched in our lives, and there are many obstacles to limiting its use. It was stressed that while behaviour and attitude change of communities is vital, it needs to be accompanied by actions to push for policy change, and change in the practice of retailers. A well informed community can help to drive this. 
      After the first group discussion, Denisha Anand did a presentation on examples of campaigns to raise awareness or push back against production. She gave an overview of strategies to tackle plastic waste, and gave examples of community specific campaigns such as the campaign to replace small sachets sold in poor communities in Asia with refilling containers supplied by the consumer. 

The participants then worked in groups to come up with ideas for campaigns in their own communities. Three campaigns were proposed:

• A poster campaign at tertiary institutions highlight the health risks of micro plastic pollution
  
• A creative ‘Monday to Friday’ campaign to motivate school learners to collect litter and recycle where possible
• A campaign to support informal recyclers and litter pickers, and incentivise the collection of plastic that is not recyclable and therefore does not bring in an income. 
  

The workshop has already had an impact, with participants raising awareness and sharing their knowledge. We hope this continues, and look forward to hearing what creative ways they are finding to tackle plastic in their communities