After four days of heavy rain, tons and tons of plastic are washing into the sea and onto Durban beaches… again. With cleanup efforts yet to launch, due to a city locked down by the flooding, Zag thought it necessary to once again bring up the issue of plastic and its place in society and the environment.
The industries that produce single-use plastic tend to be quite happy to shift responsibility onto us, the consumers, but to be fair recycling is altogether futile when billions are being invested in increasing the output of single-use plastics. And even though recycling has been a ‘thing’ and recently become even more trendy, the truth is that globally we lack the capacity to manage recycling efforts effectively.
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*Video supplied by Mike Frew
Plastic has been essential for economic growth across the globe for the past 50 years. It has infiltrated every area of society and industry. It has been used to create medical devices, children’s toys, agriculture, clothes and the ubiquitous packaging of products.
Plastic production is the main issue and the businesses that rely on plastic packaging have the most agency and power to address the issue by simply changing their product and packaging choices. Waste management campaigns tend to shift attention away from the core issue (plastic production) and lump the consumer with the responsibility to “clean up”.
The global economy is set to expand as a result of population growth. This will lead to a multitude of industries around the world building hundreds of new production plants to cater to a growing consumer base. As a result, an increase in plastic production (by as much as 40%) can be expected through the necessity to bottle your water, carry your groceries, brush your teeth, clean your face and much more. That is unless consumers place pressure on the producers to do away with plastic and find alternatives.
The tide is turning against plastic, but if you head down to the Umgeni River mouth this morning you’ll see that it’s not happening fast enough.
At the end of the day, plastics are part of our everyday life. What’s important is to figure out where you can limit the amount of plastic in your life. From there find others who are also interested in combating plastic. The issue can be won at the grassroots level, it’s important not to forget that.
So, next time you go for a surf or even a dip, bring along a Tuffy bag and remove some of that plastic kak you see littering the shoreline. Snap a shot, send it our way as an entry into the Tuffy Clean Your Beach campaign and stand a chance to win a fresh new custom board from M*A*T Surfboards.
