Durban - The South African Association for Marine Biological Research (Saambr) and the Moore Durban team joined forces to collect plastic from uShaka Beach in celebration of Earth Day on Friday.
Earth Day is celebrated annually worldwide in support of environmental health.
Saambr’s Ann Kunz said: “Although much has been done to remove the litter that landed on the Durban beaches over the past 10 days, there is still much to be done. New litter is seen along the shoreline with the incoming tide every morning and afternoon.”
She said in keeping with their "each one take one" theme they were encouraging visitors to the beach to take a bag with them and remove one bag of litter.
“Today (Friday) we were joined by a number of beachgoers who proudly filled their bags with litter alongside us,” Kunz said.
“Working together, little by little, over the next couple of months, we will restore our beautiful coast.”
Point resident Ntumelena Mgcinwa said: “I knew that it was Earth Day today and therefore I was so happy to be able to join the SAAMBR and Moore Durban team today. I know how important it is for everyone to do what they can to help remove the litter from the beaches.”
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said that about 44 050 bags of litter were collected in four days during beach clean-ups held across the coastline after recent heavy rains and flooding.
“About 12 450 bags of litter were collected during the four-day period along the City’s northern beaches including Umhlanga Main, uMdloti, and Westbrook,” Mayisela said.
“The bags were disposed of at the Springfield dump site. There is also a skip at Jet Ski by Laguna Beach.”
April 15:
- 8 800 bags were collected from the Pipeline and Toti beaches. Around 2 700 bags were collected south of Toti beach.
- 230 bags were collected at the Bluff beaches and 1 100 bags collected along the beachfront.
April 16:
- 5 100 bags were collected along the Pipeline and Toti beaches while 4 100 bags were collected south of Toti Beach.
- 280 bags were collected at Bluff beaches while 500 bags of rubbish were collected along the beachfront.
April 17:
- 4 000 bags were collected along the Pipeline and Toti beaches while 1 600 bags of rubbish were collected south of Toti Beach.
- 190 bags were collected at Bluff beaches while 1 200 bags were collected from the beachfront.
April 18:
- 300 bags of litter were collected at Bluff beaches while 1 500 bags collected from the beachfront.
Daily News