September 17 marks this year's official International Coastal Clean-up event with the Green Buddies Environmental Group hosting a clean-up at the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve, on the banks of the Umgeni river.
First observed in 1986, the day is now commemorated annually on the third Saturday of September and hopes to encourage people to rid our coastlines of tons of garbage and plastic.
Awareness is also spread about preserving and protecting the world’s oceans and waterways.
According to the National Day Calendar, International Coastal Clean-up Day got its start in 1986 when Linda Maraniss met Kathy O’Hara while working for Ocean Conservancy. Maraniss had just moved to Texas from Washington DC. O’Hara had just completed a report called Plastics in the Ocean: More Than a Litter Problem. The two of them reached out to other ocean-lovers and organised a Clean-up for Ocean Conservancy.
More than 2 800 volunteers pitched up for that very first clean-up. Since then, the initiative has gained international traction with well over 100 countries currently involved.
Living in Durban, I have been involved in several beach clean-ups, some small and some big.
The most common types of litter we find on our beaches include cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic straws, plastic bottle caps, plastic beverage bottles, polystyrene and the odd tyre or two. Plastics are especially harmful as they are non-biodegradable.
This year, the Durban-based Green Buddies Environmental Club has collaborated with several organisations including Varsity College Durban North, UKZN Westville HSA, GreenPeace Africa Durban and Youth4MPA’s to ensure a successful and impactful event.
Ashlin Ellan, co-founder of Green Buddies Environmental Club, said that “International Coastal Clean-up Day encourages people to rid our oceans of the scores of litter and to raise awareness regarding the preservation and protection of our marine resources.”
Greenbuddies chairperson, Selena Govender encourages “all members of the community to come forward and lend us a helping hand. Our shorelines and the biodiversity that it holds is invaluable to the surrounding communities.”
Govender said that tomorrow will prove to be a fun-filled day “packed with activities and well-versed team leaders to educate our communities while they network, clean and learn the importance of the intrinsic Beachwood mangroves. It's always important to remember that it's our environment, our initiative."
Last year's event, organised by Ocean Conservancy, recovered a total of 62 210 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items.
The weather and UV rays make these plastics break down into tiny pieces, which then get infiltrated into the environment. The result is a negative effect on the ecosystem and our food chains.
A Consumer Report article titled “How to Eat Less Plastic”, references “a preliminary estimate by some scientists that the plastic the average person may be eating and drinking totals as much as 5 grams per week.”
Plastics break down into tinier and tinier pieces called micro-plastics and then into smaller pieces called nano-plastics. These nano-plastics are in the water we give to our farm animals.
they’re in the oceans and rivers we fish from, and they’re in the packaging we get our fruits and vegetables in. Eventually, these make it into our bodies.
Steve Cohen, founder of Durbanites Against Plastic Pollution (DAPP), said that the sight of plastic rubbish on the shores of Durban has become a familiar theme.
“The city is looking at the end of pipe solutions and they do clean-ups,” Cohen told the Berea Mail. “But the problem is that a lot of the rubbish gets lost in the sea and cannot be retrieved.”
For years Cohen has tried unsuccessfully to get the City to address his pleas.
“eThekwini Municipality continues to flout its international commitment to clean seas by refusing to undertake reasonable measures to prevent the frequent discharge of significant volumes of harmful plastic into the sea via its main coastal stormwater outfalls,” said DAPP in a statement.
According to estimates, there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. While some of these plastics were dumped directly into the sea, some of them were swept into the sea from the coastline. Ridding beaches of plastic and other garbage lessens the likelihood of it ending up in the ocean.
If you live in Durban and have an hour or two to spare tomorrow morning, grab some gloves, a sun hat, a couple of bin bags and head down to pick up some garbage at the Beachwood Mangrove Nature Reserve. Make it an event, invite friends or colleagues, and grab some coffee afterwards. One bag is not just one bag if a thousand people make an effort.
The event will begin at 9am and round up at noon, with ample parking available at the reserve.
Volunteers are requested to register before attending the event for logistics and indemnity purposes.
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