As Plastic Free July begins, environmental activists in Durban are warning that growing levels of plastic pollution are choking local coastlines, damaging marine ecosystems and entering the human food chain.
Local non-profit organisation, the Clean Surf Project, is currently conducting two clean-up operations near the shoreline. The organisation says the volume of litter washing into the ocean from inland areas is overwhelming.
The group is calling for sustained action to reduce plastic waste beyond the month-long awareness campaign.
Clean Surf Project spokesperson Romy Wenzel says public awareness and action should continue throughout the year.
Wenzel says, “Obviously, for us, it’s very important, but it should not just be a month’s awareness. It should be like a daily, all-year-round awareness, as obviously plastic has taken over our lives. From a cleanup project point of view, we obviously see the impact it has on marine life, on the ocean, on our coastline. So, creating awareness should actually be a daily matter.”
“As we speak, we are busy involved in two cleanups that are happening not on the beach, but they are close to the beach, and the amount of litter that we are seeing, it is actually overwhelming and shocking.”
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