Let’s stop choking on our rubbish

The figures are startling and shameful. And they show that humankind is choking our planet’s oceans, and their inhabitants, to death.

The Consumers International global consumer movement, which is leading a campaign against plastics – and particularly the single-use types – says by 2050, there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish.

It is estimated that 100 000 marine mammals and turtles, as well as one million sea birds, are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.

More than eight million tons of plastic enters the sea every year. Single-use plastics account for 50% of the plastic produced every year and more than half of all plastics manufactured so far have been made in the past 15 years.

About 40% of plastic is discarded after being used once. But – look around you.

Consider the piles of litter all over South Africa – much of it plastic – and realise that this sort of awful pollution threatens not only marine life.

Apart from posing a physical threat to animals and humans, the plastic spoils many beauty spots in our country.

While recycling is a good start to reducing plastic levels, combatting the scourge also means we need to stop throwing our rubbish wherever we feel like.

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