Whopping lighter find sparks concerns
"There is no way to recycle these lighters," said Durban North resident, Kay Harrison.
KAY Harrison’s burning passion for the environment led her to collect a whopping 2089 plastic lighters over three months while walking her dog, Maddy along Virginia Beach.
“Maddy is the reason I come down to the beach to walk. It’s about a 5km walk from Virginia Beach to the mangroves and we usually walk for about an hour two- three times a week,” said the Durban North resident.
While there is plenty of plastic waste to collect, Harrison started picking up lighters after reading about the harmful impact they have on wildlife and because they are easy to spot with their bright colours.
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“There is no way to recycle these lighters. I have done a lot of research. They contain metal, plastic and gas. There is nothing to do but send them to the landfill, but at least this way, birds and other wildlife aren’t going to die from them,” she said.
Harrison picked up 32 lighters during a walk last week, although after a storm, that number can grow to more than 100.
“I’ve never gone out and not picked up at least five lighters,” she said.
After examining her finds, Harrison suspects they wash up from far and wide.
“You get some that have quite obviously come from other countries with Taiwanese writing on the casing. A lot of lighters come up with the tide, and they must come off of ships, although I think some are coming down the river as well,” she said.
Some of the lighters are from yesteryear, showing that they remain in the ocean, polluting the environment for decades.
“I can tell by the style and make of some that they are really old, they are not even in production anymore,” said Harrison.
While finding more than 2000 has sparked concerns, Harrison said she is wary of the alternatives as well.
“If we encouraged people to use matches, that would mean consuming more trees,” she said.
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With no way to recycle the lighters, Harrison is offering them to anyone who can use them.
“If any artist or sculptors want to use them, we will happily deliver them,” she added.
For more information, call Kay Harrison on 083 779 8917.
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