The environmental organisation, KZN Beach Clean-Up, has hailed their recent operation at Blue Lagoon as a resounding success with over 150 volunteers collectively filling up 120 bags of waste, accumulating to a whopping 370kg.
According to the clean-up organiser, Presha Soogrim, there were many enthusiastic teenagers and families who joined the initiative and showed immense determination to remove as much litter off the beach as possible. “Seeing the scale of plastic pollution on our beaches is sometimes disheartening, but when there are so many people coming together to do their part, it inspires us all,” said Soogrim. One of the highlights of the day, according to Soogrim, was seeing families with children as young as four or five with admirable dedication to keep their oceans clean. Their exclamations of “we are doing this to save the turtles” never fails to warm her heart.
“One of our biggest goals is to help volunteers make the connection between litter on the beach and our everyday behaviours. We are always encouraged when we receive feedback from volunteers who tell us about how they have made steps to reduce the amount of single-use plastic that they use daily. “Plastic pollution is devastating to the marine ecosystems, wildlife and human well-being. It can entangle or be ingested by many marine species such as sea turtles and dolphins and people can ingest tiny micro and nano plastics as well. Our oceans face a huge range of threats from climate change to overfishing, plastic pollution only exacerbates the impacts of those threats and is something we can all take action on.”
Soogrim said that the gradual decline of the Durban coast is a heart-breaking tragedy. She added that litter isn’t the only issue that Durbanites are facing and that the declining water quality due to other contaminants are a grave cause for concern. She said: “Spending time in nature is critical for one’s mental and physical well-being and for the majority of Durbanites, the beach is a place that heals us so seeing our beloved beaches in this state is a tragedy. As a community organisation, we would love to see all citizens in Durban play their part and exercise their rights to demand a cleaner and healthier ocean for all.”
KZN Beach Clean-Up is an entirely volunteer-run and led community initiative with the aim of mobilising society to take action on the issue of marine plastic pollution through clean-ups. They have celebrated 10 years of clean-ups in 2021 with initiatives held once a month on Saturdays. The next clean-up is scheduled for 19 March at Country Club Beach and all individuals interested can support their work by following their various social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook. The public can contact Soogrim directly on kznbeachcleanup@gmail.com.
