Taking ownership of plastic problem

The Nausori Town Council and Pacific Energy organised a “Beat Plastic Pollution” clean-up campaign at the weekend. The council’s chief executive officer Akhtar Ali said the campaign was a celebration of environmental clean-up.

On the international scene, the Daily Mail published a report on Sunday about the world’s largest ocean clean-up now in progress in the Pacific Ocean. The target is to collect up to 68,000kg of trash in its first year. Eventually The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organisation, is looking to tackle the Great Pacific garbage patch.

The reality is that this patch did not just pop up out of nowhere. It has grown because of humans. It is because of our inconsiderate action, and obviously our lack of concern for the environment.

Campaigns such as the one organised in Nausori are critical for the protection of the environment. There must be some sense of appreciation of our environment whipped into some of us. Otherwise we may just welcome a period in the future where plastic garbage has become a prominent feature of our once beautiful environment. The campaign starts with us as individuals, taking responsibility for our actions.

We shouldn’t be waiting for such campaigns to start anyway. We should be developing a habit that embraces being proactive and vigilant about our plastic waste.