Plastic in paradise
On a recent visit to Fiji I marvelled at the crystal-clear water while snorkelling, and the beautiful beaches. So it was a bit of a shock when I ventured further around one bay after high tide. It started with one washed-up plastic bottle. Being a tidy Kiwi I picked it up, and then the volume increased until I could no longer carry all the bottles in my arms. I had two sarongs in my daypack that I fashioned into carry sacks and piled the plastic debris into these, and over the next hour I lugged four loads collected from a 400-metre strip of beach up onto higher ground and then called the resort reception for help. My haul included multiple deodorant spray cans, toothbrushes, asthma inhalers and even a wheel from a pram.
It turns out, like in many other parts of the world, waste management is one of the major environmental issues in Fiji with many areas having limited methods of waste disposal. According to Six Senses Fiji, which has a waste management programme and also involves guests with beach and reef clean-ups, this results in trash being dumped in the ocean or on beaches where a high tide will swallow the rubbish back into the sea. And then back up onto another beach.
Vomo Island employs nine people full-time to pick up plastic and other debris washed up on its six-kilometre coastline.
Here in New Zealand, plastic waste washes up on our beaches, too. Globally, nowhere is immune to this trash epidemic. You can read about how the Sustainable Business Network’s (SBN) three-year GulfX programme is working to clean up the Hauraki Gulf, and its Million Metres waterway restoration plan (pages 28-31).
Much of the rubbish that ends up in our oceans is blown off the land and out of open rubbish bins by the wind, or washed down stormwater drains. And, while great things are starting to happen in the packaging arena with many companies transitioning to plastic-free packaging (see our plastic-free shopper guide on pages 34-35), we need to try harder as individuals to make a collective difference, too.
One thing I learned from SBN founder and CEO Rachel Brown is that having copper-free brakes in the car we drive is more environmentally friendly. It turns out copper brakes shed heavy metals, which also wash into our waterways, so next time you need your brakes serviced, choose low or no copper brake pads.