Tsunami of disposable lighters washing up on Durban beaches not OK for Kay
A huge selection of toothbrushes, shoes of all shapes and sizes and 2,285 colourful disposable lighters are some of the items a Durban woman has collected during her strolls on the beach.
Since March 4, Kay Harrison has never walked the 3km stretch of Virginia Beach without picking up at least five plastic lighters. On one occasion, she picked up 120 lighters.
“We have always picked up litter on the beach but started doing it regularly two years ago when we got a new dog. We found it very depressing because the amount of rubbish was overwhelming and we stopped enjoying the walks,” Harrison told the Sunday Times.
On World Environment Day last year, she and her husband heard about a movement called Do One Thing.
“In March this year we had a huge storm and high tide in Durban, and Virginia Beach where we walked was almost impassable with rubbish. Along the tide mark where we were walking there were a lot of lighters, and that day I picked up about 120. From that day, this became my ‘Do One Thing’ and I started counting the lighters,” Harrison said.
Each walk brought “an interesting selection of items. Recently there have been a lot of toothbrushes, shoes of all shapes and sizes, highlighters and koki pens, plastic cutlery, children’s plastic toys, and of course plastic bottles and caps by the ton are all part of the litter. Think of anything plastic and you’ll find it on the beach.
“There were also a huge number of colourful opened and unopened condoms,” Harrison said.
However, Harrison’s collection of used disposable lighters continues to rapidly grow with each tide.
“It is essential to emphasise that these lighters in the main are not coming from beachgoers. They get washed off the pavements, down into the storm water systems, into the rivers and washed up on the beaches. Some probably come from quite far inland,” she said.
“Also, there is a significant number of foreign lighters, probably from ships and fishing vessels, but many of these lighters are very old and may have been floating for years from wherever.”
Up until Monday, Harrison was at a loss over what to do with the lighters as they cannot be recycled, do not biodegrade and often end up in the bellies of sea creatures. But a creative junior scientist intern in the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board’s research and monitoring division has offered to take them off her hands.
Tsepo Mlambo told the Sunday Times that he planned to use the lighters in a sculpture of a whale, dolphin or turtle.
“Working close to the marine environment has made me realise how human negligence and mismanagement of waste have a ripple effect on the river systems that feed into our ocean and choke our rich biodiversity,” Mlambo said.
“I am hoping to raise awareness of the dangers of single-use plastics and their detrimental effect on our beautiful estuarine and coastline ecosystems, and maybe educate people on the dangers mismanaged
There were a huge number of opened and unopened condoms
waste poses to the marine animals and us the consumers.”
Mlambo has previously taken part in art projects where waste materials were used.
“We have used discarded fishing lines, wires, leather off-cuts from car-seat manufacturers and discarded wooden boards and pallets which were all discarded and left to pollute the land,” he said.