CELEBRATING COASTAL CLEAN-UP AND NATIONAL RECYCLING DAY

 As part of its focus on sustainability, the Woolworths Education Programme collaborates with Plastics SA to give learners a hands-on experience of being part of a global movement to care for the environment and take action to protect our beaches and oceans. This year marked the 12th year that we along with our partners have involved South African schools in the commemoration of this important international day that raises global awareness of the impact of human pollution on our oceans and waterways.

This year the learners were tasked with using the Beach Co-op’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ methodology to capture data while cleaning the beach. The Dirty Dozen (DD) methodology was designed by Prof. Peter Ryan (Director of the Fitzpatrick Institute of Ornithology at the University of Cape Town) that identifies and tracks the top 12 plastic culprits found on our SA beache

This activity did not just raise awareness on the worst polluters but all the data collected from the Woolworths Educational Programme’s clean-ups in Durban and Port Elizabeth has been analysed by the Beach Co-op to give an excellent understanding of beach and marine litter at a national level.

Plastic remains the most serious pollutant of the seas, killing more than a million birds and over 100 000 seals, turtles and whales, as well as an immense number of fish annually.  According to the Beach Co-op, the top twelve items picked up at coastal clean-ups fondly known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ are plastic bottle caps and bottles, plastic straws and sticks, chip packets and sweet wrappers, plastic bags, cigarette lighters, fishing line and light sticks.

• The Beach Co-op was tasked to co-ordinate the findings from three sites - Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban – by analysing and comparing the Dirty Dozen results for each site.
• Each site had an average of 500 learners attend and 100 educators, a total of 600 per site.
• The Cape Town group were unable to clean the beach at Millerton due to beach degradation and warning signs alerting the public to avoid the beach.
• The Port Elizabeth and Durban sites participated and their results will be shared in this report.

1. Cooldrink bottles 537
2. Water bottles 327
3. Cooldrink lids 1762
4. Carrier bags 377
5. Chip packets 1296
6. Individual sweet wrappers 508
7. Straws 1547
8. Earbuds 503
9. Lollypop sticks 343
10. Cigarette lighters 95
11. Fishing line 66
12. Lighsticks 105

• Data from local beaches show that litter volumes are increasing three times faster than the human population (Peter Ryan unpublished research). It is therefore crucial to focus our clean-up efforts in the major cities of South Africa.
• The intent with our clean ups is to create a movement amongst the school population to have greater awareness for the environments, think about how much they consume, and how they can reduce what they consume.
• Reducing plastic waste before mismanagement occurs may aid in the reduction of some diseases and help prevent flooding, particularly in urban areas.
• Single use plastic remains a major issue and steps need to be taken to curb the production, distribution, and usage e of these items.

• We would like to continue working with Schools to establish a long-term programme – meeting them at least once a quarter.
• Education and awareness drive in schools, through various other components, on the recycling and waste reduction methods.
• Encourage learners/community at large to organise local clean-ups at their schools or in their communities, as most litter found on beaches is land based – from rivers or storm water.