Climate change and pollution is a global issue and has a significant impact on the ocean. Conserving marine and coastal ecosystems is essential. Global issues tend to bring together like-minded projects spanning across continents. One such project is the Bremen-Durban Marine Environmental Education Network also known as Ocean Champs. This project is jointly implemented by … [Read more...]
Join thousands around the world for the Great Nurdle Hunt
Wild Oceans is excited to be taking part in what will see more than a thousand people spanning 6 continents joining in on a worldwide search for tiny plastic pellets (nurdles) in the first Great Nurdle Hunt taking place from the 8th till the 17th of February. The hunt is taking place on 6 continents in over 16 countries, with more than 60 organisations and 170 individual … [Read more...]
West Coast communities say no to mining
The West Coast Food Sovereignty and Solidarity Forum and the communities of Koekenaap and Lutzville on the West Coast are protesting tomorrow at a meeting between Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe and a mining company, Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) because of their plans to expand mining along the West Coast without any consultation. Despite not honouring the … [Read more...]
Paper-stemmed earbuds help reduce ocean plastic
Do you know that ear buds are one of the top ocean polluters which we pick up during beach clean-ups? Hence the following good news is so welcome: Woolworths has kick started the year with its latest announcement in its journey to ZERO packaging waste to landfill, with the roll out of Woolworths branded paper-stemmed earbuds. Switching to paper-stemmed earbuds might seem … [Read more...]
International cleanup reveals SA’s biggest beach pollutants
The results of the 2018 International Coastal Clean-up, which took place on Saturday, 15 September 2018, have just been released. “For more than two decades, thousands of South African volunteers have been joining the rest of the world on the third Saturday of September to remove, collect and document the litter from our country’s coastlines. During the 2018 event, 19,563 … [Read more...]
Living in a plastic age
Human history is often described by the technology and materials that were used during a particular period – such as the Stone Age, Iron Age and the Bronze Age. Some would argue that we are now living through a new period – the Plastic Age. How did this come about and what are the implications for us and the environment? Where do plastics come from? Plastic is a manmade … [Read more...]
South Africans unite for a clean environment
Thousands of South Africans rolled up their sleeves, put on their rubber gloves and took to the beaches on Saturday, 15 September 2018 as part of the first World Clean-up Day - the largest peacetime civic action in human history. Stretching across 24 different time zones, involving 144 countries and more than 13 million volunteers worldwide, World Clean-up Day started in … [Read more...]
Plastics industry encourages role players to strive for zero pellet loss
The South African plastics industry has reiterated its commitment to keep our water sources free of plastic pollution. Plastics|SA’s Executive Director, Anton Hanekom, said reducing the amount of plastics that make their way into streams, rivers and the ocean is one of the biggest focus areas for the plastics industry worldwide today. Plastics|SA was one of the first … [Read more...]
Urgent action needed to remedy South Africa’s water crisis
In 2002 South Africa officially became a water constrained economy, when the National Water Resource Strategy reported that we had allocated 98% of our total water resource. Subsequent high confidence studies have shown that we over-estimated the water available at the time, so in short, we have allocated all the water that we have. This means that we are simply unable to grow … [Read more...]
Africa’s efforts towards eradicating plastics
The ongoing global movement for eliminating plastics is gaining momentum in Africa. Several countries are now taking steps to eliminate the production and distribution of single-use plastics, some adopting a total ban on the production and use of plastic bags. Cameroon, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania have taken the … [Read more...]
Questioning the status quo with Plastic Free July
I don’t normally participate in special days, or months, for the simple reason that we should be long past devoting a day or a month to the issue of human survival on this planet. What could be more important than that to prioritise on a daily basis? I am devoted to maintaining the water, or energy or waste, or whatever focus EVERY day. But I do understand that it serves a … [Read more...]
Plastic packaging contains thousands of chemicals, including hazardous substances
At least 148 substances in plastic packaging are highly hazardous and many compounds are untested for toxicity and/or unknown. Plastic packaging is associated with more than 4,000 different chemicals, including at least 148 highly hazardous substances, as new results from an ongoing scientific research project show. The first project output includes a freely accessible … [Read more...]
Come join us for Plastic Free July
On a whim I do my first trip out after surgery. Sudden deep need for fish and chips. I can’t find my son I intended to take along. It’s getting dark. Had googled best fish and chips in the Helderberg and ordered. I end up at the wrong place. My phone’s battery is about to die. On the last bar Maps get me to the right place. Nobody else around. Hungry folk begging. Dash in … [Read more...]
