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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/20/how-the-small-pacific-island-nation-of-vanuatu-drastically-cut-plastic-pollution>
"For generations, the people of Erakor village in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu
would pass their time swimming in the local lagoon. Ken Andrew, a local chief,
remembers diving in its depths when he was a child, chasing the fish that
spawned in its turquoise waters.
That was decades ago. Now 52, Andrew has noticed a more pernicious entity
invading the lagoon: plastic.
“The plastic would form a small island inside the lagoon, it was so thick,”
Andrew says. “We used fishing nets to pull some of the trash out, but we didn’t
know how to get rid of it all. We couldn’t conquer it, there was just too
much.”
While residents were struggling to empty Vanuatu’s waters of plastic, the
country’s politicians were considering another solution. Could they stop the
waste directly at the source?
Small island nations like Vanuatu face a series of unique challenges when it
comes to plastic pollution. Many rely on imported goods to sustain their
populations, and receive tonnes of plastic packaging every day as a result.
Ocean currents pull plastic waste from around the world into Pacific waters,
which eventually end up on the shores of its islands.
Few Pacific island governments have adequate recycling or waste management
facilities on their narrow strips of land, so rubbish is often burned or left
to wash up in rivers or lagoons like the one in Erakor. It is estimated that
Pacific countries generate 1kg of waste per person a day, 40% higher than the
global average.
In an attempt to drastically limit the amount of waste generated in Vanuatu, in
2018 the government became one of the first in the world to outlaw the sale and
distribution of certain single-use plastics – including a world-first ban on
plastic straws.
In the six years since, the results have been impressive. Thin, plastic
shopping bags are hardly ever seen, with most shoppers carrying reusable bags
at their local market or grocery store. At festivals and outdoor events, food
is more often served wrapped in banana leaves instead of polystyrene takeaway
boxes. Now-banned items used to make up 35% of Vanuatu’s waste, but now make up
less than 2%.
The plastic islands that once choked Erakor lagoon are also shrinking.
“Since they started the ban, you can see the lagoon has become cleaner,” says
Andrew.
It is a massive victory for a small island nation made up of just over 300,000
people across 83 islands. And it came about thanks to a Facebook post made by a
French immigrant, Christelle Thieffry."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
