MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa is considering the possibility of banning plastic straws and other products that may harm the environment.
Single-use plastics are a problem. They are used for mere minutes, but harm marine life and eco-systems and are piling up daily into mountains of waste.
Ahead of her department’s Budget Vote debate on Wednesday 16 May, the minister said the possible review would look at plastic products that are seen to be harmful to the environment.
Nosipho Ngcaba, the department’s director-general, added that straws posed a threat to the marine environment.“For sea-based mammals, like sharks, we already know that straws are a big problem and they cause a threat to our marine mammals and certainly we would look at various other products that may have to be phased out in our economy while we consider a replacement but it is going to take a lot of awareness by citizens.
“When you go to a restaurant and you are given a straw, you should be able to say no, I will use a glass.” New campaign against plastic pollution.
Tabling her Budget Vote speech at the National Assembly later in the day, Molewa said the department remained committed to minimising plastic pollution. She said in-line with resolutions taken at the UN General Assembly and UN Environmental Assembly respectively, the department has this year conducted a Plastic Material Study in collaboration with industry, the South African Bureau of Standards, the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, the National Treasury and the Department of Health.
Good news considering the havoc caused on sea life after a recent spill of nurdles is that the department is also consulting with the cosmetics industry to phase out the use of micro beads in cosmetics.
Fossil fuels take millions of years to form, then they are mined and manufactured into single-use plastic items such as drinking straws, plastic water bottles and wraps for takeaway foods.
"The Harbour Shack in Mossel Bay was the first to introduce reusable bamboo straws and our patrons are encouraged to take them away to use repeatedly at home or wherever else.
"This was part of an initiative with Keep Fin Alive to get more businesses to become environmentally focused, and we’re currently trying to roll it out across many businesses", Founder Keep Fin Alive Campaign, Esther Jacobs said.
She invites the public to learn more about the initiative at www.keepfinalive.com.
"The straws come in a bag with a nifty cleaning bar to ensure hygienic reuse," Harbour Shack owner Albe Durand told the various editors of Group Editors newspapers when they visited recently. Group Editors owns a number of newspapers, one of which is the Mossel Bay Advertiser.
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