Soroptimist International Esperance urges citizens at all levels to REduce the use of single use plastic; to REuse where possible; to REcycle by putting items into clear biodegradable plastic bags and dropping them into iCare bins.
Soroptimist International Esperance organised a session with the Esperance Early Childhood Education Centre in which environmental activists Roslyn George, Yashoda Singh and Annigna Channan of Cashew Gardens Community Recycling Programme made an interactive presentation which included a cartoon video which was appropriate to the children’s level of understanding.
By the end of the session, the students were ready to #BeatPlasticPollution by implementing the watchwords REduce, REuse, REcycle. The children who answered the quiz were given Ronnie the Recycler badges, all were given activity sheets, and the teachers were presented with Recycle Now notebooks. The school looks forward to receiving iCARE bins for plastics, as well as glass, tetra packs and tins.
The improper disposal of plastic waste is a global problem that has resulted in the accumulation of toxic pollutants damaging the environment, resulting in land, water and air pollution. A full 32% of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into our oceans; the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute.
Plastic waste is an untapped resource with tremendous economic potential if it is effectively collected, transported, sorted and recycled. We must always be mindful that it is harder to clean up pollution than it is to prevent it from happening.