Beach establishments urged to use alternative packaging to curb plastic pollution

Mombasa,

Sunday, October 29, 2023

KNA by Sadik Hassan 

Environmental conservation stakeholders have intensified calls for the conservation of oceans to prevent plastic pollution that affects marine life.

 Sote Hub – a business innovation hub in partnership with the County Government of Mombasa organized a beach clean-up exercise in Nyali Beach to raise awareness of plastic pollution.

 Emily Achieng -CECM for Climate Change says the exercise is a build-up activity ahead of a Blue Economy summit that seeks to position Mombasa as a blue economy hub in the wake of climate change.

 “Our corals have been affected and fish have significantly reduced because of waste especially plastic that finds its way to the ocean.

This is a campaign that will be ongoing we have support from non-state actors who will ensure clean-ups are organized regularly,” said Achieng.

At the same time, she revealed that they are finalizing the beach management bill that will give responsibilities to hotels, commercial enterprises, and the groups working at the beach to ensure their beach areas are clean.

The county government is also partnering with an organization to be able to quantify the amount of plastic getting into the ocean.

“We are working with packaging companies so that their contribution can be used to support groups engaging in environmental conservation,” said CECM Achieng.

On his part, David Ogiga Director of Sote Hub says it's a wake-up call for hotels and establishments that depend on tourism and sustenance of the ocean to embrace alternative packaging, especially for water and beverages since plastics end up in the ocean.

 “It is recorded that we have close to five trillion tonnes of plastics in the oceans and every year close to ten million plastics are dumped into the ocean,” said Ogiga. 

 “The ocean is important for two things: it is the sequester that gives us the oxygen that we breathe nearly half of the oxygen we breathe as humans and organisms 50 percent of it comes from the ocean,” he added.

The Ocean, he said is a carbon sink and all the waste and debris end up in the ocean. Because plastics are non-biodegradable when the fish eat them they end up in the human food chain.

The hotel establishments were also urged to start investing in recycling plants and to borrow best practices from hotels in Diani, Kwale County.

 “It is our responsibility to keep the ocean clean, stopping plastic pollution is our collective responsibility. As we join hands and work as a whole everything will be okay,” said Sherry Siso reigning Miss Water Kenya.

Courtesy; KNA