In January of 2016 the issue of plastic pollution started to register on the global agenda and the world received a scary message: scientists and marine biologists predicted that, by the year 2050, the weight of plastic in the ocean would be greater than the weight of fish.
In response, the UN set a sustainable development goal (SDG 14.1) for the world to put an end to the destruction: “By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds.” Around the world people rose up and started to push harder for major changes in our individual behavior and for industries to take action, advocating to prevent this prediction from coming true.
As part of that effort, Lonely Whale launched an international campaign with Point Break Foundation and creative agency VMLY&R to communicate the urgency of the issue and help reach the 2025 sustainable development goal. “Tick Tock,” we called the campaign. Because time is running out. With more than a garbage truck of plastic entering the ocean every minute, we decided to take bold action to cut through the noise.
Every year on International Coastal Cleanup Day, hundreds of thousands of us around the world partake in beach cleanups. We gather on beaches, shorelines, and riverbeds picking up plastic waste. But with each wave and turn of the tide, plastic pollution washes right back—discrediting our efforts. And with the plastics industry only accelerating their production of virgin (new) plastic and failing to increase infrastructure to handle their waste, the plastic tide has become a tsunami.
In fall of 2017, the participating communities sent their trash back to New York City where artist Daryl McGregor shaped them into menacing sculptures, each representing the coast where the trash was collected. The sculptures were photographed and framed, and the originals were displayed in public spaces, including Times Square, the UN Headquarters in NYC, and Art Basel Miami. Made of plastic and other recognizable household items, these sculptures brought the issue of plastic pollution to life. The sculptures were created to inspire governments and corporations to make public and meaningful commitments to reduce or ban single-use plastics, and to force society at large to acknowledge our throwaway culture.
Now, in the midst of a global pandemic and industry-led efforts to push back on single-use plastic regulations, we checked in with four of these beach cleanup leaders to hear how things are going in their communities today. Hailing from Jamaica, Indonesia, Estonia, and the US, these ocean activists represent the global issue of plastic pollution—and the global voice of those who are working to bring us all clean seas.
Jamaica
Kertia Marley is an ocean activist from Jamaica who co-founded and launched Jamaica For A Strawless Ocean in September of 2018. #StrawlessJamaica is a community-led effort to reduce single-use plastics pollution, increase awareness about the problem, and help the public become more responsible consumers. The organization also emphasizes the need for more affordable alternatives to plastic. Kertia believes that by having a conversation about plastic use, people will start to see how they can live more harmoniously with the planet.
Emy Kane: What is your community’s story of plastic pollution?
Kertia Marley: Bull Bay, Jamaica—where we collected our beach trash for the Tick Tock campaign in 2017—is a small surf town on the southeast side of the island. Because this part of the island is not necessarily considered a hotbed for tourism, attention is not paid to aesthetics and resources are not readily available to address beach debris. These coastal communities are tasked with maintaining their beaches alone. Broader support only comes with the occasional, usually annual, beach cleanup events organized on International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Emy: Since 2017, have any environmental policies been enacted locally to address plastic pollution? What impact do you think these policies have had on the issue and on your community?
Kertia: In January 2019, Jamaica introduced a ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, and polystyrene foam in an effort to reduce the impact single-use plastic is having on the environment. Before the ban, Jamaica reportedly had one of the highest per capita uses of plastic bags in the world. Today, there is a significant reduction in consumption, manufacturing, and importation of single-use plastic in Jamaica.
Emy: What are you working on now?
Kertia: Real change starts with the youth. Last year, together with the support of Ghetto Youths Foundation, and in partnership with Lonely Whale and the Alpha Institute School of Music, we established a scholarship and internship program to award one student with the opportunity to attend Lonely Whale’s Ocean Heroes Bootcamp. As part of the scholarship program, the student is required to produce two PSAs about plastic pollution in their community.
Andrew Taylor, a fourth-year saxophone player from Kingston, was awarded the scholarship and has committed to the task, educating himself on plastic pollution locally and exploring new ways of communicating to his peers and the wider community about the negative impact plastic has on our environment.
Emy: What message do you want to share with people who don’t live near a coast, and who are less directly connected to the issue of ocean plastic pollution?
Kertia: Plastic pollution adversely affects those who have the least resources, and policies can only do so much. By committing to responsible practices individually, addressing the impact of littering, adjusting our attitudes regarding consumption of single-use plastic, and demanding better waste management systems, those with more resources can play an integral part in this change. Altering everyday behavior, by finding alternatives and reverting back to practices before single-use plastic became so readily available—like reusing and upcycling—is so important.
We must all understand that, even if you do not live by the ocean, your daily practices in your immediate environment can impact those who live on the coast. A healthy environment, coast or inland, promotes a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Emy: What gives you hope?
Kertia: Andrew, our scholarship recipient, gives me hope. It is my hope that we will be able to offer this scholarship to students in other communities in Jamaica, creating a network of future leaders for our environment.
Learn more about Kertia and the movement for a #StrawlessJamaica. Follow Andrew Taylor and his work in Jamaica @wemusthelpfightplastic.
Indonesia
Melati Wijsen began her career as an ocean activist at the age of 12, when she founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) with her sister Isabel in Bali, Indonesia. Inspired by a lesson in school about pioneering leaders like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, Melati and her sister asked themselves what they could do immediately to make a difference in their community. The answer was BBPB, which they founded in 2013. Since then, BBPB has grown into a well-known international organization, fueled by empowered youth who are saying “no” to plastic bags.
Emy Kane: What is your community’s story of plastic pollution?
Melati Wijsen: Growing up on the island of Bali, we see plastic pollution every day. The negative impacts it has on the environment are obvious. When we were launching BBPB, we learned that—at the time—40 countries around the world had banned single-use plastic bags. We thought, “Come on Bali, we can do it too.”
Indonesia is the world’s second largest source of marine plastic pollution after China, due majorly to the lack of waste management infrastructure. Plastic can be found everywhere. Once we knew there were policy solutions, we had to do something.
Emy: How have beach cleanups in your community evolved? Has your thinking about this issue and the actions we should take changed in recent years?
Melati: BBPB started in 2013, and since then we have led many educational presentations and workshops, addressed more than 150,000 students globally, distributed informational booklets and reusable bags, and held many islandwide events. One of our most well-known events is our annual Bali’s Biggest Clean Up, which takes place every year in February. Through this event, we have mobilised nearly 60,000 people in over 450 locations and collected more than 100 tonnes of plastic.
Emy: Since 2017, have any environmental policies been enacted locally to address plastic pollution? What impact do you think these policies have had on the issue and on your community?
Melati: The recent ban on single-use plastic bags went into effect island-wide in June 2019. It’s been a year since implementation and still, we see traditional marketplaces having difficulty adapting. A gap still exists between banning single-use plastic and introducing affordable alternatives. A permanent solution requires education and broader access to alternatives. Many NGOs and grassroots organizations are doing this work, but it needs government support too.
Emy: What gives you hope?
Melati: Other young people standing up and taking action. We are part of a generation that is unstoppable. We do not wait for regulatory change or permission to start making a positive difference. We lead by example. In the future, I hope to see more transparency in commitments made by corporations and governments. The more transparent we are regarding our actual progress toward reaching our goals, the more effective we will be in directing our efforts.
Learn more about Melati, Bye Bye Plastic Bags, and her new organization, YOUTHTOPIA, which empowers young people through education.
Estonia
Kadi Kenk is a member of the management board of Let’s Do It Foundation, which works to realize their vision of a clean and healthy, waste-free planet. The foundation began in Estonia in 2008 and has progressed to tackle environmental and social problems related to mismanaged solid waste by mobilizing millions of people, using technologies to map and deal with waste, and engaging communities in its work. On September 15, 2018, Let’s Do It Foundation organized the world’s largest civic action against waste—World Cleanup Day—where 17 million people in 157 countries worked for 36 hours to conduct cleanups.
Emy Kane: What is your community's story of plastic pollution?
Kadi Kenk: The story of Let’s Do It Foundation started in Estonia in 2008. With a small population and lots of pristine nature, the general public wasn’t noticing how scattered waste had started to pollute our beautiful greenery.
To help make Estonians aware of their “trash blindness,” we held a one-day nation-wide cleanup that engaged four percent of the country’s population. This action made Estonians feel like the caretakers they are, responsible for keeping their land clean. That narrative has spurred the development of many community projects over the years in Estonia, but also made us all more aware of our interconnectivity with the broader world. Trash knows no borders—Estonia can’t be the cleanest country in the world if other countries don’t aspire to be clean too.
Emy: What are you working on now?
Kadi: Let’s Do It Foundation supports a circular economy and zero waste principles. For us, plastic pollution starts with the production and distribution of any and all plastic items that only serve a single use, when a direct need is not specified. We see these items as pollution even before they become waste because they prevent sustainable alternatives from entering the market.
Through our Keep It Clean Plan, we tackle environmental and social problems related to mismanaged solid waste. This entails working with local leaders to redesign systems to remove waste and pollution; keep products and materials in use; and regenerate natural systems. We developed the Plan to be customizable to each organization and community’s needs, allowing them to focus on their own priorities and choose their own actions.
Emy: What gives you hope?
Kadi: In the last couple years alone, we have achieved more in tackling plastic pollution than we did in the decades prior. Organizations advocating for waste-free communities are becoming stronger and policymakers are better aware of the problem. Every person has an important role to play. In the future, we hope to see more people realizing theirs and the changes they can make as parents, employers, legislators, etc. A person should not bear the burden of doing everything, but they can always do something.
Learn more about Kadi and the work of Let’s Do It Foundation.
The US
Kelly Cox is an ocean activist who uses her law degree and her master’s in marine conservation to advocate for clean waters in South Florida. As General Counsel for Miami Waterkeeper, Kelly works on a wide range of policy, advocacy, and legal issues on behalf of ocean health. Miami Waterkeeper’s mission is to defend, protect, and preserve South Florida’s watershed through citizen engagement and community action rooted in sound science and research.
Emy Kane: What is your community’s story of plastic pollution?
Kelly Cox: Plastic pollution and other types of water pollution are not new issues in Miami or South Florida; they really began when our community started to grow and have increased with the population over time. In response to plastic pollution, some local governments have stepped up to the plate to implement bans on plastic bags and straws. Unfortunately, the plastics industry has mounted considerable lobbying efforts to push the state government to preempt these bans—ultimately “banning bans.”
Emy: Describe your experience collecting the trash from your beaches in 2017 for the Tick Tock campaign. How have beach cleanups in your community changed since then and what are you working on locally today?
Kelly: We organized a cleanup of hundreds of volunteers in coordination with the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department just after Hurricane Irma in 2017. Volunteers quickly mobilized to collect thousands of pounds of debris that washed up on our shorelines from the storm.
Because of the pandemic, it is not feasible to organize large groups of volunteers to embark on beach cleanups. Therefore, our current focus is on engaging with local officials to adopt policies which aim to curb all types of pollution to our waterways.
Emy: Each of the sculptures for the Tick Tock campaign was made from trash found in our everyday lives. What are some of the most common plastic items you have found on your beaches?
Kelly: Straws, plastic bags, balloons, six pack beverage rings—you name it, we have found it. We often see plastic items from other countries due to our proximity to the Caribbean. These items from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and other locations are arriving on our shores thanks to winds, tides, and currents. This speaks to a larger commentary that plastic pollution is a global problem that requires a global solution.
Emy: Since 2017, have any environmental policies been enacted locally to address plastic pollution? What impact do you think these policies have had on the issue and on your community?
Kelly: There has been a history of local leadership to address plastic pollution in South Florida, despite state preemption efforts. In 2016, Miami Dade County banned polystyrene products from beaches, parks, and marinas. In 2017, Coral Gables approved the state’s first plastic bag ban. In 2019, the City of Miami Beach enacted an ordinance banning single-use plastic straws and stirrers, and we advocated for a plastic straw ban in the Village of Key Biscayne which passed unanimously.
It’s been great to see local municipalities take plastic pollution seriously, and it would be even better to see the state take further steps to reduce all types of pollution in our waterways. That means getting serious about investing in modern sewer infrastructure to curb sewage leaks, adopting ordinances that mandate appropriate fertilizer use and application, and taking an aim at pesticides and other chemicals which enter our waterways through stormwater runoff.
Emy: Has your community changed its recycling infrastructure or altered its recycling incentives since 2017? If so, have these changes impacted the amount of plastic pollution on your beaches?
Kelly: Due to Covid-19, the City of Miami and other municipalities across the state halted their recycling programs for months at a time. This is due, in large part, to the cost associated with these programs. This also serves as commentary that recycling is not a viable solution for curbing plastic pollution. We must address the plastic supply chain and stop the pollution at its source. Reduce first—that’s the golden rule.
Emy: What gives you hope?
Kelly: Clean water is what makes Miami, Miami. Our ecosystems, our industries, our economy and our way of life rely on the health of our marine environment.
The next generation is my main source of hope in this work. This year, we have a group of over 30 students enrolled in our Junior Ambassador program. This program trains young people in environmental leadership and advocacy. The enthusiasm of these students is palpable and their “change the world” mentality is contagious. I know that some of today’s major problems will become relics of the past as this new generation steps into positions of leadership and decision-making.
Learn more about Kelly and the work of Miami Waterkeeper.
