- The Litterboom Project is committed to reducing environmental plastic waste.
- The organization aims to stop plastic pollution in rivers before it reaches the ocean.
- The initiative also provides educational resources, supports careers in waste management, and promotes responsible production standards.
Saving the planet requires more than steel straws and paper bags.
“Recycling isn't everything. It's important to change the way people think about plastic. We don't have the capacity to recycle.” [the plastic crisis]” Cameron Service told News24.
He is the founder of the Litterboom Project, which works to reduce environmental plastic waste.
Their main focus is to stop plastic pollution in rivers before it reaches the ocean.
Project manager Megan Swart said: “There's a wide variety of trash that we pick up from the river, including plastic waste and even small items like earphones.”
She was speaking to News24 on the banks of the Black River in Cape Town.
Swart and her team were on a clean-up mission.
Building nationwide expansion
The Ritterboom project operates on eight rivers in KwaZulu-Natal and two in Cape Town.
Approximately 1.5 tons of waste is removed per cleaning.
The collected waste is washed, dried, upcycled or recycled.
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Swart said early intervention is important to ensure the spread of infection is reduced.
“The longer plastic is in the river, the smaller it becomes and the harder it becomes to collect it.”
According to UNESCO, plastic accounts for almost 80% of ocean pollution, with approximately 8 million to 10 million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year.
“It doesn't matter how much you clean the river; it's not going to solve the problem. It's important to divide the focus,” Service said.
A holistic approach to waste management
One of the dividing pillars of focus is educating people about the importance of plastic waste management.
Each year, a group of around 10 people spend 12 months learning about waste management from an organization.
“We've found that when people take things seriously and unity emerges, amazing things can happen,” Service said.
