China Global Television Network
The Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu is one of the first countries in the world to ban some single use plastics. That move has helped drastically reduce the amount of waste it generates. But the community which started this movement says more work needs to be done to help the country’s environment. Greg Navarro explains.
The cleanup crew along the lagoon near Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila is being led by 14-year-old Cynthia Enock.
JAYDEN ANDREW Erakor Community “She tries hard to explain to all the other kids that they got to clean the salt water because the future for tomorrow is for them.”
That sentiment is shared by the young people here in the Erakor community who now carry on a passion for the environment that started nearly a decade ago.
JAYDEN ANDREW Erakor Community “The winds take all the rubbish and people throw plastics and it spoils the lagoon, the fish and all of the stuff.”
This is where Vanuatu’s work to ban certain single use plastics started. Community members say much of the waste that transformed their once pristine lagoon was plastics.
KEN WHITE Tribal Chief, Erakor Council of Chiefs “Formed like a little island, we cannot pick them once. We go day after day and use our fishing nets just to pick up all the plastics and bring them back home.”
Members and environmentalists took their concerns to the government. That led Vanuatu to become one of the first countries in the world to ban certain single-use plastics. Today, supermarkets and stores no longer use plastic bags and hand out plastic straws.
SONIA JACK The Bridge “It has made a huge difference because it has helped us reduce the number of plastic.”
Those banned items now reportedly account for less than two percent of the country’s waste.
GREG NAVARRO Port Vila “While there are some restaurants and cafes that now serve food in take away containers like this that are biodegradable, doing so is voluntary it’s not mandatory, which means there are a number of businesses including some here in this market in Port Vila that still rely on plastic.”
And spend some time in the communities that surround the lagoon and you’ll see that single use plastics are only part of the waste problem. The water is too polluted for swimming.
JAYDEN ANDREW Erakor Community “It’s killing the fish, and the crabs and the shells here in the lagoon. When you eat the fish here in the lagoon in the water you get sick.”
Water bottles, and other imported plastic items continue to overwhelm waste management facilities and litter the area.
KEN WHITE Tribal Chief, Erakor Council of Chiefs “It depends on the mindset of every human life.”
Community members say they want the world to know what plastics are doing to their home, and they want the world’s help to stop it. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Port Vila.
Youth and Community Leaders have been engaged with scientific community to advocate for the end of plastics.
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https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-07-15/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDc5ODMy/index.html
Below is the participation of the Late Tribal Chief Marik Koftau I and current Marik Koftau II in a talk on the effects of Plastics in the community to Exxpedition – All-women voyages exploring ocean plastic pollution, helping people use their skills to solve it.
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