During a family walk along one of Durban’s most popular beaches yesterday, I was distraught at what I found. Because of a recent full moon, we enjoyed a healthy spring tide here in the Southern hemisphere. This meant that the low tide over the past few days was very low, and the high tide was extremely high. So of course, a lot of what was in the ocean washed up on shore.

While we were hoping to stumble upon unique seashells, colourful seaweed and my favorite; driftwood, we were instead greeted by plastic packets, straws, bottles and other types of litter, all of which was strewn across the bewildered sand. I felt distraught and disgusted, but mostly guilty, that mess was there because of me! My life-style did this! 

If this is what our oceans are washing up now, what will the seaside look like in 10, 20 or 30 years from now? Will there be beach sand for my grandchildren to build sand castles with, will they be able to swim in the salt water afraid of sharks and blue-bottles, or will they be more terrified of water pollution and being wrapped up in rolls of plastic. If anything is going to open your eyes and make you want to save the world, it’s having children. You love them enough to want a better future for them.

So how do we encourage our younger generations to ditch the plastic?

It starts at home, and I have started! The trick is to reduce, reuse, recycle – and purchase household goods wisely. Look for products bottled in glass or paper, if you actually study the shelves you will find that for most goods, these options are actually available. Here are a few easy things you can do to lower your use of plastic:

• Buy yourself a few sturdy fabric bags, that you can keep in the car and use to pack groceries in (ditch plastic shopping bags).
• Get yourself a glass our stainless-steel water bottle, keep this with you and fill it up often, so that you don’t always find yourself buying bottled water, which mostly comes in plastic.
• Go back to basics, you don’t need all those fancy house-hold cleaners. Find a biodegradable and preferably natural household cleaner that comes in one large reusable bucket. 
• Start making your own preserves, condiments and snacks. This is time consuming at first, but once you get into the swing of things, it’s easy! You’ll be eating healthier to by ditch all those nasties that come in plastic wrappers.

These are just a few things you could change at home to make your mark in a less plasticy world. Not only will you be setting the example for your kids and other family members, but you will also be setting the norm, which hopefully your kids will adopt. Take it all one step further and avoid these things while you are out and about:

• Straws (you do get reusable straws if your kids insist on one)
• Balloons
• Plastic cutlery (keep a tiny mess bag in your handbag, or ask for wooden cutlery instead)
• Plastic cups

There are a few restaurants and takeaway place here in South Africa that are already setting the trend, they refuse to stock straws, if you eat out you are given a bamboo knife and fork and kids are sent home without those dreadful balloons. If more shops and recreational facilities followed this trend, we’d already start making a noticeable change.

All of the above can be implemented by schools too. Wow, can you just imagine if schools followed the same procedures? They could also offer recycling depots, where the plastic can be reused in art projects, or the good could be those who use it to make products from this “rubbish” to make a living. Plastic can be used to make all sorts of things actually, I have seen people make things like:

• Mats and hats out of plastic bags
• Murals from bottle caps
• Planters from juice and water bottles
• Candle holders, bird feeders
• …THE LIST GOES ON!

Image Credit

So, as I was saying, if educators and schools joined forces, the chances of creating a generation that uses less plastic, instead of more, are somewhat considerable. There is actually still a chance for us to make a difference!

Sometimes, just sometimes, we need to take a step back. While living in a world renowned for its inventions, gadgets and advanced way of life, let’s slow the rat race down just a little and do some things the way they were done back in the day. I am not saying that technology must not be embraced and appreciated, but do we really need to buy our kids boxes full of plastic toys (wood lasts sooo much longer by the way) and do we really need to stock up on so many off-the shelf microwave dinners? 

You might actually find that you enjoy living in the world, instead of spinning around with it, whirring it into destruction. And if you don’t feel like you deserve a better place to rest your head on, then do it for the kids, if not your own, then mine, please? Start small, or do just a few of the things listed above. Help me to set the example, to be the example and to create the example. 

Much love - @sweetpea

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