February 2008 | On Our Radar
When Plastic Attacks
South Africans have long joked that with as ubiquitous as the discarded plastic bag has become, it should be named the national flower. According to a United Nations estimate, only ten percent of trash in Africa makes it to dumps, leaving the rest to be burned in acrid bonfires or rot in communities. But with plastic rubbish blocking sewers, choking livestock and marine wildlife, leaching toxic particles and contributing to the spread of malaria, disposable shopping bags are fast becoming African public enemy number one.
South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Somaliland, Kenya and Uganda have all passed laws banning or restricting the use of the polyethylene culprit, so thin it can hardly be re-used, and Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho and Tanzania are considering following suit. Some nations are slapping levies on plastic bags to promote reusable alternatives like sisal and burlap, or introducing minimum thickness rules in hopes of extending a bag’s lifecycle. And still others, like Senegal and Egypt, are focusing on recycling initiatives.
Though this type of legislation can be tough to enforce, it’s already beginning to have a visible effect on Africa’s landscape and collective consciousness. The UN’s Environmental Program is hoping to aid the momentum with Theo and the Giant Plastic Ball, a children’s book about a little boy who turns plastic bags into a football, aimed to inspire African children to take action for a cleaner, healthier world.
— Andrea Manitsas
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