Get to Pitipane today to pick up the plastic
A previous beach clean up: A continuing effort
What would the world be like without plastic? Although our day-to- day lives would be affected badly if plastic suddenly ceased to exist, the planet would definitely benefit if this were to happen.
269,000 tons of plastic float on the surface of water bodies globally, while in Sri Lanka, plastic litters waterways and oceans and causes many issues for us.
Plastic waste doesn’t just pollute the environment; it poisons animals that ingest it, causes floods and poisons drinking water.
The Jo Kaminska Foundation aims to combat this disturbing trend by educating communities about the ill effects of plastic and fighting this trend one initiative at a time. To this end, their latest project, the Negombo Beach Cleanup Day begins at 9 a.m. today.
The Jo Kaminska Foundation began in 2012 with Polish jewellery designer Joanna Ruda’s desire to give back to the communities in which she had worked or lived in.
Having visited the country biannually for the past eight years, Joanna was first inspired to take action to fight plastic pollution following her stay in Galle, where her daily visits to the beach were marred by the appalling amount of plastic she witnessed polluting the waters.
Her strong convictions regarding the value of educating the public led Joanna to conduct educational programmes for schoolchildren in the Southern Province.
However, her realization that educational programmes alone would only bear fruit in the decades to come – by which time Sri Lanka would have become as polluted as Indonesia, led her to conduct beach clean-ups in Sri Lankan beaches.
Having successfully completed two beach cleanups in Galle and Tangalle, she is now prepared to do the same thing for Negombo, following a request from Chris Bentinck for her to conduct a beach clean up there.
She hopes to work with local communities to spread her message on the ill effects of plastic even further in the years to come. The beach clean up will take place today at Morawala beach, Pitipane from 9 a.m. – 11a.m.
| The 4 Rs to fight plastic pollution - Refuse – Say NO to small and unnecessary plastic bags. Why use six when 1 will do? Ask for cardboard boxes and papers bags or better yet, ask for reusable fabric bags or baskets – they last a long time and do not pollute. |