Pristine Ocean Podcast

Environmental Investigation Agency
United Nations Treaty to End Plastic Pollution
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You are probably aware of some of the challenges in finding a solution to the plastic crisis the world is facing.

3 challenges in no particular order come to mind:

Challenge 1: Data. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” which certainly applies to plastic waste management. But we can’t measure it because we don’t have the data about how much plastic is being produced, how much waste is exported, how much imported and after that it becomes a guessing game about how much actually lands in the ocean.

Challenge 2: Laws. Packaging companies need a level playing field so that if they improve the environmental friendliness of their products, that this does not put them at a commercial disadvantage.

Challenge 3: Finance. Waste management infrastructure will have to be expanded in the countries that can least afford it.

All these challenges would be complicated enough for one country. But to be effective, all countries need to be aboard. These challenges have to be addressed globally.

Did you know, that the United Nations is working on a treaty to solve these issues? In March 2022, the UN Member States endorsed the UN Environment Programme 5 which is a resolution to End Plastic Pollution with the intention to have a full resolution in 2024.

Today we are talking to someone who is deeply involved in the negotiations to formulate that resolution. She is Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency or EIA. She is fighting for the planet.

We talked about the urgency of the treaty and the similarities to efforts to manage the climate crisis and whether the treaty can be thought of a type of Paris for Plastics.

Full Interview

Today we are visiting Hikkaduwa on the south coast of Sri Lanka. We are talking to Michael Jorgensen. He is the founder and chief beach cleaner at Pure Oceans.

Pure oceans is tackling marine plastic by organizing beach clean-ups and disposing the collected plastic responsibly. To make the operation sustainable they sell a variety of items made from recycled plastic such as iphone covers and sunglasses.

Links
Pure Oceans

Plastics For Change
Hasiru Dala
One day, a waste worker collecting plastic in his neighborhood in Bangalore in Southern India, was bitten by a dog. He fell ill and was not able to work for the following two weeks.
His only income was what the local scrap shop paid for what he collected. Without any savings, he was unable to put food on the table placing his family in a precarious position.
On the other side of the world, brands such as The Body Shop, are willing to pay for recovered plastic to include in their products. But they want plastic to be collected under fair conditions.
Today we were talking to. Almac from the organization, Plastics for Change.
He is making a change by applying fair trade principles to the collection of plastic waste in Bangalore.
Full transcript

Nurdle Free Lanka Campaign
X-Press Pearl
On the 20th of May 2021, a ship called the MV X-Press Pearl, carrying a range of toxic goods, including nitric acid and over 1000 tonnes of plastic pellets, caught fire off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The world watched in horror.

As the crisis unfolded, I remember the feeling of powerlessness as the reports
came in of a bad situation getting worse and worse.

Ultimately, the ship sank while spewing thousands of tonnes of plastic pellets that will
lurk in the environment for years.

With each monsoon, pellets will pollute the beaches like a bad dream, recurring over
and over again.

To better understand the disaster I had the fortune of meeting Muditha from the Sri Lankan Pearl Protectors. The Pearl Protectors is an advocacy for the ocean.

I spoke to Muditha to guide me through the details of what happened and what the
situation is on the coast today.

Full transcription

Lombok Ocean Care
Asmara Restaurant
Pristine Ocean

Welcome to the Pristine Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Peter Hall. The podcast talks to people around the world fighting the scourge of marine plastic litter.

Sakinah

My God, people hate me because I'm always posting this pictures of of the rubbish container and send it to all government officials and all these WhatsApp groups and complaining too.

Pristine Ocean

Maybe you've been thinking of visiting the country of Indonesia.

Although Bali is the destination of choice for many people, you might also consider the island of Lombok right next door.

Not so many tourists with friendly and relaxed locals.

You might be interested in pink sand beaches, old temples, rain forests, animals to observe, and the best snorkelling and diving, then Lombok might be your dream destination.

But like many item locations in Southeast Asia, Lombok’s waste disposal systems are just not up to the job.

Plastic waste is swept into the waters.

Turtles, birds, fish and even large mammals such as dolphins might eat the waste or become entangled in it and drown.

Backyard burning of plastic waste and groundwater contamination are health threats. Incomes from tourism are affected if the visitors see pollution as a reason not to visit.

Were you talking today to someone who is fighting back?

Sakina runs a zero waste restaurant on Lombok. The Asmara. The restaurant is rated highly by tourists and locals. It has something for everyone.

In the early 90s, Sakina had two small children and a problem.

How to take care of her young family.

She decided to start a restaurant to cater for the increasing number of tourists coming from Europe, the Italians, the Germans.

She herself was born in Germany but has converted to Islam. Thus her Indonesian name.

The restaurant, she decided should be upmarket and give visitors peace of mind and not be worried about the infamous Bali belly.

The restaurant is located in a village called Senggigi.

Which is the main tourist location in West Lombok.

The restaurant did well serving 50 guests a day in the Good Times.

But Sakina had to constantly deal with new challenges.

Sakinah

Uh, you know it was good. I mean tourism was good, but then we had all these problems.

Every two years something major happened, and then lately then there was the earthquake and now covet, so it was always like struggling.

Pristine Ocean

The earthquake struck Senggigi in Aug 2018 at the height of the tourist season. Hundreds were killed and thousands injured.

Sakinah

So the restaurant was packed. It happened just when people either were already eating or just ordered.

And then suddenly it started to shake like crazy and all the tyres falling from the rules and people.

Running out, screaming, knocking over chairs and tables, and it was really it was really bad.

Despite the chaos in the disruption, something good began.

Sakinah

Um the beach cleanups especially that started in after the earthquake about five months after the earthquake.

When everybody was out of business and everything looked terrible and people needed something positive so it was really nice to go to do something out on the beach and clean up.

Complete transcript