Plastic Free Cayman plans peaceful demo

| 15/05/2019 | 25 Comments

Cayman News Service

Plastic is killing marine creatures

(CNS): Campaigners behind local activist group Plastic Free Cayman are calling on the public to join them in a peaceful protest next week on the steps of the government building in an effort to highlight the growing problem of plastic pollution and climate change. The local NGO, which has been campaigning with some success for a ban on single-use plastic and encouraging the private sector to cut plastic use, is keen to see even more action. The call comes just as almost every country in the world, though not the US, has signed up to a legally-binding plan to cut plastic waste.

The United Nations announced that 186 countries reached an agreement last Friday to monitor and track movements of plastic waste outside their borders. The deal will see a better regulated global trade in plastic, which is currently polluting the oceans as well as natural land habitats and entangling wildlife with deadly results.

Just this week American undersea explorer Victor Vescovo completed the deepest submarine diver ever recorded only to find plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench some 35,853 feet down. Vescovo said he found a plastic bag and candy wrappers at the deepest point on the planet.

Meanwhile, a new study has revealed that plastic pollution in the oceans is harming  a common bacteria in the sea that is responsible for producing over 10% of the oxygen in our atmosphere.

Researchers have found that chemicals leaching from plastic waste products are inhibiting Prochlorococcus, a tiny cyanobacterial genus only discovered around three decades ago. The smallest photosynthesizing organism on the planet, it is also believed to be one of the most abundant helping to keep the oceans healthy while providing a substantial volume of the oxygen we breathe.

Plastic Free Cayman said in a FB post that the peaceful demo is scheduled for Friday 24 May on the steps of the Government Administration Building on Elgin Avenue, George Town.

Posted by Cayman News Service on Wednesday, 15 May 2019

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Category: Local News, Marine Environment, Science & Nature

Comments (25)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are dumping more plastic into oceans than the rest of the world combined.

    Without conflating dump issues, at least our waste generally ends up at the dump.

    Unless Asia cleans its act up we are fighting a losing battle.

  2. Anonymous says:

    money money moneyyyyyyy😠

  3. Anonymous says:

    why is it when i go kirk supermarket i am charged 5 cents a small bag..yet when i go home center or al thompson a large plastic bag is free? as usual money money money…people cant help themselces when it comes to money…be like cost u less.. mo plastic and no charge!!????

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  4. Anonymous says:

    ya know it’s really a damn shame that so many people don’t feel single use plastics are ruining the environment.

    Shoppers worldwide use some 500 billion (yes, billion) single-use plastic bags annually. That’s roughly 150 bags per year for every person on Earth, according to the nonprofit group Ocean Crusaders. Strung end-to-end, that’s enough plastic to circle the globe 4,200 times.

    If we could even just get a plastic bag ban… and styrofoam as well (sorry Dart), our little island would make a huge impact.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I don’t get it and I’m certainly not ignorant, but my local grocery store just went plastic bag free. Now they pack everything in paper bags which I just throw in the trash. At least I reused plastic bags a thousand times before they ever ended up in the trash.
      Is paper really better? Isn’t that just killing trees?

    • Anonymous says:

      According your figures on plastic bags, it would make exactly a .000018 or roughly 2 one hundred thousanths of one percent difference. But yeah, it’s still a good idea.

  5. Anonymous says:

    If not for expats this so called world’s financial center with its moral decadence would have turned into a stinking lawless slum where gutter rate mentality rules.

    Based on majority of comments, explaining anything to people whose reasoning and understanding skills are limited is a waste of time.

    I salute and support Plastic Free Cayman group! I never buy anything wrapped in plastic, refuse to use plastic straws, cups and containers; also take time to ask retailers when they would go plastic free.

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    • WhaYaSay! says:

      @6:58am; the same argument could be made the other way; it’s because of expats that we are the negative things you’ve said!

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Have we really become this emotially governed? I mean have we really becomed this stupid?

    If we’re going to ban plastics and vilify corporations that make these polymers, then why don’t we ban plastics that make blood transfusion tubing? We make a LOT of that. Syringes, plastics for transportation such as planes, cars, trains , ships , space stations , computers, cell phones, GPS , navigation equipment, radars, weather equipment, lab equipment, tools, signs, led lighting , wiring and cabling, rubber tires, food containers OR is it just plastics straws and plastic bags that’s killing the earth? WTF!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I think the push is against “single use plastics” – that’s the straws, etc that cannot be recycled. Plastics that can be recycled are acceptable if our government and residents would get serious about recycling!

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    • Anonymous says:

      @10:44 pm reasoning and understanding skills are limited

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    • Anonymous says:

      When is the last time you have seen a computer or lab equipment wash ashore? Bags and bottles are killers for a country that thrives on ocean-related tourism and lifestyle. Kudos to Cayman for tackling this problem.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Shopping bags are a basic human right which we shall not be denied!

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Come see all the plastic surgery recipients at that demonstration

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps they should demonstrate against infidelity instead?

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Sure hope none of them are wearing their Lycra yoga pants.

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