The Save a Fishie team has almost reached their target of cleaning over 100 beaches along the South African coastline – all in a bid to rid the ocean of plastic pollution.
The clean-up campaign, known as Coast to Coast, kicked off in May and will come to an end in July.
The team has visited beaches all over, with the latest clean-up with Mossel Bay Tourism, which fell on day 56 of the campaign last week. Save a Fishie is known for regularly cleaning Milnerton Beach and the lagoon on Saturdays.
“When we arrived to set up I found a knife and drug paraphernalia on the sand as you climb off the stairs. We removed that immediately before setting up. Some of our volunteers walked along the shore and the bushes and the rest of us focused on the microplastics, of which there was quite a lot, especially polystyrene . . . a terrible lot. And yes, lots and lots of nurdles (pre-production plastic pellets),” says founder Zoë Prinsloo.
Together with a couple of volunteers, they collected a total of 11 kilogrammes, 80% being polystyrene and small pieces of plastic.
The campaign
Prinsloo (20), an environmental activist from Edgemead, has been cleaning beaches since the age of 10 and has cleaned over 120 beaches and collected over 10 tons of litter in the process.
“We will be cleaning up over 100 beaches along our South African coastline from May to July, and working with community schools and organisations to raise awareness around the effects of plastic pollution on our ocean and personal health. We will also be collecting citizen science-based data on the quantity and variety of plastics we collect, which will be made available to the public on our website.
“Our journey started at Big Bay on 20 May and will continue with daily clean-ups all the way to Port Nolloth, before crossing the country and continuing down the East Coast. We will be documenting our journey across our socials across these key elements: environment, education, and entertainment for our 12 000+ followers and on our website.
“We will also have a live tracking meter showing the public our kilometres travelled, kilogrammes of litter collected, number of nurdles picked up and more,” she says.
To date, they have travelled 4 630 km, 2 208,85 kg of waste was collected and they cleaned 78 beaches.
There are many ways you can help, as an individual or as a corporate sponsor, Prinsloo says.
“You can make a financial contribution directly via EFT or via our Back-a-Buddy account, sponsor a beach clean-up, or provide product support to ensure our success. We are also looking for amazing places to stay and experiences to share with our supporters, and we would love to add you as one of the South African Dream Destinations along our route. We invite you to join us in this important mission to protect our environment and save our oceans. Follow us on social media and visit our website to learn more about how you can get involved in the #Coast2CoastwithSaveaFishie campaign,” she says.
- To learn more about the Coast2CoastwithSaveaFishie campaign, including how to get involved and support their mission, email save.a.fishie@gmail.com
