Around the globe, individuals have signed petitions, taken to stores and restaurants, and posted photos of ridiculous packaging on social media to call out corporations like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestlé for their single-use plastic use. Greenpeace Africa, as part of the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement, is urging Cameroonians to contribute to “Million Acts of Blue,” escalating actions that push local businesses, corporations, restaurants, and retailers to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
“We are reaching a tipping point on single-use plastics, and it is time for any corporation that cares about a healthy planet to go beyond recycling alone. Throwaway plastics continue to pour into our oceans, our waterways, and our communities at an alarming rate,” said Eric Ini “This Earth Day, it is time to confront the reality that we cannot simply recycle our way out of this mess. We must address the corporate addiction to single-use plastics and move in a better direction,” added Ini.
The Environmental Ambassadors from Cameroon joined activists around the world to action throughout the month of April to reject the single-use plastics that corporations sell consumers. By using brand audits to do clean-up exercise at the Obili neighbourhood in Yaounde this coming Saturday, the volunteers intends to identify companies using excessive plastic and urge them to seek a responsible alternative.
"We are using this Earth Day to educate Cameroonians and to call on corporations to turn off the plastic tap,” said Alan Biakolo, Coordinator for the Environmental Ambassadors in Yaounde. “We are alarmed by the negative effectives of plastic that blocks our waterways and continuously endangering marine life,” added Biakolo.
Earth Day has become an opportunity for many corporations to greenwash around recycling efforts and continue churning out throwaway plastic. This Earth Day, Greenpeace Africa is looking to shift the narrative around single-use plastics from one of individual responsibility toward corporations reducing their production of throwaway plastic packaging.
Notes to the editor:
A recent study revealed that 91 percent of the world’s plastics have not been recycled.
The international #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement is comprised of more than 1,100 groups, including Greenpeace, pushing for corporations to reduce and eventually phase out single-use plastic production.
Plastic pollution can choke or entangle marine life, including seabirds, turtles, and whales. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that ocean plastics are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of sea creatures each year.
Greenpeace released a toolkit today to help individuals demand action on plastic pollution, available here: www.greenpeace.org/MillionActsOfBlue
Media contact:
; Greenpeace Africa Forest Communications Officer; 677-345-612