Editorials

Plastic pollution must be everyone’s concern

bottles

A man cleans plastic bottles by the banks of River Ndarugu in Nakuru County. FILE PHOTO | NMG

A Sh7 million initiative by the United States Agency for International Development to curb increasing plastic menace, especially on the Kenyan sea shores should be lauded.

In fact, it must be taken as the first step towards scaling up the programme to all areas of the country affected by non-biodegradable materials.

Worst hit is the country’s coastline, which is grappling with a serious case of plastic dumped especially by beach goers and poured into the ocean from rivers, posing a major threat to marine life as well as the tourism sector at large.

It is estimated that 120 tonnes of this harmful material are dumped on the sea shores every day despite a State ban on this packaging material from national parks and reserves.

It is not enough for the various government and non-State actors to raise the alarm over the increasing dumping. It should be the responsibility of every individual to take care of their habitat not necessarily for monetary gain but for the future generation.

Outlawing plastic will not on its own, solve the problem unless all Kenyans take up their individual roles in the fight.