Let’s make eSwatini free of single-use plastics & polystyrene!

Plastic bags & polystyrene containers are polluting the world's oceans, our rivers, our landscape and our food chain. They do not disappear.  Once exposed to salt water & ultraviolet light, plastics fragment into “microplastics” small enough to find their way into the bellies of fish. From there, it is only a short journey to our dinner plates. If not taken seriously, our generation, our children’s generation, and future generations will suffer the consequences of our lack of action to rectify this situation.

Action starts here, with you.

We call upon government to safeguard our precious environmental resources and public health by encouraging legislation that bans single use plastics bags and food containers made of polystyrene in 2020.

Let us be inspired by the example of African countries such as Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania who have banned single-use plastics, and become a pioneer in Africa with the ban of polystyrene food containers and join more than 70 cities around the world on other continents.

• Currently we generate 300 million tonnes of plastic waste per year
• 50% of consumer waste is single use plastic
• 100 000 marine animals are killed by plastic each year
• 90% of bottled water are found to contain plastic particles 
• It can take anything between 20-1000 years for a plastic bag to break down into polymer and toxic chemicals
• Polystyrene manufacturers are the fifth largest producer of toxic waste    
• Polystyrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer
• It is estimated that it takes more than 500 years for polystyrene to decompose, and it cannot be recycled
• When used with food products, especially when heated, it releases toxic chemicals into the food and harmful air pollutants that contaminate landfills and deplete the ozone layer. 

In the words of environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, “Our house is on fire. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”

Be the change you wish to see and sign this petition to support our Minister of Environmental Affairs, Moses Vilakati, to act like our house is on fire and back this ban in 2020!