Discarded lateral flow test kits, masks and gloves were among the COVID-related debris gathered by volunteers at a Plastic Free Cayman clean-up at Barkers Beach in West Bay over the weekend.
During Sunday’s clean-up, the volunteers collected more than 500 pounds of debris from the beach.
Plastic Free Cayman has been organising beach clean-ups since 2017, and organisers said the amounts of plastic they’re seeing has been growing over the years. This year, the group collected nearly a third more debris on local beaches than in 2019. The amount collected in 2020 was far lower, as clean-ups were curtailed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Unfortunately, 2021 marked a significant increase in plastic waste on our beaches, up more than 30% from 2019. Clearly the problem is not going away, which is why a call to action is so important,” Plastic Free Cayman said in a press release, following the latest weekend clean-up.
Much of the plastic collected at the beach was discarded single-use plastic, including the test kits, gloves and masks.
Last month, the government’s Department of Environmental Health urged the public to safely discard of used lateral flow tests.
More than 45 volunteers joined Plastic Free Cayman, CayOcean and the Members Church of God International (MCGI) to collect debris from Barkers Beach and support Protect Our Future’s latest ‘Our Future is NOT single-use’ campaign. Among those who helped out were Cayman COP26 representative Dejea Lyons, and Martin Lancaster, Breast Cancer Foundation advisor and beach clean warrior, whose clean-up efforts have raised thousands of dollars for charity.
So far this year, Plastic Free Cayman’s beach clean-ups have removed more than 14,000 pounds – over 7 tonnes – of trash from local beaches.
Since the group’s establishment in 2017, more than 6,000 pounds (3 tonnes) of garbage, mostly marine debris, has been removed from Barkers National Park.
Protect Our Future co-leader Nic Corin said in the release, “It seems as though every time we go back to Barkers Beach the plastic pollution situation gets worse. We need to take action. It is our hope that Cayman will implement the single-use plastic ban that was in the works two years ago.”
After removing more than 500 pounds of debris this weekend, Chloe Bentick-Lalli, the Protect Our Future campaign leader, said, “It’s sad to see our National Park filled with plastic. Our future is not single-use and we need to wake up and engage in real action.”
Plastic Free Cayman acknowledged that much of the marine debris floats in from other nearby island nations, but there is also a great deal of local litter, especially in Barkers.
The group said in its statement, “The leaders of Plastic Free Cayman fully understand the convenience of plastic in much of our daily lives, especially during the current global pandemic. Lateral flow tests, masks, and gloves are just a few of the single use plastics that continue to be a part of our current situation.
“However, this should not become an excuse for continuous local litter, a poor waste management system and inaction regarding the banning of unnecessary single-use items. Like the students of Protect Our Future, Plastic Free Cayman would like to see a future driven less by consumerism. Instead, our products should be part of a circular economy and more sustainable.”
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