The Anglican Church of Southern Africa passed the following resolution
5.8 PLASTIC
This Synod noting that:
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic enters our oceans every minute and by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish;
- Plastic is killing marine animals and seabirds, destroying the marine environment as well as people’s livelihoods, infiltrating the human food chain and causing cancers and birth defects. Scientists have found plastic in tap water and even in salt. Microplastic enters our lungs;
- South Africans use 8 billion plastic shopping bags per year;
- By contrast 28 African countries, such as Kenya, Rwanda, Morocco and Cameroon, have banned the use, manufacture, importation and distribution of disposable plastic bags.
- Acknowledging that:
Plastic debris not only results in high cleaning-up costs but also brings huge losses for the tourism, fisheries and shipping industries. It threatens our health, constitutional rights, water resources and climate.
Resolves to:
Call on ACSA to become a #zerowaste Church and call on Parishes and Dioceses to commit to becoming Zerowaste by;- Not using plastic bottled water;
- Not using Styrofoam;
- Reducing paper as much as possible;
- Setting up compost heaps and food gardens where possible;
- Installing recycling bins for church and, if possible, for community;
- Not using plastic cutlery, cups, water bottles and straws;
- Displaying a #zerowaste signs at the church;
- Calls on the governments of South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and St Helena to ban single use plastic as a matter of urgency.