Keri Miller: Let's help clear the nurdles on our beaches
Recently, the word 'NURDLE' came to light, and whether you want to believe it or not, this nurdle issue can affect you, your loved ones, and your food.
A recent storm allegedly caused two container ships to collide, leaving one ship carrying these nurdles partially submerged underwater for 24 hours. Within a day, millions of little moon-shaped nurdles - which serve as raw material in the manufacture of plastic products, started washing up on Durban’s beaches.
It’s a huge task to clean up, so if you’ve ever enjoyed a day on the beach, a walk with your dog or your ‘bae’, a swim or a surf, please get involved and help clean up this mess.
Read: Nurdles: Here are some important things you need to know
If you’re part of a social group, a book club, church group, your work or sports team, make it a fun outing. Go and do your part, just one hour with many hands will make a huge difference. Then enjoy a beautiful afternoon, maybe a sunset and KZN moonrise over the ocean with a beach picnic. Take time to really enjoy this magnificent place we get to call home.
By the way, once you have nurdles… what do you do with them?
Well, below is a list of companies who have come on board as nurdle drop-off points. These are where you can drop off your collected nurdles for safe disposal, as they can't be thrown away with general waste:
- Outspan Inn, Port St Johns, lower South Coast
- Offshore Africa, Port St Johns, lower South Coast
- M&R Mechanical Workshop, Southport, lower South Coast
- Buccaneers, St Michaels, lower South Coast
- Aliwal Dive Centre, Umkomaas
- Durban Undersea Club, Vetch’s Beach, Durban
- uShaka Marine World – ticket office
- Afro's Chicken, South Beach, Durban
- Circus Circus, North Beach, Durban
- Lifeguards, Wedge Beach, Durban
- California Dreaming restaurant, Central Beach, Durban
- Umhlanga Rocks Surf Lifesaving Club, Umhlanga
- Tsogo Sun Cabana Beach Resort, Umhlanga – towel kiosk
- Zinkwazi Skiboat Club
- Umlalazi Nature Reserve entrance gate, Mtunzini
Thank you for helping us, every single one of you can make a difference!
You can also report nurdle sightings to CoastKZN, which is managed by Oceanographic Research Institute in collaboration with KZN's Department of EDTEA. Be sure to include photos, GPS reference, and the name of the beach or estuary where spotted.
Here's a video below explaining just how you can help with this clean up:
Let’s make a conscious effort to be aware of the packaging we choose and how we dispose of our waste. We are wholly responsible for our surroundings. Let’s be good humans.