There is an ever-growing realisation that plastic pollution in our environment, particularly in seas and oceans is a major cause for concern, for the planet and all human life. Plastic usage has increased since its introduction in the 1950s and is expected to reach 450 million tonnes globally by 2025. Globally, we produce the equivalent of the weight of all humans on Earth. 80% of the plastic in our seas/oceans comes from the land and 50% of all plastic is single-use packaging which can be avoided with knowledge. Only 9% of ALL plastic is ever recycled.
Colònia de Sant Pere is (in island terms) an extremely long way from my house in Andratx, but it’s a worthwhile trip to get to see the good work that Kay Newton and her friend Marilena Genovard and their squad have been doing to clean their local beach.
How did you find yourself in Mallorca?
I sailed from the UK to Mallorca, 37 years ago and I never swam back!
What’s it like living in Colònia de Sant Pere?
I really love living here with James, my husband. We lived in Inca before, but when our kids left home we downsized and moved to Colònia. It is a small community but very friendly. In the winter we have 600 residents, but in the summer that rises to 6000 when the island visitors arrive.
Tell me about how you came to be cleaning the beach.
I had the urge to get back to the sea and interviewed to join an expedition with an all female crew who were planning to research the ocean’s 5 gyres of plastic and the effects of plastic on the human body. I had got to the third round of interviews and then COVID happened and we were all locked down. That’s why in April 2021 I started a “virtual voyage” with the crew. Part of the training was to carry out a citizen science data collection in my local environment, so I chose the beach. Whilst I was data collecting on Sa Plajeta beach, I started a conversation with my neighbour Marilena Genovard, and I discovered that she was as passionate about our environment as I was. From that we started a volunteer group that we call “Colònia Neta”. The group now has ten volunteers who regularly pick up trash along the coastline from Betlem to Son Serra beach.
What kind of trash do you find?
Cigarette Butts, Plastic Cups & Lids, Utensils, Straws, Bottle Caps/Tops, Food Wrappers, Chupa Chups/Lollypop Sticks, Earbuds Sticks/Cotton Swabs, Sanitary Waste, Face Masks, Toys, Sun Shade Cones, Wet Wipes, Large, Small and Micro Plastics, and Nurdles are the main things we collected. Nurdles are very small pellets of plastic which serve as raw material in the manufacture of plastic products, they get into the sea when they are being transported by ship and the ship loses its cargo overboard. We would bring all of the plastic we had collected to my house and then wash and dry it before cataloguing it. A lot of the waste comes from the local businesses, sugar wrappers, napkins etc, but also ice cream spoons, ice cream cone wrappers, things that are probably not really necessary to eat an ice cream in my opinion! We also picked up thousands of cigarette butts, people sit on the sea wall and smoke a cigarette and then just flick the butt onto the beach. It all contributes to the pollution on the beach.
What did you do with it all?
I decided that I wanted to take the beach cleaning to the next level and with the help of Marilena and Eleanor Williams, we started to count all the waste. For 12 months we picked rubbish up from the beach every week and catalogued it, from that we created a 47 page document on our findings and suggestions which is now in four languages. The document is available for anyone, schools, local government, local businesses, to read. We would love to print it, but we need a sponsor to cover the costs of that.
Why is it so important to reduce plastic?
The plastic is in the sea, and then a fish eats it, and then we eat the fish. It’s as simple as that. It affects us all. Not only in the consumption of fish of course, but also in the health of the ocean and environment overall. We also do not know what harm plastic is having on our own bodies, yet.
Why make art from it?
There were times when picking up plastic became frustrating and overwhelming. It led to the chant ‘No matter what it is, pick it up with LOVE.’ And with that in mind, I decided to create art with some of the plastic that I had collected. It is a way to upcycle, and at the same time it creates a prompt for the viewer - Where did that piece come from? How can I use less plastic at home? What can I do differently? After all, the world we live in is our home and we can all do better. I recently exhibited the work at Sa Barrina and now all of the art I created has gone to new homes.
How can we help?
Every time you go to the beach, pick up plastic. Even if it is just three pieces, if everyone on the planet did this, it would make such a difference. Take a look at “Annex 2” in our report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GnmkXtDde9ZjACMa6ZnoVqIKwrpY2hAavSOKZLzL7fw/edit
Do a “plastic audit” to see what is prevalent in your bin, and decide what 3 pieces of plastic you can avoid in your home. Maybe you switch the brand of dog food you get for your dog from sachets to tins for example, or choose to buy toilet paper which is not wrapped in plastic. Actively try to consume less plastic, every action by everyone helps.
What’s next?
We are planning to investigate more about the process of recycling on the island and see where the things everyone is putting into recycling bins is ending up. Watch this space!
You can follow Kay and her project on Instagram @i_love_colonia and @colonianeta