Non-governmental Organizations

Non-governmental organizations are nonprofit groups that work to support a particular social, political, or environmental cause. There are many NGOs that work to mitigate the effects of plastic pollution. Some organizations work to clean up plastic pollution while others spread awareness of the harm of single use plastics. One NGO in particular, the Clean Ocean Project, works to “educat[ed] people about the issue of ocean waste and create awareness towards more sustainable living.”¹ To execute their plan, they have initiated a series of projects that promote stopping the source of plastic pollution and conserving the oceans.

The Clean Ocean Project is supervised under Wim Geirnaert, the CEO and Founder of this organization. It started in 1993 when Wim invited his friends to clean the beach in Cotillo, Spain after he witnessed it being used as a dumping ground for people’s garbage. The Clean Ocean Project’s team consists of project managers, web designers, photographers and many other individuals who are passionate about this cause. Since this organization works independently from the government they rely on supporters to provide them with donations. These donations allow the organization the funds necessary to carry out their projects. 

One of their main goals is to discourage people from using single use plastics. The Clean Ocean Project has many projects that aim to combat this problem. One example is the establishment of Clean Business.² They blame the reliance on single use plastics to a throw away mentality. Clean Business gives certification to companies that are committed to reducing their plastic footprint by eliminating all single use plastics and that meet a certain list of criteria as seen in Figure 2. The purpose of his certification is to demonstrate that a business is serious about sustainability which may encourage consumers to be more aware of the types of businesses they are supporting. Another project to reduce single use plastic is their Clean Straw Project. Members of this organization visit local restaurants and bars to encourage them to make the switch to reusable or paper straws. They also offer to collect all plastic straws and send them to a recycling center. While this is great for eliminating single use plastics, this is done on such a small scale. Eliminating any plastic is a great step, yet plastic straws contribute so minutely to the problem of plastic pollution. Individuals can only do so much by traveling to local restaurants. This project does not have very far reaching effects. Since their funding and reach is limited, they could try to gain enough support to bring this to the attention of people higher up in power.

To engage individuals to support their mission, the Clean Ocean Project organizes beach cleanups. They encourage beach cleanups on Fuerteventura, one of the eastern Canary islands where they have Playa Pallets located on the beach as seen in Figure 3. A playa pallet is a wooden bin made out of recycled materials that motivates people to pick up trash that they see on the beach and place them in these bins. Furthermore, on their website, they provide a template for individuals that want to arrange their own beach clean up. They also encourage people to ask their local government for support and supplies to spark involvement in their own communities. An issue with this is that many people may support reducing plastic pollution, but may not have the time to organize their own beach cleanup. There may also not be enough incentive for people to organize these things as well, especially if they do not live near the ocean. This project only targets a small audience.

Nongovernmental organizations are great for raising awareness about particular issues. The Clean Ocean Project does a great job at tackling many of the issues of plastic pollution at a local level through their various projects including beach cleanups, The Clean Straw Project, and others listed on their website including the Clean Coffee Project and their collaboration with Retorna. However, their limited funding and size makes it difficult to clean up plastic waste from the oceans at a rate that is faster than the rate at which plastic enters the ocean. 

References

1.“We Are the Problem, and the Solution.” Clean Ocean Project. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://cleanoceanproject.org/. 

2. “Become a Clean Business – How to Be More Sustainable!” Clean Business, March 23, 2022. https://www.cleanbusiness.org/criteria/.