Tackling the scourge of plastic waste

There is a simple motto that environmentalists have been pushing for some time now: “Take three for the sea.” The philosophy is that if each beachgoer follows this mantra and picks up three pieces of plastic waste on every visit, then beaches and seas will be a lot clearer of this harmful waste and the wildlife that lives there a lot safer.

The same should be practiced inland. OK, “take three for the land” does not have the same ring to it, but the camels and other wildlife will not hold that rhyming failure against us.

Scientists in the UAE found that, of 30,000 camel corpses examined between 2008 and 2020, 1 percent — that is 300 — were found to have succumbed to plastic pollution. Examinations of the contents of their stomachs found vast amounts of plastic, up to 64 kg.

So, what has prompted me to bring this up in what appears to be a random rant? Recently, I took a drive to the UAE desert in an area near the villages of Thameed and Fili, on the border with Oman. I was hoping to see some open spaces untouched by human greed and idleness, but sadly it was not to be. Instead, there were plastic bottles strewn across the ground and polythene caught in trees.

I collected vast amounts of plastic waste. I filled three large bags with bottles and the remnants of polythene bags that had been left out in what would otherwise be a place of natural beauty. There was even a large paint bucket, which I filled as well. I took all this waste away and put it in a large bin not far away. The paint bucket must have been driven there along roads where there are multiple bins.

This is not unique to land. Out at sea, it is not uncommon to see bottles bobbing about in the water, along with bags and other waste that can be consumed by aquatic wildlife such as fish, dolphins and turtles.

The Take 3 for the Sea organization reports that 56 million items of rubbish were collected at its litter-picking events around the globe between 2009 and 2024, but there is still much more out there.

According to ResearchGate, coastal populations around the Arabian Gulf generated about 1.6 million metric tonnes of plastic waste in 2020, of which 1.33 million tonnes was inadequately managed — such as being dumped in open landfills, where the wind can pick up lighter waste and carry it for miles into the desert. Another 19,000 tonnes was simply littered, left by people as someone else’s problem.

As reported in Arab News last month, there is a move to drive down the use of single-use plastic in Saudi Arabia — and there must be. Currently, 5 billion plastic water bottles are discarded in the Kingdom every year, of which less than 5 percent are recycled.

Despite mounting concern about the environmental impact of plastic waste, 77 percent of Saudis continue to rely on bottled water as their main source of hydration, according to a study by Wisewell, a UAE-based water technology company.

It is not easy to completely avoid plastic. In 2023, the World Wide Fund for Nature reported that the average person in the UAE used 94 kg of plastic per year and that number is likely to keep growing.

But there is a lot more we can do to fight this scourge. Many supermarkets now offer paper bags in the fruit and vegetable section, while we can also reuse the bags we have.

Governments keep talking about banning plastic bags, yet they are still available. But there is no need to use them, just buy yourself tote bags or similar.

Of course, there is no need for the water we drink to be contained in plastic bottles. There are a multitude of other bottles and flasks available that can be used an infinite number of times.

Those camels, birds and reptiles you see — and the rest — do not know what harm the plastic does to them.

Peter Harrison

In the meantime, when you go out into the desert or countryside, think about why you go there in the first place. We go to enjoy the views and the peace and to see areas of natural beauty, not to see countless discarded bottles and bags lying on the ground.

You might be one of those people whose mother ran around after them until well into their 20s, possibly even their 30s. But remember how pleased she was when you finally told her that you had tidied your room all by yourself.

Nature has a habit of reacting in a similar way when you do not destroy it. Those camels, birds and reptiles you see — and the rest — do not know what harm the plastic does to them. They don’t know what plastic is.

But when they eat it, thinking it is something edible, it sits in their stomach as it is impossible to digest. The animals lose their appetite and potentially die of starvation.

Ingested plastic with sharp edges or rough sides can also cause abrasions in the animal’s digestive system, causing bleeding and infections.

And let us not forget, bottles are like traps for smaller creatures that unwittingly crawl inside but cannot find their way out.

So, the next time you go for a party or just a picnic in an open space, don’t just leave your waste for someone else to clear up — take it home with you, or at the very least to one of the countless bins that tend to line the roads on your way home. And if you see rubbish on the ground, pick it up, take it with you and put it in a bin.

• Peter Harrison is a senior editor at Arab News in the Dubai office. He has covered the Middle East for more than a decade. X: @PhotoPJHarrison