| Danial Norjidi |
THE impact of single-use plastics on the ocean was one of the topics highlighted during the Ocean Day Symposium 2018 recently.
Among the speakers to feature at the June 9 symposium at the Nur Huda Hall of the Department of Fisheries, were representatives from two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Brunei Darussalam, namely Straw Wars Borneo (SWB) and BruWILD.
SWB Project Manager and Founder Nur Hafizah binti Haji Abdul Harith in her presentation titled ‘Good Seatizenship’ spoke on how she became an advocate for marine conservation through her campaign.
SWB is a youth-led movement that aims to reduce or eliminate single-use plastic drinking straws by promoting awareness and engaging with schools and business establishments in Brunei Darussalam.
Nur Hafizah highlighted that plastic straws are non-biodegradable and affirmed that there are alternatives, such as glass straws, paper straws and bamboo straws.
She shared that SWB has a number of projects currently underway. These include creating and sharing infographics on their social media platforms as part of their education activities to raise awareness, which they provide on their social media platforms.
She also noted their work with business establishments, including a project with a café that says it no longer use plastic straws and instead sell metal straws.
SWB provides two stickers for business establishments that they work with, which either state ‘Plastic straw-free restaurant’ or ‘We only provide straws upon request.’
Nur Hafizah went on to share that the organisation’s future plans is for collaborations with schools through workshops and seminars, as well as to collaborate with Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and more business establishments including restaurants and cafes.
She added that SWB hopes to venture outside of Brunei in the future.
The symposium also featured Nadhirah binti Lamit, who is the Project Manager of BruWILD’s #indamaustraw campaign and ‘Saving Our Turtles’ project.
She shared in her presentation, BruWILD is a NGO formed by a group of trained biologists and conservationists. It works towards the conservation and preservation of Brunei’s flora and fauna, and strives to build a future for Brunei where people and nature, sustainable development and natural heritage can co-exist and thrive to mutual benefit.
The presentation noted that Saving Our Turtles is one of BruWILD’s core projects to spread knowledge and create awareness on the endangered creature.
Meanwhile, the #indamaustraw campaign is a ‘no straw movement’ to omit or reduce the use of plastic straws, through an ‘A-I-S Approach’ (Awareness, Introduction and Solutions).
As was explained in the presentation, this approach involves raising awareness through education and first-hand experience.
The target audience includes schools, the private sector and public.
The approach also involves the introduction of measures at business establishments.
As an example, she noted an ongoing project with a restaurant which has seen it stopping plastic straws for two months, no plastic bags for take-out, and a charge of BND0.20 for every plastic requested.
The third part of the approach, suggests alternative solutions such as metal straws, bamboo straws, paper straws and reusable plastic straws.
Speaking on future projects, her presentation noted a campaign called #indamauplastik, which would focus on other single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, plastic cups and plastic containers.
“In the future, we would like to collaborate with Straw Wars Borneo, other NGOs, the private sector and the government,” she said.
The World Ocean Day Symposium 2018 was hosted by Oceanic Quest Sdn Bhd, Reef Check Brunei and Kaleidoscope Studio and supported by Reef Check Worldwide and Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd.