"Local Initiatives Initiating the Change"

any a little makes a mickle,

” is a well known saying. To put it another way, small drops of water, one day, make the mighty ocean. The focus of both morals is on patience. Little things we do today, even initiating small changes, eventually will bring fruitful change for us someday. No matter how minor they are, there will be a reward someday in the future for those who keep their steadiness.

In one corner of the world, small changes for the betterment of the marine environment are being triggered by local groups of people. All over the world, ocean plastic pollution is an urgent environmental threat. Even worse, global production of plastic, according to a study published in Science by Borrelle, et al., in 2020, is expected to double over the next decade, so aggressive interventions are vital. South and Southeast Asia regions are one of the nations who especially are bearing the brunt of the problem, taking the initiative of others. In order to reduce such ocean plastic pollution, minor changes that were promoted by locally led initiatives have been catalyzing change in South and Southeast Asia.

The study published in Science by Borrelle, et al. found that the amount of plastic estimated to enter aquatic systems annually

by Sarah Choi

Jeju Island, South Korea

from mismanaged waste is 11 million metric tons, and without an increase in our current mitigation efforts, the study estimates mismanaged waste to reach 20–53 million metric tons by 2030. According to 2009 UN/FAO report conducted by G. Macfadyen, T. Huntington, and R. Cappell, abandoned and discarded fishing gear have been contributing to marine debris, and they concluded that plastics in the environment and ocean are heavily influenced by quantities of mismanaged waste on land. Multiple local, regional, and trans-national initiatives have been gathered to reduce plastic pollution on land through policy implementation, awareness campaigns, marine

by Sarah Choi

Jeju Island, South Korea

plastic surveying and monitoring, and capacity building.

Specifically, as examined by a new study in Marine Policy led by Jennifer Estelle Mathis, Indonesia and Vietnam established national action plans to reduce plastic pollution. Indonesia aims to reduce marine plastic debris by 70% by 2025 by focusing on improving public awareness to inspire social behavior change, reducing both land and seabased leakage, reducing plastic use and production, and improving existing infrastructure between 2017 and 2025. Vietnam’s ultimate goal is to build and develop mechanisms and policies on marine debris management that will eventually reduce marine plastic litter by 50%, collect 50% of abandoned or discarded fishing gear, eliminate single-use plastics and nonbiodegradable plastic bags in 80% of coastal tourist areas, conduct nationwide beach cleanup campaigns at least twice a year, and strive for at least 80% of marine protected areas to be free of plastic litter. Apparently, both of the regions prioritized making changes in specific local areas and civil society, not merely enforcing new policies. They were aware that new policies indeed make a larger contribution in the future, yet they believed stronger linkages among society and local governments would be much faster on making direct change at the local level.

One of the Southeast Asia region's strategies was to formalize and gather informal waste collectors in order to mobilize an enormous labor force. Evidenced by the Philippines' Catholic Relief Services, through their training, social enterprise groups provided daily SWM services to 6,000 households and collected approximately 29,000 kg of recyclable household waste per month, says the informal sector. Not only collecting waste but also helping to recover all recyclables, a critical element, strengthened the recycling value chain. As one of the crucial components of local waste management in many of the Asian regions, it contributed to diverting plastic waste from the waste stream.

However, there were some downfalls despite their hard work on managing plastic wastes in the ocean; one of them was COVID-19. Due to lockdowns for the prevention of spread of the COVID-19 virus, volunteers were prohibited from carrying out project tasks. Not only blocking the route among the

by Sarah Choi

Jeju Island, South Korea

volunteers, the pandemic also encouraged an increase in the usage of single-use plastics as cities struggled to cope with the surge in online shopping, food delivery, =and medical waste. Specifically, referring to a study in Environmental Pollution published by Justine Ammendolia, Jacquelyn Saturno, and Amy L. Brooks, the “COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the surge of production, consumption, and disposal of PPE such as face masks, disposable gloves, and disinfectant wipes which are often single-use plastic, resulting in leakage into the environment. ”

Overall, apparently, the efforts of local regions in Southeast Asia are conveying straightforward lessons. Instead of wasting your time, merely worrying and doing nothing, why don’t you go out and look around, see how polluted your marine environments are by plastics and pick up plastics if there is any. Many a little does make a mickle.

Ammendolia, Justine, Jacquelyn Saturno, Amy L.Brooks, Shoshanah Jacobs, and Jenna R. Jambeck. 2021. “An Emerging Source of Plastic Pollution: Environmental Presence of Plastic Personal Protective Equipment Debris Related to COVID-19 in a Metropolitan City. ” Environmental Pollution 269 (116160): doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116160.

Borrelle, Stephanie B., et al. 2020.

“Predicted Growth in Plastic Waste Exceeds Efforts to Mitigate Plastic Pollution. ” Science 369 (6510): 1515-18, DOI: 10.1126/science.aba3656.

G. Macfadyen, T. Huntington, R. Cappell. 2009. “Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear. ” UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies 185: https://stg-wedocs.unep.org

Mathis, Jennifer Estelle, Marianne Carliez Gillet, Henri Disselkoen, and Jenna R. Jambeck. 2022. "Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution: Locally Led Initiatives Catalyzing Change in South and Southeast Asia. " Marine Policy 143 (105127): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105127

by Sarah Choi

Jeju Island, South Korea