plastic free mzansi Archives

Dr Samiksha Singh: The biggest culprit of microplastics is textiles and clothing

In just over 20 years the story of microplastics has gone from something newly described in 2004 to the dire reality of being overwhelmingly present in what we eat, drink, wear and inhale. And with it has come devastating consequences...

June 17, 2025

Microplastics are in our brains. How worried should I be?

Features

Microplastics are in our brains. How worried should I be?

Plastic is in our clothes, cars, mobile phones, water bottles and food containers. But recent research adds to growing concerns about the impact of tiny plastic fragments on our health. A study from the United States has, for the first time, found...

September 16, 2024

Gorgeous upcycled outfits at Midlands Trashion Show remind us that plastic isn’t always pretty

Fashion

Gorgeous upcycled outfits at Midlands Trashion Show remind us that plastic isn’t always pretty

Plastic pollution is one of the greatest polycrises of our time. Since its invention in the late 1800s, plastic has slowly become ubiquitous in our lives – in our homes, streets, and oceans – to such an extent that plastic...

July 10, 2023

Transforming discarded flip-flop waste into sculptures

Features

Transforming discarded flip-flop waste into sculptures

On Kenyan coastal beaches, flip-flop sandals are discarded in the sand, rocks or water. The washed-up plastics threatening the beaches are now being upcycled and transformed into unique sculptures and colourful toys.

May 30, 2023

Refashion Plastic design exchange seeds ideas for fixing the future

Features

Refashion Plastic design exchange seeds ideas for fixing the future

Faced with the complex environmental and social problems created by plastic, a group of creative thinkers, conservationists and artists gathered for a workshop in a Langa studio on a cold winter’s Saturday morning. The group was tasked with creating functional...

May 18, 2023

What “biodegradable”, “dissolvable” and “compostable” really mean

Features

What “biodegradable”, “dissolvable” and “compostable” really mean

By now, you would have noticed an increase in light plastic-like carrier bags on supermarket shelves. Most conventional light plastic packaging – for groceries, dry cleaning, bread, frozen food bags, newspapers, and garbage – is low-density polyethylene (LDPE), made from...

August 29, 2022

Explainer: What is the promise of a global agreement to reduce plastic pollution?

Explainers Features

Explainer: What is the promise of a global agreement to reduce plastic pollution?

The flow of plastic entering the ocean is expected to double by 2040. To prevent this tsunami of difficult-to-decompose waste, experts have proposed a global treaty which could oblige all nations to reduce how much plastic they produce and emit to the...

March 9, 2022

Explainer: Large scale chemical pollution now exceeds the safe limit for life on Earth

Explainers Features

Explainer: Large scale chemical pollution now exceeds the safe limit for life on Earth

The production and release of plastics, pesticides, industrial compounds, antibiotics and other pollutants is now happening so fast and on such a large scale that it has exceeded the planetary boundary for chemical pollution, the safe limit for humanity, a...

January 22, 2022

Why a single solution won’t solve our waste issue

Features

Why a single solution won’t solve our waste issue

We are facing a waste crisis, with landfills across the world at full capacity and mountains of “recycled” waste dumped in developing countries. Food packaging is a major source of this waste, giving rise to an industry of “environmentally friendly” reusable food and drink...

September 10, 2021

It will take much more effort than beach cleanups to solve problem plastics

Features

It will take much more effort than beach cleanups to solve problem plastics

After recent big ocean swells, SA’s beaches have become clear evidence of a plastic crisis. We collected two bags of waste in less than 10 minutes on Camps Bay beach last week. There are the usual culprits such as earbuds,...

July 31, 2021

Beauty

Join NUDE FOODS as it turns a corner for the beauty industry

The more we learn about the chemical and plastic content of our cosmetics, and try to eliminate problem plastics, the more we are interested in clean and green products. While there may be zero-waste food stores cropping up around the...

July 23, 2021

How a new discovery shows that cows could help solve the plastic pollution crisis

Features

How a new discovery shows that cows could help solve the plastic pollution crisis

Plastic is notoriously hard to break down, but researchers in Austria have found that bacteria from a cow’s rumen – one of the four compartments of its stomach – can digest certain types of the ubiquitous material, representing a sustainable...

July 6, 2021

Fashion

New study reveals fashion’s polyester addiction and extensive greenwashing

You’ve probably come across flashy signs in clothing stores that say “sustainable”, “low impact” or “recycled” and maybe even purchased from these sections and felt proud for doing your part. But how many of these sustainability claims are true? And...

July 5, 2021

Beauty

9 Zero-waste beauty products to change up your routine

Product packaging is the number one contributor of plastic waste. The cosmetic industry is guilty of exacerbating this problem with its excessive packaging. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation advises that we eliminate the plastics we don’t need so luckily, there are...

March 3, 2021

Features

What We Did This Plastic Free July

For the month of July, the nationwide #PlasticFreeMzansi campaign addressed the careless use of plastic. Led by WWF South Africa, The Beach Co-op and Twyg, influencers and volunteers focussed on reducing the use of plastic earbuds stems, chip packets and...

August 1, 2019

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Tag: plastic free mzansi

Dr Samiksha Singh: The biggest culprit of microplastics is textiles and clothing

Microplastics are in our brains. How worried should I be?

Gorgeous upcycled outfits at Midlands Trashion Show remind us that plastic isn’t always pretty

Transforming discarded flip-flop waste into sculptures

Refashion Plastic design exchange seeds ideas for fixing the future

What “biodegradable”, “dissolvable” and “compostable” really mean

Explainer: What is the promise of a global agreement to reduce plastic pollution?

Explainer: Large scale chemical pollution now exceeds the safe limit for life on Earth

Why a single solution won’t solve our waste issue

It will take much more effort than beach cleanups to solve problem plastics

Join NUDE FOODS as it turns a corner for the beauty industry

How a new discovery shows that cows could help solve the plastic pollution crisis

New study reveals fashion’s polyester addiction and extensive greenwashing

9 Zero-waste beauty products to change up your routine

What We Did This Plastic Free July

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