Transcript
When James Atherton goes walking, he sees the scourge of plastic everywhere.
Mr Atherton, who is the president of the Samoa Conservation Society, says it's taking its toll on Samoa.
"I do a lot of bushwalking and I see a lot of plastics thrown in the bush, and a lot of times it's thrown down rivers as well because it's behind the village, perhaps out of sight out of mind. Plastics are a huge problem for us, about one quarter of our waste is plastic and a lot of it ends up in the lagoon and of course it has impacts on our marine life. The waterways, especially in the built-up areas, are full of trash and, in particular, plastics."
Samoa's problem is a global one.
Each year, 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the world's oceans, while millions of whales, birds, turtles, fish and other sea creatures die when they mistake plastic for food or become ensnared in it.
Recent studies have found a plastic bag at the deepest part of the ocean, and toxins have been found leaching into the food chain.
The acting chief executive of Samoa's environment ministry, Seumalo Afele Faiilagi, says while the Pacific contributes less than one percent to the global plastic problem, Samoa can't sit by and do nothing.
"What's happening around the globe in terms of the vast ocean will actually effect our small islands, especially with our concern that the marine resources, [which] our local people depends on for their subsistence living through their fishing and so forth. So it's really a concern for us to address the issues of plastic pollution."
So from January, Samoa will ban all single-use plastic, starting with plastic bags and straws - but eventually including cups, plates and takeaway containers.
Seumalo says Samoa has to curb its plastic use, which has increased by more than 20 percent since 2011. About 70 percent of the waste in Samoa's waterways is plastic.
Like most Pacific countries, recycling programmes are expensive -- small quantities have to be shipped over a vast distance at great expense, so in most cases, it just gets dumped.
The Conservation Society's James Atherton says a ban on single-use plastic is one of the most direct ways to address the problem.
But he says the government and NGOs need to work hard between now and January to make alternatives available.
"I think the key thing that we need to think about is alternatives and it's good in a way that the ban is not going to be in force until the beginning of next year, because that does give us a few months to work out the alternatives which we must have in place before any ban like that can be effective."
Seumalo says the government will be working to do just that.
He says the plan already has buy-in from the business community there, even if there are a few issues that still need ironing out.
When it kicks in, Samoa will become the ninth country in the Pacific to have some kind of law to curb plastic use.
A waste specialist at the Pacific environment agency SPREP, Anthony Talouli, who helped the Samoa government with its plans, says the bans are another example of Pacific leadership when it comes to the environment.
"I think the Pacific is unique in the sense that it's quite the global leader in doing this, and it's not just Samoa. Before Samoa [there was] Vanuatu, which will have its legislation come into effect this coming Sunday, where Vanuatu will be the first country in the world that will ban straws. Prior to that we had the Marshall Islands and many others."
Anthony Talouli says finding alternatives may be inconvenient, but they shouldn't be too hard - they've been there all along.
"You know, banana leaves as a plate; old ways of looking at coconut fronds, using that to weave baskets to carry your goods, to carry your taro. So all those traditional means, I think there'll be much more that these Pacific countries can contribute to the alternative ways."
A nationwide consultation programme about the ban kicks off this week.
