By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - A solo campaigner in his 70s, has been protesting in central London since 2019 to put the spotlight on plastic pollution and demand more respect for the environment.
Plastic pollution, one of the most dangerous environmental problems, poses significant risks to nature and people as UN data suggests that every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into oceans, rivers and lakes, making it a "global problem."
Robert, 73, who used to be a taxi driver, decided to take action to not remain silent in the face of plastic pollution because he "felt compelled" to clean up a local area, do litter picking and keep it clean as possible he can."
In the meantime, Robert, who preferred to be called Rob, started his campaign in Parliament Square to "spread the message," to reach as many people as possible to tell them about the negative effects of plastic problem.
Rob said he has been in the area almost daily, carrying a couple of signs with slogans, featuring plastic pollution. What makes his protest interesting is the many plastic bottles attached to the signs that draw attention.
"When I realized the consequence of our foolishness, of our selfishness, of our laziness and our reliability on convenience, disregarding the damage we're doing to other living things, other species, including ourselves with plastic injection, that was quite an eye-opener," he told Anadolu.
Rob said he is lucky to live near a river which allows him to better evaluate the presence of plastic pollution.
"I thought I can either sit at home ... or come here and try to spread the message. I chose to come here and spread the message. And I've been here since February 2019, and almost a daily basis," he said, noting he gets a very positive public reaction.
"I tend to keep going until significant change has come, or until I cannot do it anymore," he said.
Rob said people can avoid a lot of their own problems by having "a bit more care," such as thinking about a species.
Rob noted that he has decided not to stand outside the gates of parliament because he said that he feels politicians "will do very little regarding this."
"I chose to stand here, and my thought was to appeal to the public, to the ordinary people, rather than the politicians specifically because I felt it -- I could generate more power regarding these messages from the ordinary people and I think that's happened," he said.
He noted as an example the pollution caused by disposable vapes as 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away in the UK each week.
"The lithium content in these electronic cigarettes is sufficient to make 5,000 batteries for electric cars -- that's madness," he noted.
According to the government, 5 million disposable vapes, which "represent a huge and growing stream of hard-to-recycle waste," are thrown away every week, up from 1.3 million in 2023.
"Just stop using the environment as a tipping ground," said Rob, adding people also should stop causing untold damage to the environment which is a "very simple step."