In the region where we are located, waste management is a tough subject. We have a landfill, but very few public points for waste (i.e. trash cans). There are no separate systems for green waste, glass, paper or cardboard. It all goes into the same garbage truck, and same landfill - that is, if it makes it to the landfill. Because without access to formal trash bins, the trash bags left on street corners become a hungry dog’s lunch, and we all know how poor of a job dogs do when it comes to clean-up. And remember - we’re a beach city. So where does this trash go? Swept up by the wind, two blocks down, it collects on the sandy shores and makes its way into the ocean.
While beach clean-ups are a great way to stick a band-aid on these wounds, the most effective way to address any problem is with prevention. While top-down, structural changes require a lot more effort, time and money, we are working to teach the students that they have the power to make a bottom-up effect in terms of our perceptions and actions when it comes to generation waste.
That brings us to our rule of thumb - The 8 R’s (these 5 new ones are an important addition to the old 3!):
REFUSE what you don’t need
REDUCE what you do need
REUSE what you consume
REHOME what you don’t want
REPAIR what is broken
RECYCLE what you can
ROT (compost) the rest
REPURPOSE what can’t rot
The end-goal is to teach our students and ourselves to mentally move down this list each time we make a purchase, or are faced with an item we no longer want, or need in an effort to reduce our overall impact. A handful of weeks ago, we decided to get started from the bottom of the food-chain, hoping that by moving upwards, we can explore the life-span of different “things” we encounter.
Repurposing Driftwood - Nursery Construction
Repurposing has lots of benefits, which often are more eco-friendly, affordable and accessible than other options! So when it comes to our on-a-budget Eco-club, we jump at any creative opportunity we can find. A couple of weeks ago, we took our group of Campo de Accion students a couple blocks down the beach to see what driftwood we could find. As we rebuild our nursery and garden, our method has been to find and salvage any available material that is durable enough for construction. This means recycled scraps of bamboo, concrete, and in this case, driftwood!
The beds will be used for germination as well as storing our "bottled" trees. The students are slowly designing + creating their meeting space with repurposed driftwood!
After having an open discussion about the 8 R’s and filling a few recycled sacos with trash, we began the process of driftwood selection, loading, and unloading at our site. The longer and thinner pieces are used by the students in a game of driftwood tetris as we create our germination beds for tree production, and future garden and herb beds. The thicker and smaller trunks will be used for tables, benches and “stools” in a workspace right next to the beds. When it comes time for transplanting our tree seedlings into recycled plastic bottles, the space will be repurposed for an easy transition!
Funding
While we are in the process of non-profit and grant applications, if accepted, we will not receive funds until early 2020! As our we begin to scrape the bottom of our funds, we ask that you please continue to support our efforts by following us on social media, sharing this post, and if you can donating to our campaign.
Thanks to you, we are growing an environmental conscience which leads to environmentally friendly actions and change. Thank you!