It is no news that humanity has a dangerous affair with plastic bottles. The world purchases these ecological hazards one million […]
It is no news that humanity has a dangerous affair with plastic bottles. The world purchases these ecological hazards one million times a minute adding up to nearly 500 billion bottles a year. Many bottles wind up in the ocean instead of recycling bins, and even the sheer volume of trash that needs recycling has become increasingly difficult to keep up with.
While countries like Ghana and Algeria are contributing to ecological efforts to reduce the plastic menace by building roads and houses for refugees using plastic bottles respectively, Cameroonian non-profit Madiba & Nature is turning plastic bottles into canoes.
Madiba & Nature is pioneering a creative use for bottles, which contribute heavily to pollution and environmental degradation. According to their website: “…we want to help change people’s attitudes and bad habits on the management of plastic waste that degrades sensitive ecosystems.”
The plastic bottles become fishing boats for the community and the initiative not only preserves the environment but also helps fishermen in his community with a cheaper way of earning a living.
The non-profit organization got started by a group of students in 2015 to promote the circular economy in order to ensure the conservation and enhancement of nature. With almost a year of activity, Madiba & Nature boasts of having already developed an effective ecological model of recycling plastic bottles by building infrastructures such as pirogues, boucaro, chandeliers, bins and garbage cans.