Fight plastic pollution in the bay of Cartagena

Some people still ask, why organize clean-ups? The truth is that for Fundacion Bahia clean-ups are still sorely needed in our city and in the entire Caribbean Sea, if not the Ocean in general.  Yes, every day more and more people, institutions, organizations, and companies are involved in clean-ups. This is great. Hopefully, pretty soon the entire population will be able to control that unfortunate yet typical impulse to throw out “trash” or whatever residue they have in their hands with a flick of the wrist. This unfortunate action is done automatically, without thinking of the consequences to the ecosystems, the biodiversity, other humans, or the planet. Hopefully, pretty soon everyone will have the level of consciousness, respect, education, and responsibility so that there will no longer be a need for clean-ups. Until these become irrelevant however, Fundacion Bahia will continue to educate through example, leading clean-ups with separation at source methodologies and stressing the importance of the 3 R´s – specifically in terms of plastic consumption: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (this being the last resource).

 A very helpful educational tool for promoting the 3Rs has been Fundacion Bahia´s community exchange program. After previous socialization within the communities, on September 2^nd Fundacion Bahia exchanged approximately 3.6 tons of salmon and trout spur donated by Antillana, for about 1,000 kilos of plastic residues recovered from the ecosystem -  to be recycled. This carefully crafted exchange program impacted two bayside underserved communities, Punta Arena and Caño del Oro, with the participation of 2 schools and approximately 300 island families who benefitted from a nutritious exchange! Volunteers from Cojowa also helped load and unload fish and plastic from and to our flagship boat Antares 71. Please help us to continue transporting food that would otherwise go to waste and benefit communities in need, who in return clean up their own ecosystems and actively improve their living conditions.

Did you know September is the month of beach clean-ups? This year Fundacion Bahia joined the worldwide International Coastal Cleanup effort with several clean-ups. On Sept. 17 more than 40 high-school and community volunteers recovered about 106 kilos of residue from the beaches of Punta Arena. Of these, 31.65 kilos were recyclable plastics that the local "Women Eco-guides" will benefit from. On Sept. 27^th Fundacion Bahia and Naves cleaned up the mouth of the Manzanares River in Santa Marta. This is our second clean-up in this location from where volunteers recovered 71 kg of mostly plastic, benefitting our precious biodiversity!  

Do you agree that we can all be guardians of the Ocean? On Oct. 5^th the Fundacion Bahia team joined Betty La Fea 2 crew members and location for a mini clean up and mangrove planting to be featured in the background of the famous sitcom or “telenovela”. Subliminal message: clean up and plant trees! Loud and clear!

Fundacion Bahia is very grateful for this opportunity to send out our important conservation message within the awaited sequel of the most widely viewed Colombian sitcom in the world. Many thanks to you for reading and for supporting Fundacion Bahia´s passionate work! We are all guardians of the Ocean!