Fight plastic pollution in the bay of Cartagena

We did it!!! For the second year in a row, Fundación Bahia organized the World Clean Up Day Effort for Cartagena with the help of many volunteers, other NGOs, committed enterprises and leaders! Many thanks to all for your support and especially to the more than 930 volunteers who on September 21st participated cleaning up La Boquilla as well as other locations around Cartagena´s bodies of water, with a staggering 6,177 kilos of residue picked up and disposed of correctly! Plus a beautiful ecological mural at the Punta Arena community center!

During the Migratory Bird Festival on October 30th, Fundación Bahía participated on a very exciting birding tour to Punta Arena with Colegio Montessori´s Juan Felipe Restrepo, in efforts to form local eco-tourist guides, and spread awareness on the richness of the biodiversity in Punta Arena and the importance of conservation for future generations. Fundación Bahía organized an Environmental Awareness Workshop at the local school with the help of students from the Environmental Education program from the Universidad de Cartagena. 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were vaccinated against environmental apathy and loved meeting the most committed environmentalist, watching their own image on a mirror!

We proudly present #MarLimpio2020, a city wide campaign to raise awareness and fight plastic pollution in our bay and oceans. Everything thrown without care ends up in the Ocean! Cartagena exists thanks to its bay and today its booming tourism industry depends on the welfare of its people, ecosystems and biodiversity. We need to protect our Oceans and Bay by paying more attention to our residue management practices and by making responsible choices as consumers. Most of the trash found during our beach clean ups and in the bay and ocean corresponds to single-use plastic. We all need to curb our enthusiasm when it comes to consuming these goods and we need to passionately refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle plastic! Please visit our website and sign the pledge for cleaner oceans and to become a #GuardianesdelOceano! #OceanGuardian! Please help us build more of these educational sculptures to invite and stimulate people to protect our beaches and sea!

Many thanks for your continued support and for helping us to continue our mission to protect the ocean and the bay from plastic pollution and to include island communities in Tierra Bomba within the touristic and economic circuit of Cartagena!

Warmest regards,
Diana de la Vega

Links:

• Visit our site and prarticipate in our campaign!

Fundación Bahía y Ecosistemas de Colombia has continued with the organization of mayor beach clean ups and educational efforts to fight plastic pollution in our bay and our seas. Prior to each beach clean up the Foundation team and a group of volunteers visit the site and socialize better residue management and recycling habits with local interest groups and community, in order to ensure effective local participation and cultural change.

Many thanks to the more than 700 volunteers that came together on June 15th for the great Bocagrande Beach Clean Up! Of the approximately 1 ton of residues picked up, 500Kg were recyclables, given to local recyclers for their recovery: 25kgs of plastic paste, 16kgs of plastic bottle caps, 55kgs PET bottles, 44kgs carton, 10kgs of cigarette butts, 18kgs Styrofoam, 35kgs aluminum cans, 45kgs metal bottle caps. This major beach cleanup was supported by Bavaria and led by Fundacion Bahia y Ecosistemas, with the participation of Corpoturismo, Red Jovenes de Ambiente, Mayor of Cartagena, Pacaribe, Amigos del Mar, Civil Defense, Tecnologico Comfenalco, Sena, Cartagena Chamber of Commerce and local artists. Volunteers and team members came together at the end for an artistic group photo in order to promote care for our sea! #cuidatumar

On July 31st 2019, Fundación Bahía participated and co-led the beach clean up, part of a concerted effort to visit the island community of Punta Arena and offer institutional support from the Mayors Office, the Secretary of Education and the National Armada. Efforts to promote ecotourism and better care of the environment include these educational clean ups, new ecological art murals and workshops within the school and community spaces, and working together with local hotels also interested in murals and recycling.

Fundación Bahía was asked to lead the World Clean Up Day in Cartagena for the second consecutive year, as part of the Lets Do It World movement uniting around 150 countries and 20 Colombian Cities this next 21st of September for clean up efforts. We have paired with local environmental NGOs to present a united front in the locality of La Boquilla, which is in dire need of environmental education interventions, improvement of residue management and recycling practices. Although we will conduct our clean up in the Punta Arena community that day, we are supporting and helping organize the great clean up in La Boquilla, with Red Jovenes de Ambiente, Corajem, Tu Cultura, Amigos del Mar, Huellas Sostenibles, Verde Esperanza, Fauna Silvestre, Corpoturismo amongst others. Danfroc and Champetu will host a clean up in Olaya Herrera and Disk Concept in Baru. The idea is to all clean up on September 21st wherever we are in the world. Our results will also be reported to Ocean Conservancy´s beach clean up day initiative held on the same date.

Thanks for your continued support to our cause! United we can change the world!

Links:

• Visit our website