On Sept. 19th, 2009 over 6,500 volunteers across Nicaragua joined forces at 104 locations to clean up beaches, lakesides and rivers. This may be the largest single-day volunteer event in Nicaragua. Volunteers from public institutions, private business, municipal governments, universities, NGOs, news media and the army worked together in pro of healthy aquatic ecosystems upon which Nicaragua's economy, especially tourism and fishing, depends. The renowned Nicaraguan singer, Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy donated the rights to use his song "Que le vamos a decir a nuestros hijos" (What will we tell our children) to promote the event.
Over 330,000 pounds of trash from 270 km of coastline and waterways were collected, a portion of which was sent to recycling centers when possible. At each location, a team leader summarized and weighed the items in order to tackle the trash problem at is source. Plastic bags topped the list adding to the growing momentum to ban plastic bags nationwide as many other countries such as Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, and China already have. Plastic drink bottles, clothes, glass bottles, plastic plates and utensils were also among the Top 10 categories of materials collected.
Nicaragua's data will be compiled with that of over 100 countries in an annual Marine Debris Index published by the Ocean Conservancy. Already, the effects of plastic pollution in the oceans are being seen, as there are now 9 "floating garbage patches" in the world's oceans, consisting of billions of small, suspended particles injested by marine birds and mammals, killing them and then continuing through the food chain.
Mark your calendar for Sept. 25, 2010 to join the many good people working to reduce the trash legacy in Nicaragua
