Paraiso Barahona Dominican Republic Anti-Litter Campaing
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. Purposes of the project
To prevent the problem with trash from continuing to grow, the project will implement an Anti-Litter Campaign in the town of Paraiso, Barahona. The town will be cleaned by volunteer residents. In this project, the people of the town will also be trained to be able to manage their trash better and more cheaply.
B. History of the problem
Paraíso is a town located in Barahona, in the Southwest of the Dominican Republic. It is a small town bordered by green mountains and rivers that empty into the Caribbean, This town has over seven thousand people and the main labor force is agriculture and fishing.
The people of this town have problems with their trash management; it is caused by their lack of knowledge about trash management and its consequences to the environment when it is not managed correctly.
The people in this town throw trash on sidewalks, in corners, rivers, in drainage systems, and next to the beach and burn trash in their yards. The most critical point is that the next generation is learning these practices and they will do the same because they are receiving wrong information from their parents. They do not know that these actions are producing different diseases to the people that live in this town. Also this is causing:
· Contamination of the river and the beach.
· Contamination of the water that the people use for their needs.
· Air pollution.
· Soil pollution
· The extinction of the flora and fauna.
· Decrease in agricultural production.
· Decreased in income of the town from enjoyment of the beach.
C. Recommendations
To avoid all the consequences of poor trash management, the recommendations of this project are:
· Teach the people what is trash and its classification.
· Teach the people about trash and its consequences when it is not managed correctly
· How to keep trash at home until the city come for it.
· Give recommendations to the mayor of the town to implement a better system of trash collection.
INTRODUCTION
The problem of trash management in Paraiso, Barahona is not a recent issue; it started several years ago for two different reasons. Today this behavior started to be reflected in critical consequences in health problems, environmental pollution and decreased in the economics of the town because the tourists do not want to come back to the beaches because there is too much trash.
The people need to be taught how to change this negative behavior to protect the environment and improve the community. Through the workshop at Paraiso Elementary School, citizens of the town will learn about the negative consequences of poor trash management on the environment and the health of the residents and will be shown better ways to manage trash correctly and more cheaply.
A. Background of the Problem.
The most important reason for the problem is the lack of awareness of the people that live in Paraiso. There are different organizations doing projects to control trash management; however, people keep throwing trash in the incorrect places (sidewalks, rivers, in drainage systems and next to the beach) The most critical point is that the next generation is learning these practices and they will do the same because they are receiving wrong information from their parents and friends, who say that trash is not dangerous and no one can control trash collection.
The second reason is the system that the mayor of the town is using. This system does not help the trash problem in the town because they only collect the trash twice a week, sometimes once a week, sometimes not at all. When this happens in a town that has over seven thousand people, it is clear that in two days all the garbage containers in the different houses will be full. What people do then is throw trash in the river, on `sidewalks; in drainage systems and on the beach because they don’t want to keep the trash too long at the house because of the bad smell.
B. Purpose of the project
To prevent the problem with trash from continuing to grow, the project will implement an Anti-Litter Campaign in the town of Paraiso, Barahona. The town will be cleaned by volunteer residents. In this project, the people of the town will also be trained to be able to manage their trash better and more cheaply.
C. Scope of the report
This project will make suggestions about trash management and teach the people about the consequences of poor trash management. It will also teach disease prevention. However the objective of this project does not included trash collection or recycling or treatment of disease.
RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
A. Factors of the problem
The problem with the trash in Paraiso, Barahona, Dom. Rep. is that the people throw trash on sidewalks, in rivers and drainage systems and next to the beach, those actions produce different diseases in people and animals, and pollution in the river and other elements of the environments in the entire town.
The factors that produce these issues with trash management in ParaisoBarahona are: that this town (ParaisoBarahona) has not implemented a good system for trash management by the local government. For this reason, the people that live in the town are very poorly educated about what to do with trash. They do not know what to do with the trash that they have at home, and after a while it produces a bad smell, infections and diseases, environmental pollution and rats. So they do not want to leave it at home. Believing that they are getting of it properly, they throw the trash on the corners, along the streets, in vacant lots, on the roads, in rivers and on the beautiful beaches. People burn the trash in their yards or outside of the town.
B. Consequences of the problem:
The major consequences of this poor trash management in ParaisoBarahona are:
· Health problems
· Air pollution
· Flora and fauna extinction
· Soil Pollution
· River and beach pollution
· Decrease in the economic welfare of the town
Health problems: When trash is dumped in uncontrolled landfills (the corners, sidewalks along the streets, in vacant lots, the roads, rivers and beaches) with a mix oforganic and inorganic trash, as is in the case of ParaisoBarahona, the production of pathogenic microorganisms increases and promotes the proliferation of various organisms that produce different diseases infections, proliferation of pests and gastrointestinal, respiratory and fungal diseases, proliferation of mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever. ("el Nuevo Diario.com.ni" Especiales).
Air pollution: This is produced by the fumes and gases that are dispersed into the air when people burn their trash in the house or outside of the town. The organic matter that is in the trash starts to produce a bad small during the process of decomposition, and all these bad smells are spread around town.
There are others factor that cause part of the air pollution. For example, Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant gas in the air and causes more damage than any other gas. It is very toxic and remains in the atmosphere for more than five hundred years. The main sources of generating this gas are the combustion of petroleum and petroleum products, trash burning, excessive logging, lack of forest cover and the decomposition of organic matter ("monografias.com").
Flora and fauna extinction: When people throw trash and liquids in places like rivers, roads, and beaches and in vacant lots, they are affecting the ecosystems of flora and fauna, mainly toxic that can cause death of animals and plants by high concentrations of pollutants of heavy metals and low ph.
Soil Pollution: When trash is thrown on the ground the process of decomposition begins. In this process, all the chemicals go in the land and those kill the nutrients in the soil. This will not let the vegetation grow because there are not nutrients. The Center for Human Ecology and Health says “the trash and waste organic and inorganic materials that are dumped in nature change the conditions and produce changes that can range from erosion to the extinction of species, Landfills outdoors not only with the natural habitat of the organisms, but disrupt. Biogeochemical cycles, or members of food chains. As a result, the humans have fewer resources to feed themselves; to seek new land to exploit the conditions will further damage the planet and also incur many diseases caused by littering the environment” ("profesorenlinea.cl")
With this information, we can say that the citizens of ParaisoBarahona are killing the nutrients of their land and this will bring serious consequences to the plantations that they are working in this town. What is important is that the cost of life will be more expensive than now because they will not be able to produce their own food and that will force them to go out of town to buy food in other places.
River and beach pollution: trash from different houses that throw it into the drainage systems or the river, and the trash from school that goes into the water, alter the chemical composition of the water making it unsuitable for consumption, irrigation or for the life of many organisms, this can be caused by organic or inorganic trash that has contact with the water. ("monografias.com")
“When the people deposit organic trash in the water, it attracts a large number of bacteria and organisms that feed on that trash. Their activity increases through large scale reproduction, and thus its population grows wildly. Therefore, they a greater volume of oxygen dissolved in water, killing many fish by not having that element essential for the respiratory process. However, bacteria are not affected because many species can perform respiration without the presence of oxygen, on anaerobically. This process, known as fermentation, causes the water to become turbid, emits a foul odor in the presence of hydrogen sulfide and methane and results in the death of many fish, sometimes of economic importance to man.” ("profesorenlinea.cl")
Another consequence of river pollution is that the water in the river will not have another way to flow and when there is too much rain, the river grows a lot. All the trash that is in its flow will go to the beach and other trash that is too heavy will deviate the flow of the river. This can cause damage to the houses and farms that are close to its path.
When trash is on the beaches, the beaches will be dirty. When this happens, people cannot enjoy the beach because of the trash. This makes people from other towns feel bad because they cannot take a day to enjoy the beach. Also tourists do not want to visit the beaches of the town because they are too dirty and uncomfortable. As a result, the economic resources that some people have will disappear because they will not be able to sell the different products that they have to the tourists.
The next picture was taken from “Facebook Paraiso.” It shows the contamination of the river and beach of ParaisoBarahona. You can see the movement that the flow makes when this grows and the trash deviate, the flow of the river into the baseball field ("Paraísobarahonaparaíso,”)
Problems in the Economy: The consequences of poor trash management on the economy is a big topic in this town (ParaisoBrarahona). As we can see, this problem is killing all the factors that produce resource such as food from the farms, fish from the river, and the beach which is one of the biggest attractions that the town has for tourists that come to the town and leave income to the people that have small stores selling different attractive crafts and others that sell typical food for a living. Another factor from the beach is that the fishers will not be able to catch any fish on the beach because in the future all chemicals and organisms that are in the trash will kill all the nutrients that are in the coast of this beach. All the fish will move away from this part of the ocean, which means that this income will be lost(Feliz, 2012).
C. Actions to solve the problem:
To implement an action plan against poor trash management in ParaisoBarahona, the first thing to do is organize with the political leaders, religious leaders, and the teachers of the town and residents (children, young adults and elderly) and explain to them the objectives of the project to deal with poor trash management in the town.
The second step will be to educate the people who will work on the project. In this training, those people will learn the main points about trash and its consequences when it has poor management and different ways to manage trash properly.
During this training, which will be held in theelementary school, the people will see the following contents:
Trash: any material which is considered as used and needs to be thrown out of the house or environment ("profesorenlinea.cl").
Organic trash: “generated from the remains of living things like plants and animals, examples: fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, leftover food, bones, paper and natural fabrics like silk, linen and cotton. This type of waste is biodegradable” ("slideshare").
This trash can be reused as organic fertilizer in plants. This way you can save money because you will not buy fertilizer for your plants. The best thing is that your fruits will be without any chemical fertilizer, which means that they will be healthful.
Inorganic trash: “comes from mineral and synthetic products, such as: metal, plastic, glass, cardboard, plastic and synthetic fabrics. Such materials are no biodegradable”("slideshare").
Dangerous trash: the materials that are used as medicine, gauze, bandages and cotton, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, tissues and diapers, oil from motorcycles or cars and other vehicles. Like inorganic trash, this is not biodegradable ("slideshare").
The third step will be to go with the people that are trained to different sectors of the town to talk with the citizens about the trash and teach them that the best way is not throwing it out into the drainage system, to the river or other places.
After this orientation to the entire town the next thing is to collaborate with Rafael Leger, the mayor of the town, and with helpers from the churches and other organizations to clean the street that are more contaminated, clean the river and the beaches.
The last step will be to teach the students at the primary school and the high school about trash management and its importance to the environment and health care of the town they will be invited to march in the streets of the town in favor of the clean town, with different signs to motivate the people to keep the town clean.
CONCLUSION
To change the mind of people in one town that have being doing the same thing for several years it is necessary to have the collaboration of those people and the contributions of the local government. It will not help to teach the people about collecting the trash and they wait for the city council for about ten days to pick up. So the mayor of the town has to do his part as a responsible leader of the town and make trash collection more efficient. Otherwise, the people will throw out the trash again in the river and other places which makes a problem for everyone in the town and all the efforts that the town makes one time will be for nothing.
Remember that the elaborations of this Community Action Project is not with the objective to install a recycling system in the town of ParaisoBarahona, this project is objectives one to help this town to start solving the problem of poor trash management that is affecting all kinds of life that live in town and make a better life for everyone that lives there as well as those who come on their vacation to visit this beautiful place that God made.
A. Recommendations:
· Teach the people what is trash and its classification.
· Teach the people about trash and its consequences when it is not managed correctly
· Teach the people how to keep trash at home until the city come for it.
· Give recommendations to the mayor of the town to implement a better system of trash collection.
· Plant different trees in those places that the people are using to throw out trash.
· The mayor has to pay sweepers to clean the streets and increase the trash collection during the week.
REFERENCES:
Feliz, J. (2012, 02 08).Interview by Pedro Feliz [Personal Interview].Trash in paraiso.
Paraíso barahona paraíso. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Leger, R. (2012, 02 08).Interview by Pedro Feliz [Personal Interview].Trash in paraiso.
"Impactoprovocadospor la Basura." el Nuevo Diario.com.ni 11 09 2010, Especiales.
Web. 30 Apr. 2012. <http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/especiales/83270>.
"ResiduosSólidos." monografias.com.N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012. <http://www.monografias.com/trabajos27/residuos-solidos/residuos-solidos.shtml>.
"Contaminaciónporbasura ." profesorenlinea.cl. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012. <http://www.profesorenlinea.cl/ecologiaambiente/ContaminacionBasura.htm>.
"ProyectoComunitario." slideshare.N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://www.slideshare.net/tatycc/proyecto-comunitario-2492508>.
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