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BWB Grant Winner EcoPazifico Celebrates 10 Years

From Beach Clean-up to a Community Waste Management System. Next Up:  Permaculture School on Revitalized Land. 

The Pacific coast of Colombia is a sanctuary for the reproduction of hundreds of humpback whales. Located in the heart of Bahia Malaga National Park, and one hour away by boat from Buenaventura, Colombia’s biggest port. This sanctuary is constantly invaded by trash, a problem compounded by heavy rains, muddy mangroves, severe tides, and political instability making this area even more vulnerable. Ecopazifico grew out of these related needs of the land and the people.

In 2014, Ecopazifico started as a beach clean-up and art program. At the beginning of this project, we realized that people across the coast were disposing of their trash by burning and burying it due to the absence of any waste management system. Only a handful of individuals understood the harmful effects of burning plastic on human health and the environment.

While the art we were creating was cool and the beach clean-ups were happening, we had a bigger and more difficult challenge. We needed to design a waste management system and introduce the non-existent concept of recycling into the community. A brand new environmental education program had to be created and maintained. 

To begin, we designed a permaculture action week for local schools, did fun beach clean-ups with Clowns Without Borders, made plastic art pieces, sand art, music, theater, and puppets, toys, created compost, planted trees, and went door-to-door. You name it and we did it! We stopped using the word trash and replaced it with MAPARE (“Material para Reviver,” in Spanish or, “Material to Revive” in English), inspired by the word MOOP (Matter Out of Place) used at Burning Man. We even created a gamified app of kids collecting MAPARE, to get the attention of the local children who were always curious about anything on a screen.

Hundreds of volunteers started joining us and we started getting the attention from private companies that saw that we were doing good for the whales.

One of our most memorable successes came in the form of a dolphin sculpture crafted from 1500 lollipop sticks collected during two beach clean-ups. Months later, we were invited to meet with the CEO of Colombia’s biggest candy company. Armed with our unique creation, we entered the meeting, and to our surprise, the CEO exclaimed, “Please don’t tell me you collected all that on the beach!” With a smile, we confirmed the origin and proposed an exchange: the dolphin sculpture for the first recycling station on the Pacific coast of Colombia. The CEO’s response was an enthusiastic, “Absolutely!” – a testament to his generosity and our shared commitment to environmental stewardship.

Buoyed by this success, we received sponsorship from other companies and organizations, including OQ shoes, celebrity Claudia Bahamon, Unilever, Ocean Conservancy, and the Coca-Cola Foundation. With their support, we expanded our impact, installing a total of 10 recycling stations in the Pacific and 8 more in the Caribbean.

These recycling stations were made out of recycled plastic lumber by local small companies. Each station includes a series of educational infographics that invite both residents and tourists to follow 3 simple steps.

3 Steps for Tourists:

1. Bring your own reusable utensils to the beach to stop single-use plastic. 
2. Help clean up the beach.
3. Take some trash home with you (hopefully through an eco brick). 

3 Steps for Residents:

1. Separate waste at home:  Recycling, Compost, and Sanitary waste. 
2. Don’t burn or bury any waste on the public beach. 
3. Keep the surroundings of your home always clean. 

Because of our location in Juanchano, it is difficult to process such a large amount of waste, so we have been blessed to count on the National Navy to help with this difficult operation.

We also started working in the Caribbean coast of Colombia in the island of TIERRA BOMBA, near Cartagena, which had similar community dynamics. We did beach clean-ups, and art programs, and created beach ranger groups. In addition, we got the Navy involved and began lobbying the local administration to get a recycling system

We received the support of the National Navy through a rigorous amount of bureaucratic paperwork. Cargo boats were our only hope to get the tons of waste out of the territory, to both recycling and landfill operators. Getting all these different organizations to understand that it had to be done JUST BECAUSE IT’S THEIR JOB and with no money involved, plus coordinating the peers according to the low tide and high tide conditions, was a sophisticated and elaborate maneuver. 

As the pandemic came, and a number of national strikes in Colombia hit, many delays happened and it became even more clear that a recycling center facility had to exist in this territory. Ecopazifico continued lobbying with government officials, private companies, and national and international organizations to get it all started. 

Very early on, Ecopazifico created the Beach Rangers, a group of local community members trained to wash, sort, weigh, shred, and transform three different types of plastics into building materials. But we still had no official space to transform all the waste that was being collected and sorted on the beach. If it was not taken to the port town of Buenaventura, it was just piling up  until the Navy boat would come, sometimes only every four months if we were lucky. 

On January 21st  2023, and with the support of national and international organizations and private companies, we finally finished the build of the first recycling center of the Pacific coast of Colombia, in the beach town of Juanchaco, with small-scale precious plastic machines that run on solar panels. These machines shred the plastic and turn it into building bricks, and 4x4s, and any other object that they can dream up. 

This was not only a huge achievement for Ecopazifico, but also for the community leaders that can now take responsibility over the waste management on their own. 

We estimate that we saved the Colombian Government over $400,000 USD though building the Recycling Center. The best part is that the local environmental office has now started to learn from Ecopazifico’s experience and is doing things with a different approach when it comes to spending government money in this type of community. We are proud to say we are becoming advisors for the new administration leaders. 

Ten years of hard work (and some hard play), we are now ready to replicate this project in all of the coastal communities of Colombia. We have confidence that it will never be as difficult as our first center in Juanchaco.

Use of BWB Microgrant Funds:
In 2017, we were awarded the BWB micro-grant of $1000, a pivotal moment in our journey. I vividly recall celebrating this achievement while building at the Oregon Eclipse Festival. With this funding, we procured a crucial component: part of a 3-horsepower, 70-revolution engine for our precious plastic shredder small-scale machine. While the BWB Community micro-grant covered only 5% of the entire cost of the plastic shredder small-scale machine, its impact was profound. Today, this machine continues to operate in the first recycling center of the Pacific coast of Colombia, now powered by solar energy thanks to the Givepower Foundation.

Project Participation and Impact:

Our project has engaged over 60 individuals directly and has indirectly impacted over 3,000 people, including communities and volunteers. Along the Pacific coast, including Juanchaco, Ladrilleros, La Barra, La Bocana, and Bahía Solano, over 3000 individuals have experienced our initiatives. On the Caribbean coast, particularly Tierra Bomba, the project has reached over 1200 people, and over 1500 individuals on the Atlantic coast, notably in Capurgana. Our efforts have successfully institutionalized a waste management system and established a recycling center among local government entities. 

Future Plans and Collaboration:
In 2024, we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary as we continue our actions in the Caribbean on the Island of Tierra Bomba. Teaming up with our partners at Namaste Beach Club, we’re working on a parcel of land once polluted by all sorts of trash. Over the past five years, we’ve diligently cleaned up the area, kickstarting the process of soil regeneration. Now, we’re gearing up to lay the foundation for the first permaculture school along the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

This school aims to become an open source and creative commons blueprint so that any person living in remote coastal communities of Colombia can come and learn how to live self-sustainable and off the grid with easily accessible methods and recycled materials. We are collaborating with various research and innovation university groups in Colombia, focusing on topics such as desalination, compost-derived biogas production, recycling-integrated tiny homes, dry toilets, renewable energy sources like dance and bicycle power, establishing exotic food forests for both avian and human species, hydroponic gardens, microplastic collection methods, and an herb lab for generating income through herbal oils, soaps, and extracts. Additionally, the school will feature a small-scale recycling center equipped with Precious Plastic machines, mirroring the setup implemented in Juanchaco.

Final Reflections:
With just one time attending Burning Man, I can say that I owe a big part of the fundamentals of Ecopazifico to the experience of building and breaking down Fractal Planet 2012.  I learned how to make ECO-BRICKS, the word MOOP that later became for us MAPARE, the bring your own cup and reusable utensils habit, and I strengthened my love of the Leave No Trace principle (I grew up as a Girl Scout and always applied the leave a place better than you found it principle). 

However, we need to strengthen this principle in our party community. I want to help reduce waste at Burning Man and other Burner-like events! I was recently at Texas Eclipse and Coachella for the first time out on the dance floors since 2017, but did not see any recycling, even with all the Burners attending.

Want to get involved? 

We are seeking support in strengthening our marketing and social media strategy to ensure the sustainability of our project. Additionally, we’d love to create a documentary chronicling our decade-long journey and the construction of a recycling center in one of the most challenging environments. While financial constraints hinder our ability to maintain a paid community manager, we hope to secure additional funding through partnerships with organizations like Borders Without Borders. Your donations are deeply appreciated as well! Collaboration with BWB remains a priority, given our shared commitment to environmental stewardship and community empowerment. The world needs us. We can still have all the fun in the world; we can do this!