I am now scared to buy a bottle of juice. This may sound absurd, yet after looking at where our plastic waste gathers after we dispose of it, you might soon develop the same mindset, if you do not already have one.
On the 1st day of September 2021, as the early sun rays made their appearance, we were all gathered at Entree Lycee d'Ahala under the Game Changers Initiative. After a photo shooting session, we were set for what I will term a mind-opening adventure. Our journey eventually began as we embarked into a truck owned by NAMé Recycling.
Location: Nouvelle Barrière - Sous Le Pont de L’autoroute.
Upon arrival at our target site, we received face masks, hand gloves, and various safety instructions from the team coordinators of NAMé recycling Yaounde. We took with us a bunch of nets in which we were to gather all the good and reusable bottles. Horrifying is an underrated word for what we saw. “Where do you think the plastic bottles you throw every day go to?”, a NAMé recycling worker said after noticing how astonished we were. Startled by the amount of plastic waste we could see on the spot, we all immediately got to work. We spent about four hours picking and filling our nets with so much enthusiasm and energy. After filling 13 nets, we transported them back to the vehicle after which we took some pictures and later departed for the NAMé recycling center at Mvan.
On arrival, the hospitable NAMé staff welcomed us, made a brief presentation, and then guided us through the different factory departments. From selection to treatment to weighing and compressing, we observed the various processes taking place. We were educated on the multitude of recycling and reuse possibilities that exist and the particular ones implemented by the organization. After a look at a sample product they derived from the plastic bottles, we had a Q&A session, after which we took a couple of pictures with the NAMé staff and separated to our various destinations.
Climate change is an issue that affects the entire world, and much more attention needs to be given to it. While volunteering and assisting in the selection and collection of plastic bottles, an important thought came through our minds. If we select and collect only the good bottles, what will happen to the others? Won’t they still affect and contribute to climate change? We keep these questions in mind as we remind ourselves daily that, as Game Changers, we have a duty to design a sustainable solution to address this issue.
This field mision was organized by Game Changers, a movement championed by CLSV (Closed-Loop System Ventures) with the ambition to mobilize non-state actors to collectively tackle the climate crisis and save planet earth from a devastating aftermath.
Report by Moumie Mohamed & Asmahan Saidou
Open Dreams Scholars
The following members of the Open Dreams Community of Scholars were part of the outing: Manjoh Lorantine, Kinlo Ephraim, Tonlieu Alain, Mbwaye Roy, Bintum Asheri, Yungsi Sharon, Poutum Melaine, Anabi Vanessa, Ajamah Godlove, Bernadine Nebah, Asmahan Saidou, Moumie Mohamed
Ajamah Godlove'21 deep inside an environmentally unfriendly sea of plastic bottles