The immediate problem lies in a lack of awareness, education & incentives
No need to state the obvious, the plastic waste mismanagement problem is growing and strongly impacting our natural ecosystems including the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Tackling this problem both upstream (waste reduction) and downstream (waste collection & treatment) is the only viable approach. This is where we start, with and for local communities!
"Nomad Community's goal is to build a program to quickly end plastic leakage in the Ocean and incineration and initiate behavioral change to reduce consumption in the first place."
A fast-growing problem
The facts are mind-blowing: by 2040, the plastic waste generation is expected to double, the plastic leakage into the ocean expected to triple and the plastic stock in the ocean expected to quadruple with a business-as-usual scenario*. And communities in emerging markets and biodiversity hotspots are the first affected!
A few kilometers away from Labuan Bajo on the Flores Sea and Komodo Park, Indonesia, location of our first project, this is what we can notice ... Guess where this waste will end up is no immediate action is taken ?
*Source: Report Breaking the Plastic Wave, 2020
Building an adapted and efficient program
To support government, municipalities and individual initiatives, NGOs have a big role to play in coordinating actions and sparking initiatives so that local communities fully take over the programs designed with and for them. Non-profits relie on a defined budget and need to be focused and efficient. This is why we built a well-oiled program to maximize impact as well as integrate NGOs' effort into a bigger ecosystem including a waste management program as well as local businesses and other social and environmental NGOs. This is the best way for such programs to thrive and keep on growing by getting systematically funded.
Engagement program
Before action, it is important to build a program that suits the local context (social, cultural, religious, economic, topographic) and then develop a network of villages, with local ambassadors and champions.
Awareness & Education
Once a new village has been onboarded, we act directly at the village level with an awareness program organised with locals. Behavioral change is at the essence of waste reduction or at least waste separation and a full consciousness of our consumption and its impact on our direct environment.
Waste collection
Collection from households as well as cleanups are the final step for Nomad Community's program: building an infrastructure and organizing waste pickups is the immediate way to avoid plastic pollution and open burning.
First experiment & local expansion with our first NGO project:
A FOUR-STEP PROGRAM
Step 1: First contact
We introduce the program and the win-win concept to the Village Head & other interested villagers
Step 2: Education & Training sessions
We go back to the village to explain the value of waste, training on waste sorting & raise awareness about prices (install poster), select a local champion and help set up bins
Step 3: Waste collection trial
A few weeks later, we collect a first round of waste from the village as an experiment, show the meaning & financial incentive
Step 4: Regular waste collection
Validate village as part of the network for regular waste pick ups, keep educating on waste reduction by introducing alternatives
Our current network of villages in Flores, Indonesia
SWIPE RIGHT THROUGH OUR DETAILED ACTIVITIES
