CREATING INFRASTRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS TO PREVENT PLASTIC POLLUTION

Working with a variety of national and international partners including PROMAR, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, adelphi and the German Agency for International Cooperation, Parley DR is actively engaged in creating and maintaining “up-stream” systems to prevent plastic pollution in the first place. In Santo Domingo, we’ve created a network of publically-accessible Parley Blue Stations (Estacións Azul) and smaller collection points (Puntos Azules) where students, families and community members can drop off plastic for recycling and upcycling. Serviced by a fleet of small, zero-emission vehicles and doubling as community education points, this network has helped us recover nearly 14,000kg of plastic since September 2022.

In Río Salao, meanwhile, we’re working in La Romana to improve waste management and prevent plastic waste from reaching rivers and the ocean. The area was selected due to its socioeconomic and geopolitical characteristics. On one hand, it's a low-income, marginalized community that depends on fishing and tourism for its livelihood – and one that’s difficult to access. It’s also located on the Río Dulce, which flows directly into the Caribbean Sea. The project is divided into two main areas: improvement operations and education. For the educational part of the project, the Río Salao area was a space of interest since it only has one school and one nursery, despite its high population density. Together, between the two impact areas, a workshop was held for the preparation of bio-fences for waste intervention in ravines, aimed at young people and adults in the community. To foster social responsibility and a sense of ownership in relation to the project, Parley created a series of interactive workshops about the oceans, their importance and the threats they face for young people in the community.