Drive down the dusty roads of Jamaica’s rural Mount Airy district and one will see dozens of black water tanks, many connected with drainpipes to the rooftops of neighbouring houses.
The tanks measure two metres tall. They collect rainwater and through a drip irrigation system, channel it to nearby fields brimming with tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes.
Waves break furiously against the coast and cliffs of Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, the most remote inhabited island on the planet.
Camilo Rapu, Director of the Rapa Nui National Park, points to some ancient petroglyphs perched on the edge of an eroding cliff. “We have already lost invaluable pieces carved in rocks here. They simply collapsed into the sea because of the power of the waves,” he says.
While there is no silver-bullet solution to the toxic tide of plastic surging into our oceans, recycling must form part of the answer. The problem, many experts say, is that current processes are not fit for purpose.
The remote Galápagos islands offer a distressing reminder of the destructive power of our plastic addiction with horrifying images of iconic species struggling on rubbish-strewn shorelines that were for so long a byword for isolation and purity.
With some of the world’s most beautiful beaches paying a heavy price for our plastic addiction, the travel and tourism industry is taking action to reduce its plastic footprint and encourage its customers to do the same.
From the fight against plastic pollution to the quest for more sustainable lifestyles, young innovators in Latin America are coming up with bold, groundbreaking ideas that could transform the way we live, and pave the way for a more sustainable planet.
Check out these four innovations “made in” Latin America, and the enthusiastic young leaders behind them.
A treasure inside avocados
