What if there was a method to stem the flow of plastics into our oceans while also empowering communities to establish environmental protections from the ground up?
Marea Verde (or "Green Tide"), a Panamanian program to minimize plastic pollution in rivers and oceans, is doing just that. The concept employs Wanda, a clean energy machine that collects waste by harnessing hydraulic power from the river.
Although around 50% of the trash collected is recycled, Wanda is only one component of their bigger goal of strengthening public services and education so that communities can dispose of trash appropriately. Marea Verde, a McNulty Prize winner, is also actively working with communities, governments, and children to raise awareness and engage them in a comprehensive, all-encompassing solution to the worldwide plastic epidemic.