InforAmazon

Project InforAmazon

Vision:

Our project focuses on the sustainable disposal of residues generated by riverside dwellers and education on the causes and effects of environmental degradation and on family health by inappropriate disposal of such waste.

We share information on waste management and aid in cleaning up the accumulated garbage along the riverside. By bringing information to the communities that border the Arapiuns, Tapajos and Amazon rivers in the state of Pará in Brazil in an interactive way, we hope to make an impact on the levels of pollution effecting these populations.

Over the past few decades industrialized products have been introduced and become common place in the lifestyle of most riverside dwellers in the Amazon. As the variety and availability of products grow, the quantity of residue that is not bio-degradable grows as well. In small villages waste is most frequently disposed of by burning or dumping it into the river. The amount of waste in the Amazon rivers has grown exponentially over the past several decades. This waste is in the process of slow decomposition, leaking toxins into water and riverbanks or ends up floating into the sea and adding to the mass of ocean debris. When animals mistake this debris for food, they can die either from poisoning from toxins or from their digestive systems becoming blocked. Burning garbage creates dioxin and other dangerous toxins in the air, soil and water. This exposes people and wildlife to the risk of health problems such as asthma, infertility, immune system problems, tumors, cancer, and other diseases.

Mission:

InforAmazon works in collaboration with community members focusing on projects based on the ecological needs of the area. Our programs focus on building skills and resources for autonomous waste management to be adopted and carried out cooperatively within each household and village.

We work with communities that have access to waste generating products but lack the information on how to manage such waste. Most of the communities we work with are only accessible by boat. There is little or no government organized waste collection system in these villages. Therefore, another of InforAmazon’s goals is to facilitate communication between the riverside dwellers and local policy makers to expedite waste management. By facilitating management and promoting reduction, reusing and recycling we aim to stop garbage being from dumped into the rivers and to diminish air pollution from burning plastics. We support the realization of community efforts by providing information, legal, financial and labor assistance required to achieve these objectives. Our method is to provide information in a fun and interactive way to raise awareness on issues such as the effects of pollution on child development and the environment, recycling, conservation, family hygiene, and the values of using local products instead of imports. We work to achieve this by organizing community events at which members of communities and existing information networks can exchange practical, scientific, technical, legal and financial information regarding waste reduction, offsetting, and management. We actively engage in public education, promoting sustainable values and infrastructure improvement.

Crew: Our project staff and advisors have been active in a wide range of ecological activities and campaigns in the Amazon and abroad. For the first year of our collective project effort in 2012, we will be working with a core team of people whose previously individual projects will be combined into one. By forming a coalition we hope to secure our own collective transportation, a bio-diesel powered boat, by 2014. This will greatly facilitate access to the areas we are working with. Forming a coalition will also facilitate bureaucratic issues and allow us to fundraise with greater ease.