Mauruuru and Nana French Polynesia!

Māuruuru and Nānā
French Polynesia!

Papeete, Moorea, Bora-Bora and Tétiaroa, four stopovers to get an understanding of the local issues of managing plastic waste and raise awareness among the young generation, which is always very receptive regarding the protection of the turquoise waters of the lagoons as well as the flora and fauna that live there. 1,296 people had the opportunity to visit Race for Water in French Polynesia and ask their questions about various themes to the Race for Water teams, the priority for everyone being the plastic pollution of our oceans!

We’re delighted to share some of the highlights of this stopover in French Polynesia with you.

Happy reading.

Tahiti : Presidential Meeting

Thank you to President Edouard Fritch for receiving us in an interview during which environmental concerns related to plastic pollution were discussed at length as well as the need for local solutions such as high-temperature pyrolysis technology presented by the Foundation.

 

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ACT 1 : the BIOGREEN at Bora Bora?

Having participated in the “Plastic Waste to Energy” workshop aboard Race for Water on Wednesday 24 October, representatives of the municipality of Bora Bora officially gave the go-ahead for the Foundation presided over by Marco Simeoni to carry out a feasibility study with a view to the implementation of a machine that converts plastic into energy, the BIOGREEN 300, created by the French company ETIA.

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I am a piece of waste in Tahiti, here is my story.

In 2017, 52,000 tonnes of taste were buried at the technical landfill centre in Paihoro. This figure has dropped considerably since a peak of 77,500 tonnes was reached in 2007. This reduction is good news, though it is not enough. Indeed, the site will reach full capacity in just a matter of years. As such, it is crucial the waste production is reduced still further.

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A target of zero waste, shall we try?

When we talk about battling against plastic pollution before the waste even reaches the waterways, then the oceans, we are inevitably compelled to take stock of the situation. Adopting a coherent lifestyle becomes an obvious step forward. Our stopover in French Polynesia gave us the chance to meet the Gilroy family, who have set themselves a challenge: to reduce their waste step by step.

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OCEAN SPIRIT (1'45)

Race for Water, an ambassador of energy transition,
her only sources of energy being the sun, the wind and the ocean

In 2010, the Swiss entrepreneur Marco Simeoni created the Race for Water Foundation, based in Lausanne. He devotes all his time to it in order to put his entrepreneurial fibre to good use in protecting the oceans. Passionate about the sea, in 2015 he decides to launch a first scientific and environmental expedition, the Race for Water Odyssey, to draw up an initial global analysis about the plastic pollution of our oceans. The findings are clear, ‘plastic islands’ do not exist and heading out to collect up the plastic waste at sea proves to be a utopia. At the heart of the oceans sprawls a ‘soup’ of microplastics, which float around with the oceanic gyres. “We very quickly became aware that the solution is on land. It is absolutely imperative that we prevent plastic waste from reaching the oceans”, explains Marco Simeoni. On 9 April 2017, Race for Water sets off around the world again on a new five-year Odyssey to offer solutions for protecting the oceans from plastic pollution, a genuine environmental disaster on a planetary scale.