Ecuador: Over 52,000 Volunteers Clean Water Sources

In Ecuador, over 52,000 volunteers have collected more than 119 tons of waste that have been polluting the water sources of the country. The Ministry of Environment's "Action For The Planet 2018" program aims to clean rivers, lakes, lagoons, beaches and other water sources.

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Thousands of volunteers, including students, public servants and people from different regions of the country, covered over 1,145 kilometers to collect more than 119 ton of waste, mainly plastics and cigarette butts. The waste retrieved will be classified, treated or recycled by local government authorities. 

According to Humberto Cholango, the minister of environment, the main idea of the project is to "achieve the goal of ensuring that all our citizens live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, in harmony with nature." 

"We have a planet saturated by plastic, which takes hundreds of years to degrade and, therefore, today we make a positive action for the planet and our water resources",  Minister of Education Fander Falconi said.

This is the eighth consecutive year that Ecuador has conducted the cleaning campaign, which also promotes the awareness of the importance of the water resources and the maritime life.