While becoming more active in the economic development of the Maltahöhe community, the Wolwedans Foundation seeks to engage local youth of Daweb Secondary School and the wider community in improving the social and environmental fabric of their own village through an on-going clean-up campaign. We have participated in annual clean-ups in the past (in partnership with the Recycle Namibia Forum) but want to shift gears so that this becomes an on-going campaign that results in more conscious daily living.

To make this possible, an integrated and collective approach to managing waste as a resource ("Trash-to-Treasure") will be developed, significantly reducing landfill and landscape pollution in Maltahöhe and the Daweb Constituency. The aim is to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting both people and planet while simultaneously creating livelihood opportunities. Establishing a waste logistics and transport solution for the region may also serve as a blueprint for other regions and villages in Namibia that face similar challenges.

Alleviating the village of the waste pollution that is suffocating it will have myriad benefits, including community pride, improved ecosystem health (by reducing solid waste pollution) and improved health of pets and livestock that may ingest items that are not disposed of properly, not to mention that of children who might be outside playing in areas that are polluted and, therefore, unsafe.

The value of “waste” items collected will be demonstrated through Trash2Treasure initiatives, including making bottle bricks from plastic beverage containers and repurposing other items to give them a second life.