Australian Entrepreneur Hailed for Cleaning Philippines' Trash-Strewn River €“ but Will It Last?


credit:

"People used to go swimming in it, and then how grateful [they] are for the work that we're doing in conjunction with the government and other organizations," Mike Smith tells This Week in Asia.

Smith is the Australian founder of Zero Co, a company that makes plastic-free products, and he spent six weeks in the Philippines in 2023 looking for the country's most polluted water systems.

He found the Taguig-Pateros River south of Manila to be particularly polluted, and he organized a team of more than 250 environmental rangers and volunteers to clean it up, Australia's News Network reports.

"That was a light bulb moment," Smith says.

"If we want to have the biggest possible impact on this problem, then let's go to the source of the problem."

According to the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the country is the third-largest source of ocean waste in the world.

Philippines discards an estimated 3.3 kilograms of plastic waste per person into the ocean, with more than 4,800 rivers emitting more than 350,000 metric tons of non-degradable litter.

"People used to go swimming in it, and then how grateful [they] are for the work that we're doing in conjunction with the government and

Read the Entire Article


Selected Grant News Headlines

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

Coventry Enterprise Used Basketball to Net Good Mental Health

"Lots of people can't kick because they don't have the coordination, but everybody can throw catch." That's how a UK nonprofit is using basketball to help young people deal with mental health...more

Oneaz Community Foundation Welcomes Applications for 2024 Community Impact Grants

Arizona's OneAZ Credit Union is putting its money where its mouth is. Every time a member uses their debit card at the bank, OneAZ contributes 1 cent to the OneAZ Community Foundation, which in...more

Homage Mental Health Programs Receive $150K from Cambia Health Foundation

"We are the only resource for free mental health services in Snohomish County and often the only available option for older adults experiencing depression, anxiety, and grief," says Nancy Brosemer,...more

Business Briefs: Ventfort Hall Masonry Restoration; 'Let It Shine!' Public Art

When you think of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, you probably don't think of the Great Depression. But when you think of the crumbling chimneys on Ventfort Hall, the 19th-century mansion that's...more

Lifetime Support Switch Turns on for Youth Music and Engineering Scholarship

When Richard and Mary Jane Weeks of Fallbrook, Calif., died last November at the age of 90, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, they left behind legacies so large that it's hard to believe they...more

Senate Group'S 'Roadmap' Is a Call to Action on Ai Innovation

It's time for the US to get serious about regulating artificial intelligence, according to a new report from a bipartisan group of senators. The report from the Bipartisan Senate AI Working...more

Six Honored for Community Service Efforts

When Betsy Reed Schultz learned that her son, Capt. Joseph Schultz, had been killed in Afghanistan, she founded the Captain Joseph House Foundation to provide a break for Gold Star military...more

Emerging Fundraising

The UN's children's agency is trying to use technology to change the way it does business. UNICEF's Innovative Finance Hub has launched a project called "Transforming Lives: Achieving Positive...more

Shield Summer Youth Program

If you've got a child between the ages of 12 and 15, and you want to give him or her a head start on life, the Boise Police Department has just the program for you. The department is now...more

Join Bpd'S Summer Youth Program

"I always thought policemen were like big scary people and I should always avoid them. But going through the program I've realized that they're very nice people and they're individuals and...more





Social entrepreneur and co-founder of nonprofit Jolkona, Adnan Mahmud, discusses his definition of a successful social entrepreneur. He describes the social entrepreneur as someone who has found the right balance between doing good while doing well.



Federal Government Grant and Assistance Programs


Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives | Postal Model for Medical Countermeasures Delivery and Distribution | Technology Innovation Program (TIP) | International Research and Research Training | State and Tribal Response Program Grants | Rehabilitation Services-Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States, Recovery Act | ARRA IHS Tribal Agreements | Striving Readers | | Site Style by YAML | Grants.gov | Grants | Grants News | Sitemap | Privacy Policy

Edited by: Michael Saunders

© 2008-2024 Copyright Michael Saunders