To promote education, including in the areas of human health, the environment, marine conservation, and organic farming; and to assist in implementing projects and practices consistent with such teachings in underserved areas, initially in mexico.

Human Service Organizations , Human Services

The azulita project promotes community health through plastic recycling, art, and educational programs in guerrero, mexico. The project works to create a replicable, sustainable business model that provides economic incentives and social support to combat one of today's most serious environmental threats: marine plastic pollution. Inspired by the effectiveness of deposits on glass bottles and the recycling value of aluminum cans, the azulita project created a privately subsidized plastic buy-back program that places value on post-consumer plastic. Purchasing plastic at a premium price of $2. 50 pesos per kilo encourages local residents to collect and recycle plastic waste rather than burning it or tossing it into unmaintained open trash piles. Since the start of azulita project's innovative purchasing and education programs, recycling participation has dramatically increased and plastic pollution has noticeably decreased in guerrero's costa grande region. Azulita project team members purchase plastic waste from residents and then clean, process, and compress the plastic at azulita's los llanos plastic collection facility. When the team has processed and baled 10 to 15 tons of plastic, it is shipped and sold to a recycling facility near guadalajara, mexico.