Taragalte - Clean-up

	CLEAN UP on EARTHDAY 22 - 24 April 2010 TARAGALTE 2010

	Operation "cleaning plastic waste" in M'hamid. To mark the 52nd anniversary celebration of the historic visit of His Late Majesty King Mohamed V M'hamid Elghizlane (February 1958) the cleaning of plastic and waste in M'hamid south of Morocco will take place on 22, 23 and February 24, 2010 in partnership with the Ministry of Environment. The festival program will be preceded by a major clean-up of the oasis and the surrounding desert, which involves all the villages Mhamid between 22 and 24 February 2010 and with the support and partnership of the Ministry of Environment M'hamid Oasis and plastic waste! M'hamid is located in southern Morocco, at the end of the Draa Valley, a hundred km from Zagora. When one follows the Wadi Draa, when one goes down the valley it has carved, one enters the desert smoothly. The sun is more and more unbearable, the landscape changes, the horizon widens and flattens, and little by little, the gravel turns into sand. M'hamid's palm trees are the last before the Sahara and it is from here that the great camel caravans of 1000-1500 crossed the desert to Timbuktu for 2 months. There are not many camels in M'hamid today. It has been invaded by the modern world. The traditional lifestyle of the inhabitants of the oasis M'hamid is contaminated by the brutal invasion of the consumer society. Nobody was really prepared and M'hamid people gradually lose their culture and their ancestral way of life. The desert is a fragile environment, an ecosystem in which resources are scarce and the desert can never digest the tons of waste that comes from a consumer society. In M'hamid, the desert wind raises not only sand, it also scatters thousands of black plastic bags, plastic bottles and other wastes that have never had their place in the traditional nomadic society. The L' Association Zaila and people M'hamid are changing this and since 2005 they organized on the occasion of World Day of Environment a cleanup of their oasis, their desert and their villages to rid them of these waste products and especially encourage people to act and react ... so that the medium does not become the dustbin of the consumer society as it is supposed to be purifying the lungs of the earth!
	Program: 22 to 24 April 2010 Preparation of 28 teams: 1. Establishment of permanent teams (300 persons approx.) - Coordination with team leaders: Task definition and boundaries of areas 2. Preparation of material for the operation: - Rakes, shovels and bags, carts 3. Preparation of pits for containment: a very important collaboration with the local authority and the rural commune of M'hamid - Location, size and protection from the wind! An area of 200 m2 to predict with 8 m depth 4. Coordination with schools and college M'hamid - This is primarily educational and preventive 5. Logistics provided by the province of Zagora - 2 trash trucks and drivers - 2 trax and drivers 6. Cleaning: launch of the operation at 6:00 am Each team rakes his area, collects the waste and deposits them in places for that purpose. The loaded carts are led to septic areas for sorting. Trucks recover the bulk of waste. The trax cut and rake the bed of the Draa and central M'hamid. Containment and sorting of waste (glass, metal, on one side, plastic on the other). Involvement of associations in M'hamid for recycling or reuse Example: Recycling Association M'hamid for the disabled. At the end of the cleanup: presentation of alternatives by Team Zaila All products manufactured will be presented with an explanation their usefulness, the duration of their production and evaluation of their life. From the disposables of harmful plastic to beneficial use of sustainable natural products ! Presentation by students of their approach to fight against plastic waste: A simple gesture can save the environment, or when students can (and should) educate parents! Explanation to all residents on the harmful aspects of plastics for their health and their environment. Mobilization of local schools and associations to be followed between the annual operations and preventive education for residents 7. Wish: without dreams there is no achievement! That by the next Taragalte Edition we will no longer need to pick up plastic! This example in M'hamid will spread like oil in Morocco and other countries particularly in Africa. 8.Epilogue: April 24th In the afternoon. the departure of a great caravan in the company of former nomads. The evening in the desert will pay homage to the great caravans of the past. There will be with songs, poetry, stories and debate son the desert and its natural environment and culture, and a review of the operation.