School Chairs made from Beach Plastic

We work with a surfing community in Mati (Mindanao, Philippines) and support their projects.

It is a group of around 100 people who clean beaches of plastic and rubbish, protect turtles and support children from poor families and children on the street with food and education. The group has already relocated more than 600,000 turtle eggs and ensured that the little turtles can safely reach the sea.

This surfing community also collects plastic. The Mama Earth Foundation collects this with their small lorry and ‘pays’ with one bag of rice per bag of plastic, or with corresponding money. They can then use this to give food to children. The plastic goes to the recycling plant in Davao, 130 kilometres away, and is then used to build school chairs, among other things.

Local groups collect plastic waste from the mangroves © Uli Kunz / Mama Earth Foundation

The collected plastic is recycled into school chairs © Uli Kunz / Malizia Mangrove Park

The project is supported by Team Malizia. The group of surfers recorded a video for the start of the Vendée Globe race at the beginning of November 2024. They composed the song and wrote the lyrics together with Uli Kronberg from Mama Earth.

See here the "Malizia Song":

Read here the article from Mama Earth Foundation / Team Malizia with more pictures: To the article

Learn more about the project Malizia Mangrove Park in Mati:

Malizia Mangrove Park