Marysol Naveda, a guardian of the beaches of our coastline

In one of her many reflections, Marysol Naveda noticed that she has “sea” in her name, so her destiny seemed to be linked to taking care of it from pollution. It all started in 2014, when she joined HAZla por tu Playa, a campaign co-organized by Life Out Of Plastic (LOOP) and Conservamos por Naturaleza of the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law (SPDA). That day a new story began and since then he has continued coordinating plastic and waste collection campaigns on the coast. However, the great challenge is not to clean the beaches, but to raise awareness about not polluting them.

For Marysol, every piece of waste collected on the beaches is an invitation to reflect on the privilege we have of having the sea so close to us. According to figures from the Ministry of the Environment (Minam), 46% of the solid waste found on beaches is plastic and most of it does not decompose, so it could last thousands of years in the sea. The work seems endless, however, there are thousands of volunteers nationwide who collect tons of waste each year and share their experience in community.

The idea is to change the easy throwaway culture without caring where the plastic we only use once will end up. It is estimated that marine pollution harms at least 600 species and it is estimated that by 2050, 99 percent of birds could have ingested plastic. This terrible projection makes Marysol Naveda not to give up and continue with her work, which has spread in various regions of Peru and 11 other countries, becoming a world reference regarding beach cleanup campaigns.

In recognition of her hard work, Marysol became the first Peruvian woman selected as an ambassador for Coalition Wild, an association that connects initiatives to counteract climate change. It should also be noted that the information obtained during the HAZla por tu Playa cleanups served to establish public policies in our country, such as the enactment, in 2018, of Law 30884 that regulates single-use plastic. Ideally, these contributions will continue to be the beginning of future actions by the State.

Photo: Hazla Por Tu Playa

With the contribution of Marysol Naveda and thanks to the support of organizations such as the SPDA, through its initiative Conservamos por la Naturaleza, HAZla por tu Playa has managed to grow so much that year after year it gathers around 3000 volunteers throughout the country and has extended to “non-coastal” regions where rivers, lagoons and wetlands are also cleaned, thus providing agency to thousands of people who want to take action.