Setal Dagga

Project Details - Setal Dagga

Waste Management & Environmental Protection

3 Cycles completed 100%

SDGs Tackled:

Setal Dagga is a community initiativs for natural resource stewardship and inclusive development in Dagga Dialaw. The project is particularly concerned with plastic waste management. Flexible and fine plastic waste (plastic bags, clothes, etc.) cannot be resold or properly recycled. For this reason, it was decided to intervene with a combination of workshops, awareness raising, and the provision of reusable water bottles. The intervention strategy is based on the change in individual and collective choices and behaviors. Together, those should synergistically contribute to the achievement of the promotion of waste reduction overall and a shared reflection for the construction of a sustainable, inclusive and environmentally conscious community.

Project Goals

Target Audience

Beneficiaries
-> 350 women from Dagga Dialaw
-> 850 children and young people from schools in Dagga Dialaw.

Project Activities

The project has three main activities of intervention: (1) Experiments for the prevention and reduction of waste; (2) Substituion of plastic bags for drinking water; (3) Activation of the population for a sustainable, inclusive and environmentally friendly society

1) Experiments for the prevention and reduction of waste

350 women and young people (children, girls or students) from the village were invited to participate in workshops for the self-production of alternative bags to the plastic bags currently used for shopping or food. For example, the production of reusable bags made of fabric or recycled material, baskets, oil bottles, other containers for sugar, flour, vegetables, etc. These production workshops have been an opportunity to raise awareness among women and young people of the damage caused by plastic pollution; to insist on the choice of proper waste sorting, to increase the rate of recycling of hard plastic waste and decrease the use of single-use plastic bags.

2) Substitution of plastic water bags with reusable water bottles

For many children or young pupils, buying small units of drinking water in plastic bags is the only possible alternative. However, the water bags are often abandoned and, even when properly disposed of in the collection bins, there is a risk that they will fly away and come back to pollute the soil and the sea. For this reason, it was decided to intervene in two collective fountains in two neighbourhoods of the village, renovating them, connecting them to a well in good condition and examining the quality of the water and donating to each child of the primary and secondary school, a water bottle which, once filled at the renovated fountains, will be a healthy and contextually appropriate alternative to highly polluting plastic bags.

3) Activation of the population for a sustainable, inclusive and environmentally friendly society

To raise awareness of women and their associations on plastic pollution, educational talks combined with practical activities and a final prize game to evaluate the knowledge acquired were organized in different neighbourhoods of the village of Dagga Dialaw and in the neighbouring villages. The intervention reached approximately 350 women and girls and their associations. These activities were also an opportunity to disseminate the activity to other villages, especially with regard to plastic collection. In addition, workshops for school children and students have been complemented to sensitize them about the topic of sustainable development and the need to preserve natural resources. Through this intervention, the children are more likely to develop a predisposition for responsible behaviour and a greater sense of belonging to a global and interconnected community. The workshops included films and documentaries, educational games and hands-on activities (Ngomack Faye school vegetable garden). The students designed and produced a short show in Wolof, which has been presented to the local population and authorities.