How 4ocean is addressing plastic pollution in Guatemala

STRATEGY

Prevent plastic from entering the ocean

Preventing plastic from entering the ocean is the crux of our strategy in Guatemala. Instead of sending vessels into the open ocean, our crews will focus on recovering plastic from the Rio Motagua and high-impact areas along the coast in the Gulf of Honduras where massive amounts of trash accumulates.

Moving upstream to address plastic pollution before it enters the ocean is a huge step forward for the clean ocean movement and wouldn’t be possible without your support.

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LOGISTICS

Three locations, one mission

To maximize our impact, 4ocean Guatemala will operate out of three locations. We have our main base in Puerto Barrios and satellite locations in El Quetzalito and San Francisco del Mar.

Puerto Barrios

Puerto Barrios is a harbor city located in the Gulf of Honduras that’s home to approximately 100,000 residents. The city serves as a port for many cargo ships and even cruise lines. This is where we set up our main cleanup division. There isn’t an easy way to drive to our satellite locations, but this location provides access to Amatique Bay where our crews can use vessels to travel to and from our satellite locations in San Francisco del Mar and El Quetzalito.

El Quetzalito

El Quetzalito is a small coastal town located alongside the Rio Motagua. The residents are mostly banana farmers, fishermen, and artisans. We currently employ 25 individuals in this location that will soon transition from part-time to full-time employees to recover trash from the river and along the coast.

San Francisco del Mar

San Francisco del Mar is a small coastal village that's home to about 150 people who have traditionally made their living as fishermen. We've hired 15 full-time employees from this location to recover trash that accumulates on the Guatemalan coast, which stretches roughly 30 miles along the east coast of Guatemala from Punta Manabique to the border of Honduras. The village of San Francisco del Mar is settled in the middle of this coastline.

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MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

All recovered trash is transported to our facility in Puerto Barrios

The marine debris collected by crews in our satellite locations gets loaded into super sacks and transported by barge back to our base in Puerto Barrios. Subscribe to our emails at the end of this page so you can join us as we take the clean ocean movement behind the scenes of our Puerto Barrios facility!

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EXPLORE MORE

The full story of 4ocean Guatemala

Discover the causes of plastic pollution in Guatemala

It’s estimated that 80% of ocean plastic comes from “mismanaged waste” on land. In Guatemala, there’s just one official basurero, or garbage dump, for the entire country. It’s in the nation’s capital of Guatemala City and it’s currently the biggest landfill in all of Central America. Over a third of the country’s total trash ends up in the Guatemala City basurero each year, but not all of it stays there.

Tell Me More

Tour our main operational facility in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala

It takes a lot of time and resources to open a new cleanup division. Thanks to the clean ocean movement, we purchased an empty tract of land in Guatemala where we could build an entire operational base from the ground up. Located in the thriving port city of Puerto Barrios, our newest base now features a new sea wall, boat ramp, weighing station, sorting facility, bailers, storage yards, and even a shipping container that’s been converted into a solar-powered office!

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Explore the tools we use to recover ocean plastic in Guatemala

Let us show you all of the tools and equipment we’ve invested in to keep our crews safe and maximize our impact in Guatemala. Remember that this is what you make possible every time you shop 4ocean and pull a pound of trash.

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Meet the people behind 4ocean Guatemala

Opening a new cleanup division really takes a village. It’s a slow and laborious process even at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic. But thanks to the clean ocean movement and the herculean efforts of the crew members you’re about to meet, 4ocean Guatemala is not only open, but thriving.

Meet the Team

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Our global ocean cleanup operation is funded by you

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