From the beaches to the Cerrado:
For the first time, the Central Brazil takes part in the CLEAN UP THE WORLD (CUW) 2005

In Brasília, 70 volunteers and 160 public school students participated in the waste collection CUW 2005. These students take part in a project of environmental education on a public school. In the first grade the program approaches the problem of environmental salubrity in a hydrographical basin.

   
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Initially, the CUW intended to remove residue from beaches, being adapted in this edition to the peculiarities of the Cerrado region. As this region is enclosed in Brazil, there are no beaches, so the project moved to lakes, rivers and surroundings.  Residues were removed from the bottom of the Paranoá Lake.  The organization also obtained the authorization to develop the cleaning activity in the areas surrounding the main brooks that feed the lake.

The volunteers that developed the activities on the surface were divided in teams, spread over 5 sites around the Paranoá Lake, as follows: Torto Brook in the Varjão community, Copaíbas Park (South Lake neighborhood), near the Dom Bosco Church (bathing spot between Paranoá and South Lake neighborhoods), Samandi Brook (in several spots) and near the shoreline around the JK Bridge. Besides those places near the Paranoá Lake, a unit was sent to do the clean-up at the Caxeta Brook, which forms the Tororó Waterfall.

About 40 volunteer divers were helping to remove the residues from the bottom of the Paranoá Lake in two different places: near the Barrage and the JK Bridge. A higher concentration of waste was noticed at depths up to 4 meters.

All the collected waste was transported to the Sorting Center near the JK Bridge. The cooperative called 100 Dimension was responsible to sort, weight and later commercialize the recyclable materials. The non-recyclable part was taken to the Brasília Jockey Club, where it will be disposed.

Researchers from the University of Brasília translated the results of the operation into numbers by doing the gravimetric calculation for all the waste.
Results

Results:

About 1.5 tons of waste was removed from the area. Below you find the data of the analysis of the waste of the bottom, the borders and the brooks near the Paranoá Lake.

The collected trash revealed a few surprising facts and even problems related to each spot where the clean-up was held. Concerning the activities at the Varjão community, the Torto brook was excessively polluted with mainly bottles and glass shards. Also firework leftovers were found, probably a result of some local parties. The Copaíbas Park suffers from the invasion of landless and homeless people searching for a place to settle. The volunteers had trouble with the cleaning this area because of the presence of dogs. Another serious problem there was the amount of syringes found, which suggests the use of drugs, which is prohibited by law in Brazil, within the Park (see also the picture below). 

The amount of cloths, some in very good shape, found in the depths of the Paranoá Lake, was also very surprising. It is known that during the weekends many people gather on the shores for fishing, making barbecues and sailing. Maybe this is the reason for the presence of these garments and the many bottles of alcoholic beverages. Moreover, many car tires were found on the bottom of the lake.

The results were considered highly satisfactory given the fact that the event was carried out by volunteers. The clean up day was favorable for the volunteers and resulted in integration, visits to not well-known places and a better perception of the environmental problems caused by the inadequate disposal of residue in the environment. We can cite two examples: a dead turtle found inside a plastic bag and a puppy abandoned near one of the brooks, which was rescued and adopted by one of the volunteers.

This event helped to alert the population, which, in general, doesn’t worry about the trash it creates. By means of clean-up operations like CUW 2005, it is possible to determine some of the very serious problems that take place because of the lack of environmental consciousness, and to discuss solutions for these problems. The more people engaged in events like this one, the higher the chance that they acquire consciousness regarding the waste generated by all of us.

Os vários colaboradores que fizeram do evento CUW2005 em Brasília ser um sucesso foram:

- O Prof. Paulo Celso dos Reis Gomes (UnB) pela coordenação das atividades com os alunos e professores da rede pública;
- A Caesb pela doação das camisetas promocionais do evento;
- As pesquisadoras da UnB: Suzana M. Dellabianca (área de resíduos sólidos), Fabíola Lima (graduanda em Antropologia) e Luciana Dellabianca (reciclagem de pavimentos) que realizaram as análises gravimétricas dos resíduos;
- A Capital Recicláveis pela colaboração financeira, disponibilização de balança e caixas para armazenamento dos resíduos após ser realizada a triagem;
- A Casa do Mergulhador e que supervisionou as atividades subaquáticas e disponibilizou os equipamentos para os mergulhadores voluntários;
- A Cooperativa 100 Dimensão de coleta seletiva e reciclagem que realizou os serviços de triagem, transporte e comercialização dos materiais recicláveis;
- A Comparques pela disponibilização das mesas, cadeiras e de um Administrador de Parques responsável por participar da supervisão das atividades nos parques;
- A Administração do Lago Sul pelo auxílio na definição dos locais para desenvolvimento das atividades, disponibilização de pessoas que auxiliaram na supervisão das equipes, de caminhão para a coleta e transporte dos resíduos removidos até a central de triagem;
- A Administração do Varjão, que permitiu e acompanhou o desenvolvimento das atividades nas proximidades do Córrego do Torto;
- A Caenge s.a. que disponibilizou 02 ônibus para transporte dos voluntários, 01 caminhão para transporte dos resíduos, 02 funcionários para auxiliarem na remoção dos resíduos além de materiais usados na montagem de tenda principal e da central de triagem;
- A Academia Fit 21 que disponibilizou equipe de suporte para a coordenação do evento, veículo para deslocamento das equipes e dos membros da cooperativa 100 dimensão, um outdoor e os 10 brindes que serão sorteados entre os alunos do Centro de Ensino Fundamental do Recanto das Emas;
- A empresa “Profissionais do Texto” e Virgínia Pessoa que realizaram todo o trabalho de assessoria de imprensa;
- A empresa Sua Web pelo desenvolvimento da arte gráfica das peças promocionais (outdoor, adesivos, folders).