Tourism is booming in Victoria Falls, but leaving plastic waste in its wake. A local initiative focuses on rubbish reduction and recycling with the aim of keeping the area as pristine as possible.
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00:00The world-famous Victoria Falls, as seen from Zimbabwe.
00:05Cliffs, water and plants form a spectacular natural wonder, spanning more than 1.7 kilometers.
00:15And this is the other Victoria Falls.
00:17The town is a gateway to the World Heritage Site, dominated by stone, metal and plastic.
00:27The town and the National Park are linked by a 10-kilometer highway, today's destination
00:32for these waste collectors out on a mission.
00:36Plastic is our number one problem when it comes to waste.
00:40In all our cleanups, I can almost say that 70 to 80 percent of the waste that we collect
00:46is plastic in its various forms.
00:49As the custodians of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, we are obviously beholden
00:54to ensure that we keep it clean and pristine at any given time.
00:59Douglas Musiringofa has been with the pristine Victoria Falls Society since 2022.
01:05It's a small team of six employees, but they've mobilized up to 400 volunteers who are helping
01:11them clean up the surrounding area.
01:17The Victoria Falls draws 400,000 tourists every year.
01:24Without a functioning waste collection system for them, and the town's 35,000 residents,
01:30garbage often ends up in nature.
01:33So the group is also active in the nearby communities.
01:37In 10 villages, including here in Chidobe, they've set up cages for residents to store
01:42their waste, where the local wildlife can't get at it.
01:46There's the issue of animals consuming plastic.
01:51There's the issue of humans as well, burning stuff, which in turn pollutes the air.
01:58We have issues where people dig pits, and when they dig pits, they just, you know, fill
02:03up those pits.
02:05And then what happens at the end of the day is you get microplastic going down to the
02:10water table, and then, you know, it's a chain reaction of so many bad things.
02:14So this is why we decided to have these cages.
02:18Every week, volunteers visit the 10 villages to empty the cages.
02:22Together with the cleanups in the streets, they collect around 3,000 bags of garbage
02:26a month, amounting to 40 tons a year.
02:29As a result, local residents have become more aware of the problem of environmental pollution.
02:40If we could get more of these cage bins in other surrounding communities, that would
02:45be so helpful because people still travel long distances to come here.
02:50We need them in the center number 1, 3, 4 and 5.
02:54Right now, we only have the cage bin here at center number 2.
02:58Having more of them would really go a long way.
03:06The collected waste is taken to the only landfill in Victoria Falls.
03:10With the support of environmental groups and tourism companies, the pristine Victoria Falls
03:15Society has built a solar-powered electric fence around the dump to keep out animals.
03:22But smaller species like baboons still find a way to come in and scavenge for food.
03:31The local tourism industry is worth millions of euros.
03:34But despite the landmark's popularity with visitors, local environmentalists complain
03:39that the town of Victoria Falls lacks an adequate waste disposal system and that the local council
03:44should do more.
03:46We are paying our taxes to the government to make sure that we are protected, we live
03:50in a clean environment.
03:52Whatever other people do, it's voluntary.
03:56So when people volunteer their services, they are not replacing those who are paid
04:03to do the job.
04:05Tour operators are supporting the cleanup and have set up garbage bins and one company
04:09sells metal drinking bottles, which can be filled up at free water stations around the
04:14town.
04:15A big help as the average tourist consumes three or four bottles of water a day.
04:21We decided to basically deal with the plastic problem beforehand, be proactive than reactive
04:28rather.
04:29So by giving the clients the bottle, they don't need to get a plastic bottle and we
04:32don't need to clean it up.
04:35So the environmentalists are working at multiple levels.
04:39They also organize regular awareness campaigns to encourage residents to keep their streets
04:44clean.
04:45So the idea is we actually go out, educate them on why it is important for us to clean
04:54up our space so much that tomorrow we don't have to be finding waste in that space.
05:00They still have a way to go, but the campaigns are reaching 3,000 homes as well as many tourists
05:07so that Victoria Falls remains a jewel of pristine nature.
05:15For more information visit www.fema.gov