In this interview, we seek to highlight a notable young figure with a considerable track record in sustainability. Manar Ramadan is one of the co-founders of Banlastic, an organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating the use of single-use plastic bags. We got up, close, and a little bit personal with her to learn more about her journey.
-
What was the main inspiration behind starting Banlastic?
I have always been interested in environmental sustainability and have been active in that field since 2012. While pursuing a master's degree in Sustainable Development in New Delhi, India, I witnessed firsthand their journey in banning single-use plastic. They have similar challenges; yet, they have done a great job in banning single-use plastic bags even on a grassroots level—i.e. in street shopping.
Back to Egypt in 2017, I tried to find initiatives targeting single-use plastic, but I could not find any. That was when I thought of launching a start-up mainly focused on campaigning for banning single-use plastic. While preparing for this initiative, I met the other two cofounders; Ahmed Yassin and Abdelkader Elkhaligi.
At the beginning, our main aim was to organize awareness workshops about plastic pollution. However, we realized that our endeavors would be deemed useless without people having alternatives to single-use plastic, and hence we started developing and introducing these products.
-
In your opinion, how serious is the plastic pollution problem in Egypt?
It is very serious! Let us take our city as an example; Alexandria overlooks the sea, which is considered the final destination for plastic waste. Plastic directly impacts the availability of fish and fishing activities, not to mention the visually polluted scenery you would spot at any beach. Microplastics find their way into fish and marine creatures, which in turn are picked up by birds that feed on them. Being a source of our food, these creatures in turn are a main channel transferring microplastics into our bodies. Plastic can contribute to causing cancerous, gland, and hormonal diseases if it finds its way into the human body.
In general, plastic pollution is a serious problem in Egypt as anywhere else around the world. Yet, I believe that a drastic change in the plastic pollution problem in Alexandria will happen eventually if there are governing regulations in action.
-
During beach cleanups, there is a big room for direct contact with locals. Based on your first-hand experience, how mature are Egyptians when it comes to your fieldwork?
In reality, locals are impressive on so many levels. They exceed our expectations. We always make assumptions that the public will not be as responsive as we hope they would be, or that we might face some challenges. However, all of our negative presumptions are shattered once we are doing some fieldwork. Our experience with public beach visitors, in particular, has been very fulfilling. Once they get the needed knowledge about the potential dangers of plastic, they respond well and even collaborated with us in the beach cleanups.
This kind of public engagement sums up all of our efforts in raising awareness, as this is the first step towards behavior change. If a child takes part in a beach cleanup, they will think twice before littering again on the beach.
-
Do you think locals are now more open to the notion of environmental sustainability, and more specifically to giving up single-use plastic?
When it comes to children and young adults, yes, I can witness a mentality shift. When we first started our awareness sessions at Banlastic, nobody knew about the harmful effects of plastic. Now, awareness levels are on the rise, allowing us to take our discussions and actions to the next level. The awareness campaigns done and publicized by the Egyptian Ministry of Environment, such as the Live Green campaign, have greatly contributed to this progress in public awareness. Moreover, Egypt hosting Cop27 in 2022 in Sharm ElSheikh has been a significant milestone in shifting many people’s perception of environmental sustainability.
-
One of your main activities is beach clean-ups which naturally slow down during winter, what currently are you working on?
At Banlastic, we do three main activities: raising awareness, product development, and lobbying the government to work on environmental policies, where we meet up with EEAA officials, decision-makers, etc. In terms of raising awareness, we do more than beach cleanups; we host workshops, capacity-building sessions for environmental leaders, Arabic subtitling for foreign environmental documentaries, organizing plastic-free events and marathons, game nights, etc. Recently, we have started working on reviving public parks, so that people can feel connected once again to nature.
-
Do you have any plans to expand your scope of work outside Alexandria?
We have held workshops in all Egyptian governorates. We intentionally work everywhere to raise people’s awareness about environmental sustainability, and to prepare a new generation of potential environmental leaders who can subsequently start their environmental initiatives where they are based. We have great success stories that we are truly proud of in Al Arish and Marsa Matruh. When we first started holding awareness workshops there in 2020, nobody had a clue about what we were talking about. Now, there are three environmental initiatives in Matruh, and one beach clean-up initiative in Al Arish. We plant the awareness seeds that grow on their own later.
-
After almost 6 years since the launch of Banlastic, what was the biggest highlight in your path?
I always feel extremely proud when we organize plastic-free marathons; we get to experience its immediate and tangible impact right away. We help avoid using almost 400-500 plastic bottles in just one hour; the environmental impact of such disposable bottles could last up to 450 years. That is why we work on this threat by installing water stations and giving out refillable water bottles instead of distributing T-shirts.
Moreover, we have compiled a manual including all the environmental initiatives in Alexandria, entitled Alexandria Green Map.
-
If someone wants to join Banlastic as a volunteer, what should they do?
Anyone interested in joining us as a volunteer has to attend first any of our workshops. At Banlastic, we aim to build a community of recurrent participants. This is how we create change. We make a call for volunteers every spring season.