OUR WORK

Aldeia Lixo Zero (Zero Waste Community) is an initiative dedicated to addressing waste accumulation in Indigenous villages and traditional communities across Brazil’s forests. We work alongside families, community leaders, cooperatives, and public authorities to implement sustainable practices and strengthen the autonomy of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities in managing their waste.

We work with families living in remote forest regions throughout Brazil and with leaders from traditional communities to raise awareness of the dangers of dumping and burning waste in the forest. We also collaborate with municipal and state governments and recycling cooperatives to improve solid-waste collection, disposal, and recycling.

Our work includes:

• Building local capacity to reduce, reuse, and recycle different materials and compost organic waste;

• Organising community clean-ups;

• Safely removing and transporting solid waste for recycling;

• Building recycling collection points within villages;

• Providing families with solar-powered flashlights and rechargeable batteries;

• Providing labelled containers for different types of waste—including organic, recyclable, and hazardous waste—and offering training on how to sort it correctly;

• Establishing community composting systems;

• Installing zero-waste signs throughout villages to inform residents and visitors;

• Coordinating with municipal and state authorities, recycling cooperatives, and neighbouring communities to improve solid-waste collection, disposal, and recycling and support the implementation of Brazil’s National Solid Waste Policy;

• Supporting the establishment and formalisation of local cooperatives.

How far into Brazil’s forests does waste reach? Sadly, even some of the country’s most remote Indigenous territories and traditional communities already face serious waste problems. We created Aldeia Lixo Zero because we heard the call of the forests. This initiative is made possible through collective intelligence and creative collaboration.