Operação Enrede promotes community efforts, exchanging waste for food and special edition of the Community Store in Santos

In celebration of World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5th, the Jardim São Manoel neighborhood, in Santos (SP), will receive a series of socio-environmental actions aimed at conserving the mangrove forest, encouraging the correct disposal of waste and strengthening the local community.

The program, which takes place this Thursday (4), from 9 am to noon, includes a joint effort to clean the mangrove forest, bringing together volunteers from Santos Brasil, CMA CGM and residents of the neighborhood, as well as a special edition of Loja Comunitária Enrede, an initiative based on social currency that transforms recyclable waste into access to food, hygiene items and school materials.

The action is promoted by Instituto Nova Maré (INMAR), in partnership with Santos Brasil and Sociedade de Melhoramentos do Jardim São Manoel, within the activities of Operation Enrede, a project aimed at protecting the mangroves of the Santos Estuary through waste retention, environmental education and community mobilization.

During the joint effort, participants will visit areas of the mangrove and surrounding areas to remove incorrectly discarded solid waste. As a form of incentive and recognition for participation, residents will be able to exchange the waste collected during the action for basic food baskets, reinforcing the relationship between environmental conservation and direct social benefits for the community.

In addition to the joint effort, a special edition of the Enrede Community Store will be held, implemented in the territory in March this year. The initiative works through the social currency Guará, obtained by residents from the delivery of recyclable waste: 1 kg of clean rigid plastic is equivalent to one social currency.

The accumulated “Guarás” can be exchanged for essential items, stimulating, at the same time, the generation of social benefits and the appropriate disposal of waste. Currently, the store regularly offers around 10 food items, including rice, beans, coffee, milk and oil, as well as personal hygiene products and school supplies.

To celebrate World Environment Day, the special edition will feature an increase in the items available for exchange, including, in addition to the products traditionally offered, eggs, tapioca, chocolate milk, cake mix, cream and condensed milk, expanding access for participating families to new food options.

The proposal seeks to strengthen circular economy practices, encouraging waste to stop being discarded inappropriately and starting to generate direct returns for families in the territory.

In addition to cleaning and waste management activities, the initiative aims to increase the population’s engagement in local conservation and reinforce the role of communities in protecting coastal ecosystems.

For Yasmim Garcia, president of the Nova Maré Institute, environmental actions generate even greater impacts when associated with concrete benefits for the population.

“Taking care of the mangrove forest also means caring for the people who live around it. When we combine environmental conservation, community participation and food security, we create more lasting solutions for the territory. World Environment Day is an invitation to show that small collective actions can generate real transformations.”

For Béatrice de Toledo Dupuy, Executive Manager of Corporate Communication & Sustainability at Santos Brasil, “more than just taking care of the environment, initiatives like Operação Enrede show that it is possible to generate positive impact when we unite people, purpose and action. We believe that consistent changes happen when the community, companies and partners work together to build solutions that leave a legacy for the territory.”

Operation Enrede works to conserve mangroves in the Santos Estuary through the installation of eco-barriers, environmental monitoring, cleaning efforts, environmental education and community mobilization initiatives aimed at reducing irregular waste disposal.