In a powerful display of community collaboration, students from the Universidad Privada del Norte (UPN) took the lead in organizing a beach cleaning event yesterday to address the increasing presence of plastic waste along the northern Peruvian coastline, and FairMail was proud to stand alongside them in this impactful initiative.
What We Found
The FairMail photographers and the UPN students, combed through the sandy stretches, armed with gloves and bags, collecting an alarming amount of plastic waste. The litter included single-use plastics, discarded bottles, and remnants of packaging that, if left unchecked, could have found their way into the delicate marine ecosystem.
Peru’s Pacific coast faces a growing threat from ocean plastic pollution. The alarming statistics reveal the urgency of collective action: the ICUN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) estimates that approximately 14 million tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans each year, adversely affecting marine life, ecosystems, and human health. What’s wrost is that this number is expected to triple by 2040.
The Pacific coast of Peru, with its rich marine biodiversity, is particularly vulnerable to this crisis. The plastic waste found on our beaches is just a fraction of what lurks beneath the surface, posing severe threats to the marine life that calls these waters home.
FairMail’s Commitment to Sustainable Practices
At FairMail, we believe in the power of collective action to drive positive change. Joining forces with the UNP students in this beach cleaning event aligns with our commitment to environmental responsibility and community engagement. The simple act of cleaning the beach serves as a poignant reminder of our shared responsibility to protect and preserve our natural resources.
Stay tuned for more updates on our environmental initiatives and community engagement efforts. Let’s keep our beaches clean and our oceans thriving!
as is around the corner and this year we decided to give a little twist to our Amigo Secreto (Secret Santa) gift-exchange tradition. Although in FairMail we have always tried to avoid the trap of consumerism, we realize that excessive consumption has a momentous impact on our planet, and to put it simply, we don’t like that. Way too often we end up spending money to buy things that we don’t need just because at Christmas you are kind of supposed to. For these and many other reasons, we decided to further simplify our Christmas by inspiring the teenagers with the ethical hierarchy of gift exchange. 
Gifts can surely come in many forms, including the non-physical. Giving your time, sharing your skills, creating memories bring more value to both the giver and the receiver. By shifting the focus from material gifts to shared experiences we hope to see the teenagers bond and have a more meaningful Christmas.
As every year, the election of the Photographer of the Year is always awaited with tense anticipation. This is a reward that all the teenage photographers aspire to, but what does exactly mean being elected Photographer of the Year and how does the election work? And most importantly, who is 2017 Photographer of the Year? This blog post will walk you through all the steps to achieve this important acknowledgement and reveal the winner!
The day kicked off with a very interesting workshop on feedback held by our volunteer Jet. The teenagers learned how to give and receive feedback in a mature and constructive way, which is something that will prove to be particularly useful during photo sessions. The teenagers are now aware of the importance of listening and of phrasing the feedback in a way that doesn’t come out as offending.
After the distribution of the cards the party got into its full swing! Despite the hot temperature of the Peruvian summer, we enjoyed a lovely hot chocolate, a delicious Panetton from Mundo Pan (a local bakery owned by Mundo de Niños – the boy home from where we recruit our photographers) and chicken sandwiches made by Anidela and Angeles, our local managers.
