Gloria Majiga-Kamoto

"Our forests provide wild mushrooms and fruits and a safe space to experience our traditions and cultural beliefs."

"Plastics are one of the most incredible inventions of our time but they are also equally disruptive and costly"

"We may have won one battle, but the war on plastics in Malawi and across the world is far from over"

"Together, we challenged the idea that these companies can put a price tag on our environment and call that development."

"You sometimes put your family at risk coming up against huge companies and people that are well connected politically. You always find there’s a conflict of interest and you’re stuck in the middle. It does feel a bit threatening and can also feel a bit scary."

"It became very personal for me after interacting with farmers"

"Some of them are losing their livestock because once the animals get into the field, which is so heavily polluted with single-use plastic, they consume these plastics, which kill them, thereby affecting the livelihood of their owners."

"A lot of plastic wastes that we are generating end up at open dumpsites and they slide right back into the communities, causing pollution in our streams and landscape."

"Malawi is very far behind. Recycling of waste requires technology and we do not have a lot of that technology."

"Individuals have to be aware of their own contribution to the mess. Malawians should make it easier for plastics to end up in the right place and to be potentially recycled."