17 November 2021, Apia - A Samoan mother and businesswoman is looking at more innovative ways to manage plastic waste to ensure she leaves behind a clean and healthy environment for her children and her children’s children to live and thrive in.
Ms Nua Va’ai is the Vice President of the Samoa and Tokelau Association of Recyclers (STAR), and is also the co-owner of Samoa Pure Water, a bottled water company based in Samoa.
She was among women who shared their experiences in waste management during a side event titled “Talanoa on how effective the role of women, youth and communities are in the implementation of the regional multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in addressing waste.” The side event was held at the culmination of the second day of the Third Clean Pacific Roundtable.
Ms Va’ai acknowledges that being the owner of a bottled water company, she is one of the biggest sellers, distributors and importers of plastic bottles in Samoa. Her company exports a substantial number of bottled water to Tokelau every two weeks. It is because of this that she is passionate about finding new and innovative ways of dealing with plastic waste, which includes repurposing of plastics into new objects and materials that have a longer lifespan.
“In 2015 we expanded our business and it was then that reality kicked in for me as a businesswoman and as a mother because it was then that I actually saw the accumulation of waste,” she said. “I asked myself, ‘What am I doing? At the end of the day, what am I portraying to my kids?’ It dawned on me then to think outside of the box as to how this accumulated waste can be handled.
“As much as I wanted to stop what I was doing, I couldn’t because this is my bread and butter and how I provide for my family.”
She realised that the only way forward was for her to be innovative, and that is where her journey into waste management and researching ways to manage plastic wastes began.
Ms Va’ai is inspired that what she is advocating for is indeed possible. The challenge now is how to downsize these innovations to suit Samoa, which does not have millions to invest in waste management, but Mrs. Vaai believes that here is a partner out there who will work with her in achieving her dream.
In 2019 her company launched a side project of cages in rural areas to collect plastic bottles in order to reduce the amount of discarded plastic waste in the environment. She has been stocking them on private property awaiting an opportunity of a partnership to support her vision of repurposing plastic waste.
Ms Va’ai stated that as businesses, they are the biggest waste generators. However, not many businesses are taking responsibility and thinking of ways to get back the waste that they put out into the environment. Ms Va’ai’s believes that businesses have a moral responsibility to their communities and to the future generations and need to be responsible for the waste they generate.
It is her belief that as a mother she is the protector of her family, especially her children, and it is on this that she has based her business and moral principles and why she strives to ensure that her children and future generation live in a clean and safe environment.
The side event also featured key activities involving women and youth in the Caribbean as well as the Western Indian Ocean. The presentations by the two regions informed the effectiveness of involving women, youth and communities which is producing positive outcomes in terms of reduction of waste and converting waste into a valuable commodity. The side event also gives the opportunity for the ACP MEA Hubs to share and learn from each other and to strengthen our networks while implementing the ACP/MEA Phase 3 Project activities. More on these initiatives are on our ACP MEA webpage: www.sprep.org/acp-mea.
ABOUT THE 3rd CPRT
The Third Clean Pacific Roundtable is a partnership event supported by New Caledonia, Acotred Pacific, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), Australian Aid (AUS Aid), European Union (EU), Fonds Pacifique, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UN Environment Program (UNEP), Province SUD and Province NORD.