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US Embassy takes green campaign to Harare's streets
US Embassy
February 05, 2013

The United States Embassy on Tuesday presented a special garbage bin to the Harare City Council as a gesture to its commitment to a clean environment in Harare.

"I am thrilled to be here to make this small token which represents our interest in community-led solutions to waste management," said Ambassador Bruce Wharton during a handover ceremony witnessed by members of the public, environmentalists, and Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda at Harare Gardens on February 5.

The donation is one part of an eighteen month campaign by Embassy staff and their families to "green" the embassy and its surrounding area. The diplomats' campaign hopes to encourage environmental preservation through waste reduction, reuse, recycling and clean up campaigns. The Green Team, as it is affectionately known at the Embassy, is made up of American and Zimbabwean volunteers. It is led by American diplomat, Ms. Sanya Hunsucker, and has developed messages to promote a clean environment targeted at the Embassy community.

The Embassy procured the branded bin from Miracle Missions, an organization that organizes cleanups around Harare and heads the community waste management meetings that Green Team members often attend. The bin is now located in Harare Gardens, across Herbert Chitepo Street from the main Embassy compound. "It's a key transit point with a large foot traffic population," said the U.S. Ambassador. "It is a perfect location to begin to demonstrate my Embassy's support for community-led cleanup and waste management activities."

Harare Mayor Masunda welcomed the donation and encouraged international organizations and diplomatic missions to emulate the gesture. "We all have an obligation . . . if everyone did his little bit this place would be totally different," said the mayor.

An ecstatic Ms. Hunsucker said the Green Team was continuing its campaign and will hold presentations targeted at school children and other members of the diplomatic community. A group of ambassadors' personal assistants is now in place and plans to place more bins around Harare Gardens.

Other activities conducted by Ms. Hunsucker and the Green Team include holding composting classes for the gardeners of Embassy staff and recycling shredded paper, soda cans, magazines and plastic bottles. The recycled paper is used for making booklets, cards and paper/envelopes; and the recycled magazines are made into jewelry.

These greening initiatives fit into other, long-term American health promotion and environmental support programs in Zimbabwe. The U.S. Embassy commits nearly $120 million each year to health programs with a goal to reduce mortality and morbidity. It has provided support for emergency interventions during occasional disease outbreaks including cholera in 2008 and typhoid in recent years. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, the U.S. also supports health prevention measures targeted at women and children through funding support drawn from the United States Agency for Development Cooperation (USAID) and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

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