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Refuse reuse

June 23, 2016

This edition goes to Ghana, where an intercontinental initiative is working with thousands of school children to collect, clean and sell the trash that litters the country, thereby creating jobs and income.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JBnT
Abdulrahim Shaibu-issah
Image: DW

"Recycle Up! Young minds fight pollution

Recycle Up! Ghana (RUG) is an African-German initiative that works with Ghanaian school children to tackle the massive waste problems in the country. Collected and cleaned trash is sold to recycling companies for reuse.

From one school to another, we head up into the mountains of Morocco, where female boarders are learning how to grow and use local plants that were once a part of their ancestors' lives. With the help of their grandmothers, they are even putting together a book of medicinal and culinary recipes.

Staying in Africa, we go to Zambia, where a woman who grew up in the mist of Victoria Falls is doing everything she can to teach young people about the problems of local deforestation, and we visit Nigeria's Ogoniland to find out about plans to clean up the oil spills.

In Germany, we look at the difficulties facing a power company that failed to get on board with the green energy transition, and along the coast of Turkey, we meet a formidable English woman, who at age 93, has earned herself the title of "Captain June" for her unerring devotion to saving the local turtle population.