So What Are We Up Against?
K2 Wind Foundation’s mission is to support initiatives to mitigate pollution, promote sustainability, and provide solutions to waste, water, and environmental problems worldwide. Currently, we have both a domestic and international focus, particularly directed towards problems in Africa and South East Asia. Rapid growth and development has resulted in many countries struggling with critical environmental and infrastructure issues that are threatening the livelihood of our planet:
Air Pollution
Mass development combined with draconian farming practices have resulted in such poor air quality throughout many parts of the world to the point where millions of people are dying prematurely due to respiratory related illnesses.
Ocean Pollution
The level of inorganic waste that is dumped into the world’s oceans continues to increase at an unprecedented rate. Scientists are now estimating that over 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans each year. This is the equivalent of placing five garbage bags on every foot of coastline around the world.
Contaminated Water
Clean water, an essential element to human life, is a privilege that millions of people in developing counties lack access to. In South East Asia most of the tap water is contaminated, resulting in large segments of the population being forced to spend what little money they have to buy expensive bottled water, or risk getting sick from contaminated tap water. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people each year than all forms of violence, including war.”
Ineffective Waste Management
Many regions across Africa and South East Asia lack the fundamental infrastructure to safely dispose of waste. As a result, thousands of tons of plastic and other inorganic waste is dumped illegally into rivers and oceans, contaminating the water and killing the marine life that the local people rely on for survival.
