Our Mission
Wetlands Work! seeks to improve the quality of life for underserved and vulnerable populations through nature-based sanitation solutions. By providing access to our custom designed and built, effective and affordable sanitation technologies, we bring wastewater treatment to populations, and in particular, to those threatened by high water conditions. also aims to restore local habitats
and biodiversity to combat climate change, and to protect communities, whose livelihoods are dependent on the productivity of their local environment to be sustainable, but are least able to be resilient in times of crisis. designs and builds innovative sanitation treatment systems that are simple- requiring minimal maintenance, no moving parts and no electrical or chemical inputs. Sanitation in water environments is a critical component for building resilient communities. Our organic wastewater treatment systems and programs ensure lasting benefits and behavior change, by providing market-based and aspirational incentives through hygiene education to school children and adults, as well as first-ever access to the only practical sanitation solution for an owner’s land and waterscape. Our nature-based approach improves public health, promotes a more productive and biodiverse environment for plants and fisheries, and preserves livelihoods and tourism that rely on a specific body of water. Our systems lead to the restoration of the natural function of wetlands and nearshore aquatic ecosystems to absorb carbon, which combat climate change. In summary, our local market-based circular economic strategy – creating and training local businesses to market, make and install our treatment systems, initiating behavior change away from community practices of open defecation, and reuse of urine and f***l waste as products that promote home garden productivity -- ultimately improves human health, vital ecosystems and the local economy. Our Goals
• Improve the quality of life for underserved communities through the provision of efficient and affordable sanitation;
• Reduce diseases transmitted by insects and waterborne contamination;
• Support healthy child development by reducing gut inflammation, diseases and child stunting;
• Provide new opportunities to the local business sector through sales, marketing and maintenance of our HandyPod systems;
• Encourage tourism by providing safe and sanitary conditions which, in turn, brings economic opportunities to marginalized communities;
• Deploy systems widely to improve water quality and the health of wetlands and local environments currently suffering from contamination;
• Increase awareness of wetland values (ecosystem services, etc.) to human welfare, and the importance of maintaining healthy global ecosystem functioning, including the provision of biodiverse flora and fauna;
• Allow commercial industries with wastewater, and institutions such as hospitals, to discharge ‘safe water’ into the environment, using our innovative constructed wetland systems, eliminating negative impacts to the local community and waters;
• Introduce, through sanitation awareness and hygiene education, a healthier way of life for marginalized communities;
• Train a new generation of WASH professionals and promote women-led entrepreneurs as marketers for hygiene, health, privacy and dignity;
• Promote awareness through national and international professional presentations of ‘challenging environment’ HandyPod sanitation for lakes, floodplains, mangroves, beaches and islands, and impermeable clay soils;
• To be a sustainable social enterprise providing local market-based and nature-based sanitation solutions.
