Heroes for the Community
Ahuachapán Sur, El Salvador | Heroes for the Community - Planeta Vivo | 2025
¡Hola!
We are Planeta Vivo, a youth movement fighting plastic pollution across eight communities in southern Ahuachapán. In 2025, we launched Heroes for the Community, a campaign that transformed awareness into action through data-driven advocacy, creative education, and community mobilisation.
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18 to 27 years old
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The Right-Sized Problem
Ahuachapán Sur faces severe environmental challenges: excessive plastic use pollutes rivers and beaches, waste accumulates in streets and markets, and limited awareness puts public health at risk. Without intervention, plastic waste will continue threatening our ecosystems from Barra de Santiago's coastal waters to our agricultural communities.
What We Did
Over five months, we combined community education, creative campaigns, and hands-on environmental action to reduce plastic use and promote sustainable alternatives.
Offline Impact
Community Education Workshops — Delivered "Heroes for the Community" sessions across eight communities, teaching 200 people about plastic's impact on health and environment while demonstrating the 3Rs (reduce, recycle, reuse) through hands-on crafts.
The Plastic Villain — Built a character from recovered plastic waste that became our campaign mascot, making pollution visible and sparking critical conversations.
Plastic Reuse Workshops — Transformed plastic bottles into functional items—trash cans, flowerpots, seats—showing communities that waste can become resources.
Campaign Jingle & Choreography — Created an original song with dance that spread our message: "Plastic is the problem; you are the solution."
Inter-Community Cleanup Day — Organized Ahuachapán Sur's first collaborative cleanup at Barra de Santiago, removing 1 ton of plastic with 164 participants from multiple communities.
Turtle Release Experience — Connected 15 youth to ecosystem protection, demonstrating how plastic pollution threatens marine species survival.
Heroes Against Plastic Festival — Celebrated our achievements with 152 community members through environmental games, educational activities, and the "Ideas that Transform" contest showcasing creative plastic reuse.
Online & Media Impact
Digital Campaign — Reached 101,944 people across Facebook and Instagram with educational content, tutorials, and campaign updates, generating 198,186 impressions and 1,495 interactions.
Radio Jingle Campaign — Broadcast our campaign song 361 times on local Radio YUKA, reaching an estimated 100,000-145,000 listeners across Ahuachapán.
Reusable Alternatives Distribution — Handed out 750+ reusable items(bottles, cloth bags, gym bags) to replace single-use plastics in daily life.
Campaign Impact
600+ people engaged directly through workshops, cleanup days, and community events
1 ton of plastic collected from Barra de Santiago beach
750+ reusable items distributed to promote sustainable alternatives
26 youth leaders (Shifters) trained in environmental advocacy and community organizing
7 strategic partnerships formed with local government, environmental units, and community organizations
Measurable behavior change — families began separating waste, tea stalls adopted waste bins, residents replaced plastic cups with paper alternatives
One of our proudest moments came when residents voluntarily started replacing single-use plastics—tea stalls adopted new waste bins, and families committed to reusable alternatives. This proved that youth-led campaigns create lasting community transformation.
Following the campaign, Planet Protectors received recognition from the Ahuachapán Sur Municipal Government and were invited to join the Environmental Management Committee, ensuring our advocacy continues shaping local environmental policy.
Words from the community
"I have always had the desire to do something for other people. One of my greatest fears is that people will forget me. I would like people to remember me for everything I did for my community. Today that the campaign has ended, I feel happy and excited, because we achieved one more accomplishment as young people.
I feel better and better, because I know this was not easy. At the beginning there was no foundation, but now that it was achieved, I liked everything. I learned to get to know people better, to know that you can achieve what you set out to do with a campaign."
Edwin, Shifter
"I was amazed by the level of commitment, leadership, and ownership the group of shifters demonstrated throughout the campaign. The friendship and support they built created a warm and safe space, which was key for the entire process to have a positive outcome. The shifters' desire to create change was always stronger than their fears."
Rafael, Fun Adult
This story was lovingly curated by the SHIFT team with the help of Claude (Anthropic) based on submitted source materials from our Fun Adults and Shifters.
