Orlando is the Founder and Director of Km1, a youth-led coastal and marine conservation team focused on addressing marine litter, while also seeking to empower and involve the next generation of ocean leaders with environmental education programmes, social innovation workshops and citizen science projects. Since those humble origins, the organisation has formalised and professionalised with two main arms to its social impact: education and action.
On the frontline, Orlando organises monthly beach cleanups, mobilising a network of young students. These efforts have intercepted and removed approximately 80,000 pounds (36,287kg) of plastic waste, which would otherwise be washed out to sea and incur irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
As a long-term solution, Km1 hosts educational workshops in schools, businesses and even government departments to espouse the values of Km1, teach the science of climate change, and educate people how to make a difference. This reaches around 2,000 people per month. Since inception of the programmes in 2016, they have provided environmental education to over 100,000 Mexican youths.
The support of the UN Environmental Programme Mexico and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation has been essential in reaching the level of impact Km1 have achieved.
The organisation has also established a partnership with the UN for Clean Seas Workshops, and advocated locally and with a regional Commission to ban plastic bags in the city of Tijuana, the first Mexican city on the border with the US to approve a ban on disposable plastic bags. This measure will come into action in 2020 and will grant businesses a 24 month adaptation period. In a city which consumes 10.2 million single-use plastic bags, the impact will be monumental.
Additionally, Km1 is building the Youth for the Ocean National Network, a structure that will gather coastal, marine and oceanic youth-led projects from across the country and will focus on advancing research, innovation, capacity building, and public policy.
