From Pollution to Prevention : The Ovitrap Campaign
Preventing Disease through Plastic Recycling
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
FROM POLLUTION TO PREVENTION : Buy Food With Plastic for Health
Wear Our Campaign - Make a sustainable fashion statement !
The Ovitrap Campaign – what it is all about?
- The Problem:
Plastic bottles and sachets in Ghana become dangerous breeding grounds for tiger mosquitoes, which transmit diseases such as dengue, Zika, and yellow fever.
- Our Solution:
We collect plastic directly from households, recycle it into high-quality mosquito traps called Ovitraps, and distribute them together with the community. Each trap is exchanged for 100 collected plastic bottles. The goal: fewer mosquitoes, fewer diseases, and more environmental protection.
- Your Impact:
With your donation, you fund the production of traps, community workshops, local jobs, and sustainable health education on site.
- Every Ovitrap counts:
Even a small contribution helps prevent disease, strengthen recycling, and enable people to live healthier lives.
- Join us:
Help us turn plastic into a tool for health. Support us right where it is needed most!
For those who want to dive deeper:
This campaign comes here with a detailed background report, including all details, scientific evidence, and sources. This way, you can explore the project in more depth and clearly understand how your donation makes an impact.
Why plastic waste is more dangerous than you think
Plastic pollution is widely known as an environmental problem. But hardly anyone realizes that plastic waste is also an ideal breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes which are the carriers of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. These day-biting mosquitoes lay their resilient eggs in small, human-made water containers such as plastic bottles, cups, or car tires. A single plastic cup can produce hundreds of new disease transmitters.
For comparison:
Many people know malaria mosquitoes (Anopheles), which usually breed in large, natural water bodies like puddles or swamps and bite mainly at night. Aedes mosquitoes, on the other hand, thrive in small plastic containers. Their eggs survive dry periods and hatch immediately after rainfall. This is a crucial advantage for their rapid spread.
“Since we started collecting plastic, there are fewer diseases” – how much truth is behind this?
This observation by a villager, Mrs. Bosomtwe from Ghana, was the starting point for our current campaign. What sounds simple at first can now be well explained with scientific findings: when plastic is systematically collected and removed from the environment, it means not only less waste, but also fewer mosquitoes, fewer bites, and fewer diseases.
Through our community events, plastic is now collected directly from households instead of being carelessly discarded. People have realized that every bottle and every sachet (500 ml plastic water sachet) has value - for the environment and for health. We want to build on this and prevent plastic from entering the environment in the first place.
Our solution: Turning plastic into prevention
Plastic waste threatens not only the environment but also human health. We go one step further: waste becomes a tool against mosquito-borne diseases. At the heart of our campaign is the Ovitrap which is a smart mosquito trap made from recycled plastic that specifically targets the dangerous Aedes mosquito.
With this campaign, we aim to create a new sector for Buy Food with Plastic: the health sector.
What is an Ovitrap?
The Ovitrap is a specially designed mosquito trap that mimics the perfect breeding site: water enriched with grass or leaves in the lower part attracts female mosquitoes. A fine mesh prevents them from laying their eggs in the water. When trying to escape, the mosquitoes orient themselves toward the bright, transparent part of the trap. There, they encounter a special adhesive surface, a so-called sticky card, before they can get out. In this way, each trap stops hundreds of potential disease carriers, without electricity, chemicals, or artificial lures.
The Ovitrap is designed to catch almost exclusively Aedes mosquitoes, while leaving most other insects unharmed. This makes it one of the most targeted and environmentally friendly methods of mosquito prevention.
Our Ovitraps are made almost entirely from recycled PET (rPET) collected from bottles. Nets, sticky cards, and other parts also come, wherever possible, from reused or natural materials. This way, health protection is effectively combined with sustainable upcycling.
The model is based on the proven BG-GAT principle but is further developed and optimized together with our partner, Dehgraf Studio, in Switzerland. Dehgraf Studio is a company specialized in 3D printing that creates the technical design, develops prototypes, and makes adjustments for us. This ensures that the traps are robust, efficient, and suitable for local production in Ghana.
How many collected plastic bottles are actually in a single Ovitrap?
A durable Ovitrap requires about 1.3 kilograms of rPET.
This equals around 60 small bottles (a 500 ml PET bottle weighs about 22-24 grams) or about 30-35 large bottles (a 1.5 L PET bottle weighs about 35-43 grams).
The material is thoroughly cleaned, prepared, and processed with the Filament Maker into high-quality 3D printing filament, which produces up to 79% less CO₂ than new plastic.
How does the cycle work?
- Collecting plastic: Communities continue to hand in plastic bottles and sachets, now often directly from households.
- Meal incentive: 20 bottles or 30 sachets = 1 hot meal.
- Workshops: 12 educational events per year in the villages of Dwabor and Abeyee, Ghana (6 per village).
- Event 1: Awareness on mosquito-borne diseases, the role of plastic, the effect of Ovitraps, and making simple traps from bottles.
- Events 2–6: Deepening knowledge, feedback, improvements, and further development through co-creation.
- Upcycling production: In our workshops, collected plastic is turned into high-quality Ovitraps via 3D printing, creating new jobs.
- Distribution & impact: Traps are sold or exchanged for 100 bottles and integrated into long-term health programs.
And now you may be wondering: What does your donation actually achieve?
Your support creates much more than just a product — it builds an entirely new health sector within Buy Food with Plastic:
- Establishing a local production line (rPET filament & 3D printing)
- Purchasing 3D printers and training local staff
- Creating fair jobs in recycling, production, and education
- Running community workshops on disease prevention and environmental protection
- Building partnerships with health institutions for sustainable use
How is the campaign budget structured?
The goal is to ensure long-term collection, education, and Ovitrap production.
What is already known?
- CHF 2,200 for 1 educational community event (including meals, materials, logistics) with up to 200 participants
- 12 events per year in Dwabor and Abayee
- Note: In each village, only one event is fully dedicated to the mosquito topic; the other events include short updates and follow-ups
- This alone accounts for CHF 26,400 of the total budget for events
What else is included in the budget?
Technical design & development cooperation (partner company Dehgraf Studio):
- For the adaptation, research, and optimization of trap development. ≈ CHF 2,000
3D printers (Bambu Lab P1S, closed version) for Ovitrap production:
- 2 units: unit price including accessories/variations ≈ CHF 1,000 → Total ≈ CHF 2,000 (Production capacity: approximately 300 Ovitraps per year per printer → 600/year in total → over 5 years ≈ 3,000 Ovitraps)
Filament Maker machine (Sustainable Design Studio):
- 2 units ≈ CHF 500 each → Total ≈ CHF 1,000
(PET bottles are collected by the community and exchanged for a hot meal. This way, collection becomes an integral part of the social and ecological project.)
→ Total costs for technology & development: ≈ CHF 5,000
Basic tools & small equipment:
(since rooms, tables, and infrastructure are already provided by Buy Food with Plastic) ≈ CHF 500
Material costs for Ovitraps:
Paint, nets, sticky cards, small parts (recurring annually): ≈ CHF 1,500
Personnel costs (local employment):
- We employ 2 people from the community for production and manufacturing.
- Salary per person: ≈ CHF 250 / month
- Annual salary per person: CHF 3,000
- For both together: CHF 6,000 per year
Project coordination & support:
- Fee: ≈ CHF 45 / hour
- 10 hours per month × 12 months = 120 hours
- Total: ≈ CHF 5,400 per year
Transport, public relations, information material:
- Logistics, awareness-raising, and project communication. ≈ CHF 2,000–3,000
Contingency:
- Financial buffer for repairs or price fluctuations. ≈ CHF 3,000
Our fundraising goal: CHF 50,000
This will secure for one year:
- all community events
- Ovitrap production and ongoing operations
- long-term integration into local prevention programs
At the same time, the investments in technology and the workshop are designed to be sustainable: they enable a lifespan of 3–5 years and the production of up to 3,000 Ovitraps. Since Buy Food with Plastic already manages all administration in a professional and efficient manner, we can guarantee that all funds will flow directly and purposefully into the project — ensuring long-term health and environmental protection.
What will your donation be used for?
Every contribution counts – and with these amounts we can make a concrete difference:
Your Contribution What it Achieves
- CHF 50 Production of 3 Ovitraps
- CHF 100 5 hot meals & 5 Ovitraps
- CHF 250 Complete workshop incl. materials for 20 participants
- CHF 400 Share of a 3D printer for Ovitrap production
- CHF 500 1 month’s salary for 2 local production workers
- CHF 750 Materials for 15–20 Ovitraps for one neighborhood
- CHF 800 Purchase of a complete 3D printer
- CHF 1,000 Transport and information materials for 1 year
- CHF 1,500 Fully equipped workstation in the workshop
- CHF 2,200 Community event for up to 200 participants
- CHF 3,000 Transport & outreach in both villages for 1 year
- CHF 5,000 Basic setup of the local production site
- CHF 5,400 Project coordination & support for 1 year
- CHF 50,000 All events, production & Ovitrap distribution for 1 year
– with a basis for 3–5 years (≈ 3,000 -Ovitraps)
How does your donation create impact?
For everyone who wants to dive deeper, we present the IOOI model (Inputs – Outputs – Outcomes – Impact) of our project. It transparently shows which resources are invested, which activities take place, and which short-, medium-, and long-term effects are achieved.
With your contribution, you help tackle a global health problem in a creative, local, and sustainable way. You help us write a new chapter: plastic becomes prevention.
Less plastic – fewer mosquitoes – fewer diseases
💛 Donate now and make Ovitraps possible.
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Active in Nicaragua, Ghana and India
Our overall mission is to promote sustainable recycling practises that benefit both the environment and public health.
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Buy Food With Plastic for Health
Buy Food with Plastic, Feldstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland
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