Talkin’ Trash

 

Few communities in Paraguay have garbage collection service and Arazape is no exception. Here trash is either buried, burned, or just left in piles. Community members identified trash in the streets as a concern, according to the survey we conducted when we moved to Arazape. A seventh grade teacher asked me to help her teach lessons to raise awareness about trash and to help educate students about recycling and re-purposing. It has been a lot of fun working with these kids and helping them to connect with the needs of their community.

Decomposition time lines in groups

Topics we have covered so far have included: separating inorganics from organics and creating compost; separating inorganics and recovering recyclable materials; creating a decomposition timeline; and creative uses for re-purposed items.

How long does that take to decompose?!

Each lesson has been followed by a project where we re-purpose trash to create a useful item. So far, students have created: wallets from milk cartons; bracelets from plastic bags; baskets from plastic soda bottles, and planters from cutting glass bottles.

Baskets from plastic bottles

All of these items will be on display at the end of the school-year celebration, which will raise the awareness of other students and community members, as well. Next step will be to work with the school to start a recycling pilot program, with kids taking the lead in teaching other kids and talking to the intendente of the municipalidad about a way to transport the materials to the recycling collection facility, which is an hour away.

Mark holding the bottle as a student cuts it with wire and friction

The finished product- Que lindo!

If the recycling project works within the school, our next step will be to branch out into the community. Ideally, we will be working with the teacher to support kids as they take this on as a class project within their community.

Making adjustable bracelets from plastic bags

So, this is this kind of trash talk that’s been going on here in our community. Hopefully the stars align and the project comes to fruition- development work takes a lot of time and finger crossing!

My English class students show off their glass cutting skills!