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Recycling and Waste Management Campaign
Where? Northern area of the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor Objective: Protect biodiversity and endangered ecosystems. Provide a solution to the waste management problem of small rural communities, curb pollution of land and water. To whose benefit? Communities of Savegre Abajo, San Marcos, El Llano, and El Brujo. When? Began Nov. 2004 - May 2005 (at this time local community groups will take over project completely) Description: Provide workshops on the garbage problem, potential solutions to it and how to manage toxic wastes appropriately (such as batteries, pesticide jugs, and plastics). The campaign is based on the 4 R's: Reducing, Reusing, Rejecting, and Recycling. The campaign consists of workshops given in the schools to all the primary and secondary school students, a workshop for community leaders and one for the general public. We hand out educational brochures and booklets for each household, put up posters in public places and equip the town with a set of recycling bins and establish a community collection center. The recycling bins and educational literature and posters have already been donated for the communities of El Brujo, El Llano, Savegre Abajo and San Marcos. A local community group (usually the one that requested the project) takes over the management of the project (transportation of recycled materials, maintenance of recycling center, etc.) CRCT provides follow up monitoring and encouragement. The schools are recruited to help support the project by having the children and youth become involved in the promotion of recycling in their homes, maintenance of the recycling center and collection of recyclables in different areas of the community. This project can fulfill the 12th grade Costa Rican community-service requirement, so high schools are often involved. Current status: The Savegre Abajo community recycling center has been established - all Elem. School and HS students have received workshops, and the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Savegre (community group) has taken over the project there and will maintain the recycling center and transportation of materials. The Consejo de Educación of El Brujo elementary school and the Comité de Subcuenca División Abajo formally requested the project for the community of El Brujo, by way of a letter delivered on March 2, 2005. The recycling project was brought to the community on May 23 and 24 and the recycling center was launched along with a 2-day Ecological Campaign (see below). The El Brujo Community Recycling Center has been in operation for almost two months. It would like to expand to include a community composting center. San Marcos and El Llano leaders never contacted us about receiving this project, although it was offered to them numerous times. The project is only brought to communities where local leaders coordinate all the logistics of where the recycling center will be (at the local school or local store, etc.); figure out who will transport the materials and who will be in charge at the local level of maintaining the recycling center clean, buying bags, etc. The communities of El Brujo and Savegre will undergo annual monitoring to assure that the recycling centers that have been established by CRCT are functioning. Contributing Partners/Funding: Municipalidad de Perez Zeledón provides the educational literature/posters, recycling bins for each community, and support staff during workshops. CRCT has provided transportation, coordination and educational literature on Toxic Waste. ARAUCARIA via Asociación de Conservación Yiski donated books on the global garbage problem. Local community organizations, including COVIRENAS, provide the local coordination and ongoing maintenance to the recycling centers. |
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