Me and Tshepo Mazibuko parked outside the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, located in Devland landfill in Soweto township. The church didn't look impressive - just a flat roof with some chairs arranged in rows underneath it. But for the people living here at the landfill it has made a huge difference - before they used to eat mainly what they can find in the landfill, now they get food and drinking water from the church daily. Keep reading >
Having watched so many videos of plastic recycling machinery in operation, I was thrilled to get a chance to visit a small plastic recycling company on the outskirts of Istanbul. I met Eldar (not his real name) and his sister, who volunteered to be my translator for the day, in central Istanbul. It took us more than an hour to navigate Istanbul’s morning traffic; once we got close to the recycling factory, we stopped for a traditional Turkish breakfast. Keep reading >
It was already Thursday afternoon, I had to catch my flight on Monday and I started to accept the fact that I'll leave Mexico without gaining access to a landfill. As I was biting into my "tamales con tofu" (probably not the most typical Mexican dish), my phone buzzed with a message from a guy I met at a sustainable entrepreneurship conference - "Can you come at noon? Tomorrow." He sent me the GPS coordinates of where I should go and instructed me to ask for Pedro when I arrive. Keep reading >
Today was the day. I left my place without my backpack. I left my sunglasses behind too, not to look like a tourist too much. Not knowing how long my adventure will be, I started by stuffing myself in my local vegetarian restaurant. Then I headed towards the central part of Coyoacan. I looked up "waste management system" in Spanish in my dictionary, just in case. Keep reading >
What did you believe in as a kid? Santa Claus? Magic fairies? I believed in a trash can. Whenever something was broken or old my mum would always say "just put it in the trash can". No matter what, it was always the easiest solution. We would take a bag of trash to the big bin behind our apartment building. From there it magically disappeared. Keep reading >