Community Cinema » garbage

Environmentalists Talk Trash in Oakland and San Francisco

itvscc — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:08:50 +0000

On Wednesday, January 27, Garbage Dreams was screened at Oakland’s Asian Cultural Center. The screening was packed by audience members from every demographic and every age group, including an entire fifth grade class from the Lighthouse Community Charter School. Audience members were struck by the degree to which the Zaballeen managed to find a use for everything. Many attendees were inspired to integrate this consideration into their own lives and think more about the value of the things they view as trash. The screening was followed by an exciting discussion featuring panelists, Monica Wilson, International Co-coordinator at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Aaron Ableman, Co-Founder of Communitree, and Ambessa Cantave, Co-Founder of Grind for the Green and Oakland Climate Justice Activist. Following is a video including interviews with panelist, Ambessa Cantave and a few of the audience members. A week before this screening, on Tuesday, January 19th, the San Francisco Main Library also hosted a screening of Garbage Dreams.

This screening was also followed by a very interesting discussion. Panelists, Kevin Drew, Residential Zero Waste Coordinator at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, Neil Tangri, Climate Change Campaign Director at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), and Bradley Angel, Executive Director at GreenAction, had some very eye-opening things to say about recycling:

“When you burn this stuff (trash), no matter how state-of-the-art, no matter how conscientious the company, you are getting emissions of the most toxic substances known to science- that are having a profound effect on our population worldwide.”
-Neil Tangri, Climate Change Campaign Director, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

“The fact of the matter is, companies are producing stuff for which there is no solution and they take no responsibility. And it’s left in the hands of Kevin (San Francisco Department of the Environment) and your tax dollars to solve that problem…If you can’t recycle it, if you don’t have a plan for it, you shouldn’t be producing it in the first place.”
-Bradley Angel, Executive Director, GreenAction

“We really shouldn’t be shipping things a long way away, we should be trying to live locally to the extent that we shouldn’t expect to get avocados year-round or other things, until very recently, we didn’t get year-round. Living within our means from a local ecosystem sense is where you’re going to find the right answer.”
-Kevin Drew, Residential Zero Waste Coordinator, San Francisco Department of the Environment

“If the waste pickers in Cairo can do eighty percent, I think San Francisco can do eighty percent as well.”
-Neil Tangri

An Interview About Garbage

itvscc — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:18:52 +0000

Audience members and partner organizations mingle and share at the Garbage Dreams event in St. Louis.

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Back in January, Producing Partner KETC in St. Louis, MO, screened the Independent Lens film Garbage Dreams at the not-to-be-missed Missouri History Museum for over 300 local folks. The audience learned that St. Louis recycles about 35% of its waste and that over the past 30 years, St. Louis has made a concerted effort to increase that percentage. As one audience member observed, “It looks funny to see soda cans in a regular waste can and not in a recycle container and we don’t use just one side of the paper.” Watch an interview below with one of our other St. Louis event partners who is working on garbage, solid waste, and recycling education locally.

Find more videos like this on Community Cinema Series St. Louis

Garbage Dreams Events Make People Look At Garbage Differently

itvscc — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:29:19 +0000

37 free Community Cinema events for Garbage Dreams raised recycling awareness across the country. From the sheer number of questions about recycling at events, we know that the film sparked discussion, moved people to action, and provided education on the local level. Filmed over four years, Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. When their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of its trade, each of the teenage boys is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.

Filmmaker Mai Iskander

Filmmaker Mai Iskander sat down in January with Kojo Nnamdi on WAMU in Washington, DC to talk about global environmental challenges and how the “Zabaleen” — or garbage collectors — has captured the world’s attention for their startlingly efficient, eco-friendly, and low-tech methods of recycling.
Listen to the full interview [20 minutes] >>

The New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed Garbage Dreams. She says, “…this new film digs deeper into the politics of a life that few would choose but many depend on.” Read her full review.

At one of our first events for Garbage Dreams in Saratoga Springs, NY at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, our partner organization for the free screening of Garbage Dreams was the local chapter of GAIA, The Global Anti-Incerator Alliance, The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. Our speaker from GAIA was Tracy Frisch, who is active in several other nonprofit organizations in the area. We also had as audience members a husband and wife who own a local Egyptian products store who were brought up in Cairo.

In sunny San Diego, California at the San Diego Public Library, Garbage Dreams was the best screening of the season according to our partners at the library. It was the biggest audience so far, and we had an excellent speaker follow the film who kept more than half the audience in their seats for Q&A. The film presented a wonderful opportunity to discuss grassroots activism and how to mobilize now on recycling issues in San Diego. We had press coverage from the the San Diego Reader.

Read on for more event outcomes and a chance to win a gift from The Recycling School in Cairo!

Michael Wonsidler works for both Zero Waste San Diego and the local county waste department. Zero Waste San Diego is a local grassroots group that advocates for increased recycling awareness and better alternatives to current recycling practices. Michael’s combined knowledge of government action and grassroots perspective made him the perfect speaker to engage the audience in meaningful discussion about the issues presented in Garbage Dreams. Like most cities, San Diego constantly works to improve its recycling capacity.

“I’ve always wondered what happens with my trash. It seems to magically disappear each week and I don’t really have any idea what happens to it or what impact it has on my community. Well that all changed last night. What I learned at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema screening of Garbage Dreams was fascinating.” That was Julie Coan’s reaction to her Garbage Dreams event in Houston where they recycle about 22 percent of their solid waste. Houston’s recycling rate is on the rise, but they can probably learn some tricks and procedures from cities like San Antonio, Portland, and San Francisco who are America’s municipal “Recycling Stars.”

Austria is the leading recycler in the European Union with about 60 percent of waste products being recycled. The United States recycles about 32 percent of its waste. At the Beijing dump, scavengers earn three times the monthly salary of college professors. Scavengers in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico earn three times the minimum wage, putting them in the top 5 percent of income earners in that city.

The film makes it clear. Now is the time for recycling. In this video, Mai Iskander and Adham, one of the young subjects from the film, take us on a tour of a typical American trash dumpster:

Our national partners create unique ways for audiences to learn more about recycling, sustainability and environmental education. Global Alliance For Incinerator Alternatives is a worldwide alliance of more than 500 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 80 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. The Cloud Institute works to ensure that innovative curricula is available to educators in the K-12 school systems to prepare young people for the shift toward a sustainable future. Working Films leverages the power of storytelling through documentary film to advance struggles for social, economic, and environmental justice, human and civil rights.

Garbage Dreams airs in April 2010 on PBS (check local listings). If you attended one of our free Garbage Dreams preview events, please comment below and let us know what you thought. One commenter will receive a small gift bag made from 100% recycled materials from The Recycling School in Cairo, Egypt.

Nashville Garbage Dreams Event a Homecoming After 2009 NaFF Success

itvscc — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:28:26 +0000

Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film Garbage Dreams this past weekend at the Nashville Public Library. The film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. Regional Outreach Coordinator Allison Inman gives an overview of the event.

Al Gore presents filmmaker Mai Iskander with the REEL Current Award for extraordinary insight into global issues at the 2009 Nashville Film Festival.

Saturday, Community Cinema welcomed more than 125 people into Nashville Public Library’s downtown branch auditorium for a screening of Garbage Dreams. The event was a homecoming of sorts; Mai Iskander and her film were the talk of last year’s Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) when Al Gore presented Mai with the REEL Current Award for extraordinary insight into global issues. Because of Garbage Dreams, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $1 million to benefit the Zaballeen, the “garbage people” profiled in the film. When announcing the grant, Garbage Dreams’ producers credited Nashville Film Festival and the REEL Current Award with part of the film’s success. As NaFF Director Sallie Mayne said, “We feel like a small but important part of its journey.”

Attendees make crafts from recycled materials including bottle caps that were made into refrigerator magnets.

Guests at the Community Cinema event attended a reception in the library’s art gallery, where they were invited to make crafts from recycled materials. We collected bottle caps from friends and the owner of The Basement, a popular live music venue. Guests made colorful refrigerator magnets from the previous night’s bottle caps, proving that trash can be beautiful. We also found a use for our leftover Community Cinema postcards; with some scissors and magnetic sheets, letters from the cards made interesting, imperfect magnetic poetry kits.

Our panel featured Sherif Barsoum, director of International Student and Scholar Services at Vanderbilt University; Jeffrey Ezell, education coordinator at Metro Beautification and Environment Commission; and Jennifer Hackett, recycling coordinator for Sustain VU, Vanderbilt University’s recycling program.

Each year, Sherif takes a student group to his native home, Cairo, where they visit the garbage village featured in the film. Sherif’s in-laws were with us at the screening, after arriving from Cairo late the night before. Moderator Jonathan Martin, co-anchor of WSMV’s Channel 4 News Today/Saturday, kept the discussion calm when a local environmental group leader unexpectedly took a seat on the panel, insisting he’d been invited, and used the opportunity to criticize our local and state government’s solid waste program.

Community Cinema is presented by Nashville Public Television, Nashville Public Library, Hands On Nashville, and new series partner Nashville Film Festival.

- Allison Inman
Regional Outreach Coordinator

Garbage Dreams Events Make People Look At Garbage Differently: Houston

itvscc — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:51:03 +0000

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Last night, HoustonPBS screened the Independent Lens film Garbage Dreams. Filmed over four years, the film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. Manar Hindi, Community Cinema assistant coordinator, talks about the event and how she’ll never look at trash the same way again.

Harry Hayes talks with audience members after the Community Cinema screening and panel discussion.

Speakers Harry Hayes, director of the city’s Solid Waste Management Department; Dr. H.C Clark, professor at Rice University; and Cindy Yepez of the Houston Green Scene.

I’ve always wondered what happens with my trash. It seems to magically disappear each week and I don’t really have any idea what happens to it or what impact it has on my community. Well that all changed last night. What I learned at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema screening of Garbage Dreams was fascinating.

Houston recycles about 22 percent of its solid waste. While the number shows an improvement, we still lag behind cities like Portland (63 percent) and San Francisco (72 percent). Harry Hayes, director of the city’s Solid Waste Management Department, said that one of the things needed to increase the number of people recycling in Houston is legislation. He talked about how people in San Francisco are fined if they don’t recycle properly. He said if people are really concerned about recycling they need to contact their elected officials.

One audience member asked what he could do to implement a recycling plan in his apartment building, since there was no real precedent for him to follow. Mr. Hayes’ answer was that there was no “curbside” pick up currently for apartment building, so his suggestion was to speak with the owner’s of the apartment building about possibly hiring a private company to collect and haul the recyclables away.

Another major concern was the question of how to encourage others to begin recycling when they are so used to throwing their garbage away with no thought or concern as to what happens to it. Our other two guest speakers, Cindy Yepez of the Houston Green Scene, and Dr. H.C Clark, professor at Rice University, both commented on the economic advantages of recycling. Businesses that used leftover home improvement materials to create new, stylish home good (countertops for instance) were booming. There are even more jobs and an even bigger market in the collecting and reusing of recyclables.

After the panel discussion many of the more vocal audience members hung back and chatted with us and our panelists. Some wanted to start their own recycling plans in their neighborhoods and wondered where to start while others just thanked us for providing an arena to bring these important issues to our communities. I have a feeling after watching Garbage Dreams and participating in the discussion, they won’t look at trash the same way ever again… I know I won’t.

Manar Hindi
Assistant Coordinator of Community Cinema

Garbage Dreams Events Make People Look At Garbage Differently: Saratoga Springs

itvscc — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:14:50 +0000

In Saratoga Springs, NY at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, our partner organization for the free screening of Garbage Dreams was the local chapter of GAIA, The Global Anti-Incerator Alliance, The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. Our speaker from GAIA was Tracy Frisch, who is active in several other nonprofit organizations in the area. We also had as audience members a husband and wife who own a local Egyptian products store who were brought up in Cairo. The husband lived at one time in a community very close to the one depicted in the film, and he talked about how the Cairo garbage situation was much better in the past, prior to the foreign companies taking over trash collection. The audience was particulary interested in current recycling programs in our area, how much trash local communities recycle, and what we can do to improve our local recycling statistics.

In January Community Cinema Asks You To Consider Recycling… Everything

itvscc — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:03:48 +0000

In January 2010, Community Cinema starts the new year by asking you to consider recycling, well… everything you use. Don’t worry! Our documentary selection – an award winning festival hit – GARBAGE DREAMS will help you learn recycling secrets from some of the best recyclers on the planet. Meet Cairo’s Zaballeen.

Find your free event, and join us for the film and so much more. Welcome to the world’s largest garbage village located on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The Zaballeen (Arabic for garbage people) recycle 80 percent of the trash they collect—far more than other recycling initiatives around the globe. But now a multi-national corporation threatens their livelihood. Follow three teenage boys born into the recycling business who are forced to make choices that will impact the survival of their community and could also help the rest of the world figure out what to do with its waste. Local Community Cinema events will look into recycling options on the municipal level as well as connect with independent organizations seeking creative and innovative solutions to our trash troubles. GARBAGE DREAMS is director Mai Iskander’s first feature film, and is on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 15-film shortlist for feature docs at this year’s Oscars (source: Hollywood Reporter).

The Recycling School from GARBAGE DREAMS

Learn more interesting facts and consider some of the challenging questions or activities in our Discussion Guide (PDF, 2.5M). [Consider not printing the discussion guide. You can view PDF documents on your computer, laptop, Palm, Blackberry, iPhone, or other smart device.] Then join us at one of our free preview events for GARBAGE DREAMS and bring your questions for our panel of experts. Our first event is tomorrow January 2, 2010 at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, 49 Henry Street at 3PM. There are over 30 events scheduled so far with more being added every day.

In this clip below from SXSW, Mai Iskander (the film’s director) and one of the film’s young subjects go through an American trash dumpster looking for answers to the common exclamation, “That’s not recyclable! Is it?!”

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