"Years later, my own children aren't even sure what can and cannot be recycled," said Jim Fish, CEO of Waste Management, during a CEO roundtable discussion at SWANA's WASTECON, held jointly this week in Baltimore with ISWA's World Congress. The waste management industry CEOs were asked to look back and consider if they would do anything differently. Jim Fish stated that he would have had a better education program when recycling first started and then made the comment above to explain how important education is to eliminating confusion.
It always comes back to education. That's why ISWA is sponsoring the ISWA Scholarship Programme to educate and aid children in Nicaragua who sort garbage and live at dumpsites to help support their families. Learn more about them and ISWA's efforts below.
Global issues like this were shared at this year's unique, joint conference between SWANA and ISWA. It provided an opportunity to meet like-minded people from around the globe and to learn about the biggest challenges facing other nations, some very much like ours and some very different, and how they are addressing them. One such opportunity was the meeting for SWANA's Communication, Education, and Marketing Technical Division and ISWA's Working Group on Communication & Social Issues.
SWANA and ISWA representatives present a $45,000 check to Timothy Bouldry for the ISWA Scholarship Programme.
Timothy Bouldry shines a light on the children who work, live, and play on dumpsites in developing countries. He lives and works alongside the children and their families, taking photos of the dumpsites from the perspective of these "informal recyclers" who make a living from what they can salvage from waste.
In response to his presentation at a prior ISWA World Congress about the health risks to those who live in these conditions, ISWA and Bouldry developed the ISWA Scholarship Programme. The original goal was to remove 15 children from the Managua, Nicaragua city dump known as La Chureca, "The Dump," and provide them with a quality education for two years. Today, the Scholarship Programme has expanded and is supporting 47 children from two Nicaraguan dumpsites, La Chureca and Nueva Vida.
Thanks to SWANA's fund-raising efforts, a check for $45,000 was presented to Bouldry this week during the joint WASTECON/ISWA conference (pictured). This will help more children receive an education.The funds were raised through a Silent Auction of some of Bouldry's photographs.
