Egypt's poor revolutionize recycling
In Cairo, there is a group of people known as the Zabaleen. The term means "garbage collectors," and for years, they have collected and recycled huge bundles of trash that come in from the richer areas of Cairo. About 80 percent of the city's trash is recycled in the slums, where the Zabaleen reside. The Zabaleen sort through the trash - by hand - and feed any organic waste that can't be resold to pigs.
Egypt is already seeing the effects of environmental degradation, as reported by NPR. But certain companies are trying to help the community how to improve their way of life and their jobs, like installing solar hot water heaters on the rooftops of buildings within the city's poorest areas.
And Procter and Gamble, producers of everything from Charmin to Tide, are helping, too.
A few years ago, the company started a "recycling school" to teach the community's citizens about how to recycle plastic shampoo bottles. Students learn how to shred the bottles in machines, wash them using solar power, and bag it up to be melted down and reused. They are also schooled in the business behind recycling using Excel spreadsheets.
It's truly amazing that communities like this one, who, due to staggering poverty, barely produce a carbon footprint, are pulling more than their weight to improve the environment. And in richer countries, many of us are living day to day with nary a second thought as to how our habits are affecting the world around us. (You can see photos of the Zabaleen and their recycling process here).
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