A Reciclar! Recycling Continues in Xela and Llanos del Pinal

Text and Photos by Amy Scheuren

We last recycled in August of this year.  Since then we've been collecting plastic, aluminum, tin, cardboard, and glass at Pop Wuj and the Family Support Center in Llanos.  On Thursday afternoon we headed out to Llanos to carry back 20 costales (big bags) of plastic on public transportation.  With help from John, a Pop Wuj student, and Dawn, a former intern, we were able to bring it all in and store it with the rest of the recycling on Pop Wuj's roof.

Plastic and glass on the Pop Wuj roof

On Friday morning we carried bags upon bags of plastic and other recylcing down two flights of stairs and awaited the truck.  We quickly loaded the truck and hit the road to Cantel.

Aerial shot of the loaded truck

Volunteer extraordinaire, Dawn, at the recycling center

We unloaded and recycled more material than ever before in the 3.5-year history of the recycling project.  We recycled:

• 43 lbs. of glass
• 38 lbs. of tin
• 5 lbs. of aluminum
• 7 lbs. of cardboard
• 457 lbs. of plastic

Emptying our costales into the sea of plastic at the recycling center

Although I'm so glad we were able to avoid sending so much material to the landfill, it continues to be disheartening that we create so much waste at Pop Wuj and in Llanos del Pinal, especially plastic waste. Mejor a reducir y reutilizar!

All Clear!  The Pop Wuj roof after we recylced.