{"id":92,"date":"2010-04-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/garbage-dreams\/"},"modified":"2022-03-18T12:05:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:05:49","slug":"garbage-dreams","status":"publish","type":"films","link":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Garbage Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the outskirts of Cairo lies the world\u2019s largest garbage village. A labyrinth of narrow roadways camouflaged by trash, the village is home to 60,000 Zaballeen<\/em> \u2014 Arabic for \u201cgarbage people.\u201d Long before today\u2019s \u201cgreen\u201d initiatives, the Zaballeen<\/i> have survived by recycling Cairo\u2019s waste. Members of Egypt\u2019s minority Coptic Christian community, these entrepreneurial garbage workers recycle nearly all the trash they collect, maintaining what could be the world\u2019s most efficient waste disposal system.<\/p>\n

Garbage Dreams<\/i> follows three teenage boys born into the Zaballeen<\/i>\u2019s trash trade: 17-year-old Adham, 16-year-old Osama, and 18-year-old Nabil. Laila, a community activist, who also teaches the boys at their neighborhood Recycling School, guides Adham and Osama as they transition into adulthood at a time when the Zaballeen<\/i> community is at a crossroads.<\/p>\n

With a population of 18 million, Cairo \u2014 the largest city in the Middle East and Africa \u2014 has no sanitation service. For generations, the city\u2019s residents have paid the Zaballeen<\/em> a minimal amount to collect and recycle their garbage. Each day, the Zaballeen<\/em> collect more than 4,000 tons of garbage and bring it for processing in their village, where plastic granulators, cloth-grinders, and paper and cardboard compacters hum constantly. They recycle 80 percent of what they collect.<\/p>\n

In 2003, following the international trend to privatize services, Cairo sold multi-million-dollar contracts to three corporations to pick up the city\u2019s garbage. Shimmering waste trucks now line the streets, but these multinational corporations are only contractually obligated to recycle 20 percent of what they collect, leaving the rest to rot in giant landfills. As foreign workers came in with waste trucks and begin carting garbage to nearby landfills, the Zaballeen<\/em> watched their way of life disappearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s largest garbage village is just outside Cairo. The Zabaleen<\/i> (Arabic for \u201cgarbage people\u201d) recycle 80 percent of the trash they collect, but now multinational corporations threaten their livelihood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":10480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[1219,1293],"class_list":["post-92","films","type-films","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-health-and-environment","topic-youth-and-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGarbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Garbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Independent Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-18T19:05:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/\",\"name\":\"Garbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-27T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-18T19:05:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":864,\"caption\":\"Young man views Cairo skyline.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Garbage Dreams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\",\"name\":\"Independent Lens\",\"description\":\"Independent Documentary Films\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Garbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS","description":"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Garbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS","og_description":"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.","og_url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/","og_site_name":"Independent Lens","article_modified_time":"2022-03-18T19:05:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":864,"url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/","url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/","name":"Garbage Dreams | Cairo Trash Entrepreneurs | Independent Lens | PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg","datePublished":"2010-04-27T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-18T19:05:49+00:00","description":"Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the Cairo's trash trade.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/garbage-dreams.jpg","width":1536,"height":864,"caption":"Young man views Cairo skyline."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/garbage-dreams\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Garbage Dreams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/","name":"Independent Lens","description":"Independent Documentary Films","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/films"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23286,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/92\/revisions\/23286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}