Waste Land Page #2

right here at the landfill.

And then it goes to the recycling

wholesalers, the intermediaries.

There they process it, removing

the bottle caps and so on.

From there it goes to another

company for shredding.

The shredded material

gets sold again...

to companies who mold it into

car bumpers, buckets, etc.

The pickers take out 200 tons of

materials per day from the landfill.

- Every day.

- Every day.

That's equivalent to the garbage

produced by a city of 400,000 people.

- Amazing!

- Yeah.

So that's why the pickers are

really important to the landfill...

because they help

increase its capacity.

Does all of Rio's trash end up here?

and 100% of the closest suburbs.

So the garbage from

the millionaire's mansion mixes...

with the garbage

from the poorest favela?

For sure.

Dude!

Dude, It's a city of garbage!

It's funny how you get

used to the smell.

Yeah, I feel right at home!

- Did you hear that one?

- No.

That guy said, "They're

filming for Animal Planet!"

It's not as bad as I thought.

Here we are in the largest

sanitary facility...

in the world.

And the people are talking.

And I don't see people

depressed or anything.

They seem very proud

of what they are doing.

We better get out of here.

What you see up there...

it looks very chaotic, but it's

very organized by material...

and by the company that picks it up

and takes it to the recycling.

He's the radio.

Enjoying the game?

The pickers who sort

through the garbage.

I learned here

is that they have...

there own choices of solid

garbage of recyclable garbage.

Women for instance

they prefer recyclable plastic...

and soft drink bottles...

and disposable

plastic because it's lighter.

This is where the trucks stop?

Yeah the trucks

give us a ride up here.

And you each take

your own barrels with you?

Yeah, we have to buy them.

They cost US$30.

What's your name?

Isis Rodrigues Garros.

- Isis Rodrigo?

- Rodrigues.

Let me get a portrait of you two.

Do it again.

Thank you.

- Bye, thank you.

- Bye, Isis.

How about with my hair down?

Film her!

Film her!

What a show-off!

- Bye, thanks everyone!

- Bye Isis.

Let me introduce you to Zumbi.

His nickname is Zumbi.

He's on the board of the Association of

Pickers of Jardim Gramacho, ACAMJG.

We have to think

about the future...

because I don't want

my son to be a picker.

Although if he is,

I'd be very proud...

But I'd rather he be a lawyer,

to represent the pickers, you know?

Or a doctor to care for the

pickers in the association.

We're here representing the 3,000

pickers of Jardim Gramacho.

There is still no recycling

collection in the city.

You haven't even built anything

and you want to sell off the land.

The federal government gave us

that land to build a recycling center.

Thanks to the pickers...

we built a recycling center

without a single cent from the city.

And now you are pretending

that we don't exist!

We're going to start a hunger strike

here in front of the mayor's office.

Hunger strike!? Yeah, right!

I don't know about you guys,

but I'm having lunch at noon!

Is it here?

Excuse me.

Excuse me, Sebastio?

- I'm Vik, a pleasure to meet you.

- A pleasure, I'm Tio.

- This is Fabio.

- Hi Fabio, how are you?

I'm the Brazilian artist who is

the most - I hate to say this...

but who sells and is

the most popular overseas.

Congratulations man!

I grew up very poor,

but now I've reached a point

where I want to give back.

I want to make portraits of

the pickers and then sell them.

All the money from the sale of the

portraits will be given back to you.

You'll be able to do some things

to make life easier for the community.

When we started this association,

everyone laughed at us.

"You're crazy,

that's not going anywhere!"

"Association for what? You're

never going to achieve anything."

Everybody criticized us. Even

the pickers, they were the worst.

They said it wouldn't lead anywhere,

that it would never work.

I believed in it.

I said no.

Now I believe when you put your mind

to something, you can achieve it.

Take you, for example.

How many people told you to give up,

that it was never going to happen?

Yeah, starting with my father,

my own father.

He'd say "That's bullshit."

"It's not going to get you anywhere."

When we demonstrated they'd say

"That's not going to get you anywhere."

Well we have paved roads

and a sewage system now.

If you went outside right now you'd see

children in the street, picking garbage.

We need to change that.

I was lucky because

I had my grandmother,

and she taught me to

read at a very young age.

Yeah, reading is so important.

Some people are crazy and throw

away their books. It's absurd.

One time Zumbi brought me a book

and he almost cried.

He said "Man,

this book is still being sold.

I saw it yesterday

and it's expensive!"

It looks like someone barely

read it and just threw it away.

Wow that's great!

Yeah it's great that Zumbi picks them

out of the trash and brings them here!

The other pickers just

tear up books and recycle them.

But Zumbi picks out the good books,

and brings them here for us to read.

I collect 'arruivo'

meaning books, folders.

Paper.

We have thousands of books...

because they're dumped

in the landfill all the time.

I have a plan to make a community

library in my space.

Up until now, I've been responsible

for bringing books to the association.

I've read a few books -

The Da Vinci Code, The Art of War.

And I give a lot of books to Tio.

Sh*t! Man!

It's good to fly over...

so we can see

what we are up against.

And it's like this all over.

This is by far

the worst I have seen.

It looks like they

were completely left.

And the day after

we left there...

in the afternoon

they found a body there.

They can just stick a body there...

And it's going to be under

the garbage in 12 hours.

And you become

a source of methane gas.

I already see just as a beginning.

I see 3 characters:

Tiao, Zumbi, Isis.

I think we can start...

with the people we have

already made some contact with.

I think it is the first time I saw...

something that you are doing...

where it looks better

when you are close.

From above...

you don't have any

of the human factor.

Which so far is the best part

of what we encountered there?

Yes.

The human factor there

is beautiful really.

From far there is not "desmaios",

the people choking.

There was none of that.

They were just like little ants...

doing what they do every day.

What?

Hein?

Hold it here for me, please.

Howdy folks!

There's still the card problem.

The fight is long comrade...

- but victory is certain!

- Of course.

It's not bad to be poor.

It's bad to be rich at the height of

fame with your morals a dirty shame.

Yeah, yeah.

That's bad!

DANGER. RISK OF LIFE.

- This is Valter dos Santos.

- Good morning!

- Hi! I'm Vik, Vik Muniz.

- I'm Valter dos Santos.

What is this

and why are you doing it?

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