Real Readers: Metapan Recycles

Real Readers is an Earth911.com series featuring the stories of real people making a difference in the world. Are you or someone you know going above and beyond to do something for the Earth? Tell us about it!

If you’ve ever thought that one person can’t make a difference in this world, then you haven’t met Silvia Figueroa, President and Founder of the Central American Environment and Education Fund (CAEE Fund). Figueroa embodies the spirit of Real Readers: She saw an environmental need in her home country and decided to take action.

Her Inspiration

Figueroa is originally from Metápan, El Salvador, a town bordering Guatemala and Honduras in the northwestern corner of the country. Growing up, Figueroa was the daughter of the local “good deed doer” in town, always helping others and the environment. When he died a few years ago, Figueroa decided to carry on his good work. Now living in Tucson, Ariz., Figueroa carries on her father’s legacy by organizing and coordinating the largest recycling and environmental education program in Metápan.

Metapan students proudly display their recycling banners during the 2009 parade.

The Program

Figueroa started the Metápan recycling program in April 2008. The program is spearheaded and partially funded by the CAEE Fund, working in alliance with the Enrique Figueroa Lemus Foundation, CESSA Foundation and the Lions Club in El Salvador. The recycling program has three main goals:

• Educate students on the value of natural resources
• Develop an environmental awareness of the impact of resource misuse
• Take an active role in creating a new environmental culture of recycling

“When presented with the program, teachers and students enthusiastically embraced it,” Figueroa says.

The students participate in monthly environmental activities, learn about the recycling process and material separation, organize school recycling clubs and compete with other schools to earn the “Green Flag,” rewarding the school that recycled the most materials in the previous month.

A Valuable Commodity

The Metápan recycling program is important in more ways than one. According to Figueroa, the local landfills have closed for financial reasons, causing people to have to take their waste to San Salvador, about 70 miles southwest of Metápan. By diverting recyclables from the waste stream, the city is able to save money on transportation and waste management.

The selling of recyclable materials also provides much needed income for the participating schools. Though the price of commodities have dropped over the past few months, it still brings in valuable income. The Fund also provides cash grants to schools with the highest recycling rates.

CAEE Fund has also created a scholarship program for participating students to provide books, school clothes and other necessary items, as well as health education and self empowerment classes.

Metapan students collect plastic, cardboard, aluminum and paper for recycling. Schools are awarded cash grants for the highest recycling rates.

Seeing Results

After one year of operation, the recycling program has proved to be very successful. The program started out with the participation of teachers, parents and 6,000 students from five elementary schools and one high school. Soon after, participation grew to include 31 schools and 70,000 students.

In 2008, the schools recycled more than 125,000 pounds of plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminum. According to Figueroa, they have already begun seeing results.

“There are no more plastic bottles lying around the streets like there used to be,” Figueroa says. “The impact of this program has been profound and it is rapidly changing the way the city looks and the residents’ health and understanding of the importance of our environment.”

Looking Forward

The recycling program kicked off its second year on March 7 with a parade of 400 students. The students prepared songs, dramas and materials to educate the public and encourage them to participate in the recycling effort. Figueroa plans to branch out to adult education and recycling programs in 2010.

CAEE Fund is also looking into creative reuse solutions for the plastic collected in the program. They are considering using the plastic to manufacture septic tanks, which are needed in mountain towns where drinking water originates. El Salvador is home to areas of cloud forest, a rare ecosystem containing many of the world’s endemic and threatened species. The Fund has purchased 650 acres for protection.

For more information on the Metapan recycling program, please contact CAEE Fund at caeefund@gmail.com.