RioDeJaneiroPod-Grace-Paige-Jude-2023

The waste problem in Rio de Janeiro, specifically the trash mountain in Jardim Gramico, is discussed. The landfill received 70% of the metropolitan area's trash for 35 years, creating mountains of trash overlooking the bay. The government is paying waste pickers to help with clean-up. Toxic chemicals from the landfill seep into the soil and waterways, causing harm to plants, animals, and marine life. The Rio government has been both helpful and unhelpful in addressing the issue. Informal waste pickers made a living collecting trash and recycling. The soil was not thick enough to contain the toxic leaks, causing pollution in the Sourapuri River and Guanabara Bay. The crisis has impacted Brazil and the government's involvement raises justice concerns. Some individuals have made art from the collected trash. The hope is to improve the contaminated area and make it a better place to live. Today we will be discussing the important topic that is the waste problem in Rio de Janeiro. I'm your host, Grace Lambie, and I'm here with my co-host, Sage Watson. And today we'll be covering the topic of the trash mountain in Jardim Gramico and how this environmental issue has impacted different people and other living things. The waste dumping started around 1977 and ended around 2012, lasting 35 years. The dump receives about 70% of the metropolitan area's trash, making it an average of 8,000 tons daily. This dumping led to six-meter-high mountains of trash that overlook the bay. This landfill was the biggest in all of Latin America. Now let's hear from Paige and Jude. So, Jude, what do you think of this huge issue in Rio de Janeiro? Well, Paige, it's devastating, but I'm so glad that it's being solved. How do you feel about the government's approach to addressing this situation? I think that it could be better. People are having to leave their homes and live on the streets, so it's not the best solution for the community and the ecosystem. What about the costs of clean-ups? Are they fair? Yeah, I think it's fair. So many workers are getting paid to help clean-up, and it's about dollars only. Great. Would you like to share the costs? The government is now paying $7,500 to each waste picker. There are about 1,700 pickers in total, so all that money is totaling to be about $12,750,000 in waste picker fees. That's a ton of money. Let's switch things up a little bit. Jude, you're an expert. How are the toxic chemicals getting into the local waterways and soil? I'm glad you asked. The toxic chemicals seep through the soil and that spreads. There isn't enough of a barrier to block the chemicals from slipping through the soil, so the surrounding soil soaks everything up. That cycle continues until it flows into the local waterways. That's so nasty. Imagine all those animals drinking those toxins. How does this relate to environmental justice? This issue has shown how helpful the Rio government and also how unhelpful it has been for environmental issues. The Rio government has been helpful in many ways to attempt to solve the issue, but they have also needed to be more helpful in the ways that they have let this trash mountain be created. Can you elaborate on that? Certainly. Because of how harmful these toxins are to the area around it, it makes it uninhabitable for a lot of plants and animals. It also affects marine life if the trash gets in the water. Animals can get confused with trash. We see this often with sea turtles thinking plastic bags are jellyfish. With plants, it's a little different. The soil will soak up the chemicals and killing the plants. Or if the plant is a food, then someone who eats it will get sick and poisoned. I didn't even think about that. Wow. Well, I think that's all for the interview. Thank you, Jude, for participating. Grace, back to you. Thank you, Jude and Paige. Now let's go more in-depth into this issue. Thousands of informal waste pickers visited the landfill. About 2,000 people visited the landfill during its final years, but 13,000 were at the peak or climax of the landfill's reign. Those selectors would make a living by collecting trash and recycling from these trash mountains. The area of Jardim-Gromico became an unofficial dumping ground around 1978. The issue with this, well, there are many, but was the soil not being thick enough. Dirt didn't hold back the toxic leaks from the trash piles. This would get into the soil and local waterways, creating a massive problem. The Sourapuri River and Guanabara Bay, southeast Brazil, were impacted the most. The ecosystem was heavily polluted and the water was contaminated with deadly toxins. One of the earliest waste pickers, she was 11 at the time, saw the mountains of trash as a playground. Then this started to impact her on her later life. Even though there was so much suffering with this problem, there was also some silver lining. Some people would make art from the trash they collected. This shows that one person's trash is another person's treasure. Paige, would you like to add anything on the justice aspect? Yes, thank you, Grace. This issue that relates to justice and how the Brazilian government is involved in it. The government has been helpful in the ways that they shut down the garbage plant and let the movement try to undo it. But they've also been unhelpful in the way that they let this happen in the first place. This could have been avoided by taking action earlier on, but that didn't happen and now this is a big problem in Rio. Well, we learned a lot about this environmental crisis, including how this issue has impacted Brazil, what the major players are, the history behind the crisis and how we can prove it and make the contaminated place a better area to live in. Thank you, Paige and Grace. Thank you for having me on this podcast. I hope we educated you guys on the impact of the Rio de Janeiro landfill issue. That concludes this podcast. Thank you guys so much for listening. Paige, do you have any final words? No, I think we got it all. Thank you so much, Grace. Thank you guys for watching this podcast and see you later. Transcribed by https://otter.ai