Project Launch:

AMARMA Osa is a women’s recycling group that was formed a year ago by local community members who were concerned with the growing amount of solid waste accumulating in their town. For the past year, the group of women have walked the streets and public areas of Puerto Jimenez three days a week, picking up all of the recycling and going through the trash to pull out recyclable materials. They also receive recycling from many local hotels, restaurants, and businesses as well as all of the recycling from Corcovado National Park. The women collect the recycling in two wheelbarrows and leave them at the collection center. However, by the end of the day, there is too much recycling to be transported by the wheelbarrows, so the women have to pay a local truck driver to transport it for them. About once every two months, the women sell all the recycling they have gathered for a small income. A large amount is reinvested back into the group to pay for transportation and other small necessities. Overall, transportation costs are the group’s largest expense and barrier to collecting more recycling and expanding their business.

 

This project will build a hauler to attach to a bike to help transport recycling materials to the collection center, allowing AMARMA Osa to spend less of their income on transportation expenses. With the transportation costs taken care of, the women can use their income to work on a recycling campaign, build more recycling containers, and expand their outreach to surrounding communities

 

Project Update

The bike has been bought and the cart has been constructed, providing the women with a more efficient way to collect and sort recyclables. With the bike, the women have expanded their recycling routes, raised their income levels by 60%, and cut down on all transportation expenses. To help make the recycling group's new system more visible, the women painted signs on the side of the bike to advertise their free service and raise awareness about recycling. Additionally, with their hard work and perseverance, the women have coordinated monthly recycling collection in nearby towns, offered free of charge from the municipality.

 

Testimonials

"This project has made the women's work more visible in the community and given them an even bigger of a sense of pride as people recognize the invaluable work they are doing in the community." - Luke, Peace Corps Volunteer

 

"This project has helped us because now we don’t have to pay a truck to carry our recycling, or carry the recycling on our heads or in a wheel-barrow." - Joneci, Project Leader