Film: Garbage Dreams: How One Community's Zero Waste Practices Can Be Achieved Globally

Location
180 Humphrey Center
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis 55455

Free – registration is required (email cstpp@umn.edu)

On March 11th, the critically acclaimed film, Garbage Dreams will screen at the Sixth Annual Arab Film Festival. In conjunction, the Humphrey Institute’s Center for Science, Technology & Public Policy and the Institute on the Environment will host a conversation on Garbage Dreams. Join a discussion on the delicate balance between sustainability and modernization.

• Ragui Assaad, Professor, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and former community development director for the Zabbaleen
• Mai Iskander, Producer, Director and Cinematographer of Garbage Dreams
• Tim Smith, Associate Professor, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and Director of the NorthStar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise
• Susan Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Eureka Recycling

This discussion will focus on the Zabbaleen, an impoverished community of mostly Coptic Christians that through traditional methods of collection and hand sorting reuse over 80% of the garbage they collect. Recently Mai Iskander, an Egyptian-American filmmaker went into Mokattam, the largest garbage city on the outskirts of Cairo and documented the challenges of the Zabbaleen. The film has won numerous awards at international film festivals.

This event will discuss the lessons that can be learned from the Zabbaleen and the implications for waste management and recycling efforts globally.