Transforming Trash

THE PROJECT

In Bamako slums, people do not seek healthcare if they cannot afford it or do not know how much a clinic visit will cost. Transforming Trash, a new initiative, will create extra income for our local clinic, replacing and reducing the cost of healthcare for the most vulnerable populations.

Transforming Trash will pay Action- for-Health members to bring plastic trash (such as the ubiquitous black plastic sacks) to a recycling center. The plastic waste will be melted down using an environmentally-friendly solar melter and formed into items such as paving stones or trash cans. These items will be sold on the private market and the profit re-invested in Action for Health costs.

THE INNOVATION

Triple bottom line. Transforming Trash will

Increase clinic visits as the cost per visit goes down
Employ community members in the recycling facility
Improve waste management and the environmental health of the neighborhood

Micro-franchise. Following the implementation of the Transforming Trash pilot program in Sikoro, we will market plastic recycling programs in other parts of Mali and West Africa. The program will serve as an investment for entrepreneurs and increase upward mobility in other communities, while retaining environmental and human benefits.

Mogo mana ke je nogo ro, nogo jugu te.

When you are in the dirt of unity, you are not in bad dirt!

-- Bambara proverb