Emerging Nations: Trash and Subsistance
Yet this interaction with dumps and its waste is not only a source of income for the impoverished, it allows them to derive pride from their work. Both Estamira (2004) and Waste Land (2010) take place in the Jardim Gramacho, one of the world’s largest dumps. Located near Rio de Janeiro, it closed in July 2012. While these documentaries differ vastly in subject matter, they share a commonality in that the subjects of the films are "catadores" or trash-pickers at Gramacho. These catadores, especially the female contingent, express gratitude for having an option for survival other than prostitution, drug trafficking, or abusive relationship. For Estamira, her work ethic is important and she continually reiterates that she has an honest job. Her ability to support herself and survive off the money she derives from recycling and the food she recovers from the dump could be the only reason she has remained out of an asylum.
In Waste Land, we meet Suelem Pereira Dias who “has been working in the garbage since she was seven; now she’s 18 with two kids and another on the way. She’s proud of her work, because she’s not a prostitute or involved in the drug traffic . . .” (Waste Land website, np). Isis Rodrigues Garros finds herself at Gramacho after escaping an abusive relationship, while “Magna de França Santos fell on hard times when her husband lost his job. Her fellow bus passengers may turn their noses up at her, but she tells them at least she’s not turning tricks on Copacabana” (Waste Land website, np). Irma (Leide Laurentina da Silva) “is the resident chef cooking up a plat du jour from the freshest ingredients she can find at Jardim Gramacho.” She collects food from the dump in order to prepare it and feed the other catadores. The reason for each persons’ arrival at Gramacho is varied, but unlike the complaints of residents and government representatives at Fresh Kills about the stigma associated with living on Staten Island because of the dump, these women find legal and dignified work to support their families and themselves through trash-picking.
The leader of the catadores in Waste Land is Sebastiao Carlos dos Santos, or Tiaõ. Not only does he find pride in his work, but repeats the need for catadores’ in the waste management system. At the end of the documentary, Tiaõ is being interviewed on TV and is introduced as the leader of the Jardim Gramacho Garbage Picker’s Association. He promptly corrects the hosts and says: “We are not pickers of garbage, we are pickers of recyclable materials. Garbage cannot be reused, whereas recyclable materials can” (1:35). Tiaõ signals the need for catadores in Brazilian. They serve a purpose in reducing the amount of garbage in the ever-shrinking space of the dump.
