Garbage Dreams
Created by Duane Dunfield, Mai Iskander, Jeremy Bernstein, Kevin Kulp, Sean Nadeau, Alex Court
10 - 15 mins (but you'll probably need to play more than once and have good mouse skills)
Ok, hands up who knows stuff about recycling? Well, I know that I throw my paper, plastic and glass into an opaque bag and Mr Trashman takes it far far away from my conscience never to return. And that's all I need to know right? Even if I'm ignorant of why recycling is important, how recycling happens and what its limits are.
Fortunately for the likes of me and my conscience there's Garbage Dreams, a promo game for the 2009 film by Mai Iskander that seeks to increase our knowledge by pitting us against the recycling powers of the Zaballeen (Arabic for "garbage people") who live and work in the world's largest garbage village.
You start with one neighbourhood, one factory and one hungry goat, and the objective is to expand your business as much as possible within 8 rounds. You have to stay within budget, make the right decisions with regards to upgrades and expansions, and then have quick mouse skills to recycle the right waste within the given time.
Immediately I was forced to learn about recycling in order to progress; I learned why I couldn't recycle things like coffee cups and plastic bags and found myself investing in education, and found it more profitable learning to recycle a greater variety of things rather than a greater volume of things. Also it became quickly apparent that each neighbourhood around Cairo had different characteristics and therefore had different costs to maintain and develop.
On the outskirts of Cairo, Garbage Dreams gives us a window into the way of life of the afore-mentioned Zaballeen. For centuries they have recycled a whopping 80% of the waste they collect to become the most efficient recycling community in the world. Unfortunately their livelihoods have been threatened by privatisation of the cities recycling services. Cairo has given contracts to companies that are only recycling 20% of the city's waste and leaving the rest to landfill. It's a situation which is ongoing and the Zaballeen waste system has since received international recognition as a model to follow.
Be patient with this game. It's hard and it's not immediately rewarding. However I think the knowledge of recycling you gain, combined with a community under threat, along with a wider message of consumerism and privatisation makes it worth including in this blog. It's certainly unique, and I don't think a more in-depth game about recycling has ever been made. Enjoy - JP
Created by Duane Dunfield, Mai Iskander, Jeremy Bernstein, Kevin Kulp, Sean Nadeau, Alex Court
10 - 15 mins (but you'll probably need to play more than once and have good mouse skills)
Ok, hands up who knows stuff about recycling? Well, I know that I throw my paper, plastic and glass into an opaque bag and Mr Trashman takes it far far away from my conscience never to return. And that's all I need to know right? Even if I'm ignorant of why recycling is important, how recycling happens and what its limits are.
Fortunately for the likes of me and my conscience there's Garbage Dreams, a promo game for the 2009 film by Mai Iskander that seeks to increase our knowledge by pitting us against the recycling powers of the Zaballeen (Arabic for "garbage people") who live and work in the world's largest garbage village.
You start with one neighbourhood, one factory and one hungry goat, and the objective is to expand your business as much as possible within 8 rounds. You have to stay within budget, make the right decisions with regards to upgrades and expansions, and then have quick mouse skills to recycle the right waste within the given time.
Immediately I was forced to learn about recycling in order to progress; I learned why I couldn't recycle things like coffee cups and plastic bags and found myself investing in education, and found it more profitable learning to recycle a greater variety of things rather than a greater volume of things. Also it became quickly apparent that each neighbourhood around Cairo had different characteristics and therefore had different costs to maintain and develop.
On the outskirts of Cairo, Garbage Dreams gives us a window into the way of life of the afore-mentioned Zaballeen. For centuries they have recycled a whopping 80% of the waste they collect to become the most efficient recycling community in the world. Unfortunately their livelihoods have been threatened by privatisation of the cities recycling services. Cairo has given contracts to companies that are only recycling 20% of the city's waste and leaving the rest to landfill. It's a situation which is ongoing and the Zaballeen waste system has since received international recognition as a model to follow.
Be patient with this game. It's hard and it's not immediately rewarding. However I think the knowledge of recycling you gain, combined with a community under threat, along with a wider message of consumerism and privatisation makes it worth including in this blog. It's certainly unique, and I don't think a more in-depth game about recycling has ever been made. Enjoy - JP
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