Jacton Mwakere lives and works at a rubbish tip in Kenya to make a living. He sorts through waste to find items like plastic, paper, or metal that he can salvage and sell. Living conditions at the tip are poor, as it is an unsanitary environment. However, the non-profit organization Practical Action provides some assistance like healthcare, education programs, and skills training to help improve lives. While challenging currently, support from organizations offers hope that Jacton and others may be able to improve their future prospects.

1. Photo taken by D'Arcy Norman / D'Arcy Norman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/3590939898/
Creative Commons Licence Photo taken by Dominic Alves at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/408766852
Creative Commons Licence
Photo taken by Alan Stanton at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/4465046932/ Photo taken by D'Arcy Norman at
Creative Commons Licence http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/251645085/
Creative Commons Licence

2. Waste is anything that is no longer
wanted or required by someone
Photo taken by Red Hand Records at http://www.flickr.com/people/red-
hand-records/
Creative Commons Licence

3. Task 1 Bi–polar analysis of
images
For the following two images, use worksheet 1 to
decide on what rating you would give them using the
following categories:
1 2 3 4 5
beautiful ugly
responsible irresponsible
controlled uncontrolled
social
antisocial
cheap
expensive

4. Photo taken by Alan Stanton at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/4465046932/
Creative Commons Licence PICTURE 1

5. Photo taken by D'Arcy Norman / D'Arcy Norman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/3590939898/
Creative Commons Licence PICTURE 2

6. Bi-polar analysis follow up
Photo 1
 Fly-tipping is the illegal disposal of
waste onto land with no licence to
accept waste.
Photo 2
 Landfill is the legal disposal of waste
into or onto land. Today, landfill sites
are constructed and operated to
strict technical standards in order to
reduce environmental effects.
Now, write down:
- Two costs and one benefit gained from waste

7. What are some of the environmental
costs of waste?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/4545739196/in
Fly-tipping
The illegal dumping of waste is a
Photo taken by Alan Stanton -
serious environmental crime which
Creative Commons Licence
costs local authorities throughout
/photostream/
the UK over £100 million a year.
Landfill
Waste treatment, including
landfill, released nearly 32% of
the UK's methane emissions in
2004.
Photo taken by D'Arcy Norman -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/3590132503/
Creative Commons Licence

8. What are some of the personal costs
of waste?
UK households throw away between £250
and £400 of potentially edible food every
year.
Uncontrolled waste disposal can be
hazardous to the public who may come in
to contact with it e.g. chemical wastes,
electrical items, syringes.

9. What are some of the benefits from
waste?
There are currently 141,000 people employed in
the UK waste management industry.
The UK recovers value from 22% of household
waste.

10. Photo taken by D'Arcy Norman at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/251645085/
Creative Commons Licence

11. Task 2 - How does Jacton Mwakere
make a living?
Read through the information cards.
Sort them into categories of your choice.
Then sort them into the following categories:
 Jacton’s life, other dwellers of the rubbish tip, Practical
Action, background information.
Respond to the following questions:
 How does Jacton Mwakere make a living?
 What are the living conditions like on the rubbish tip?
 Do the people living at the tip receive any help?
 If so, who from?
 How much of a difference does this help make?
 What does the future hold for Jacton?

12. Task 3 How does Jacton Mwakere make a
living?
Produce a diary entry on a day in the life of
Jacton Mwakere.
Use your notes and answers from
the card sort exercise but use
your imagination too – the
purpose of the task is to show
empathy.
You should not just repeat
information as written on the
information cards.

13. Plenary
Every year, UK households throw away enough
waste to fill 3.5 million double-decker buses
(almost 30 million tonnes).
These buses parked end to end would stretch
from London to Sydney (Australia) and back!

14. Plenary
Most of the world's waste is produced by
people from the 'developed' world (which
includes Britain), even though these people only
make up about 5% of the world's population.
Developed world – including us Developing world