Social Entrepreneur´s Profile:

Uwaga Śmieciarka Jedzie! (Garbage Truck Approaching!)

Dominika is radically limiting the volume of trash accumulating in landfills by introducing a new role to the system: trash brokers. Nearly 500,000 people have joined the movement that began with the idea of redefining the status and redistribution of unwanted objects, which is now creating a new culture around consumption.

During the pandemic, Garbage Truck Approaching! has been the mechanism to express solidarity in practice. At the difficult moment of transition to online schools, many children across Poland didn’t have the hardware to have access to education. Local leaders have been collecting old computers and distributing them to schools and families. Many of trash brokers, due to local connections, almost automatically engaged in local support groups that aimed to support seniors or walk dogs of those at quarantine. Especially the first months of the pandemic have proven that Dominika’s movement not only allows to save trash but also establish social capital that can be used in every, especially difficult, moment.

Her strategy focuses on creating a space of joy and laughter for direct contact between individuals in order to disarm the taboo and shame around trash. Within this atmosphere, people are more willing to participate, share their trash (and their stories about it) and, in the process, open up to build relationships with their neighbors. Additionally, these positive habits are changing behaviors, encouraging people to meet across social divide and minimizing the pressure caused by climate change.

With the well-established volunteer led network across Poland Dominika is now planning to scale her approach to several European and South American countries. Furthermore, she is working on transformative legislation to allow for re-circulation of trash from points of selective waste collection.