Welcome to Our Environmental Project Español
Who are we?
The Association of Women Environmentalists in the barrio Boris-Vega of Estelí, Nicaragua was born in 1996. We are a group of women deeply concerned for the health and safety of our children. Lying in the lowest part of the valley was a stretch of vacant land used as an illegal dumping ground by locals, who dumped everything, including dead everything, including dead animals in a festering heap. Trash filled the creek and chemicals leached into the stream that winds the around edge of the property. Detesting this, the women began to take measures to clean up the three acre lot to make it safe for their children once again. Along the way someone suggested that they separate the garbage and recycle it. Once the land was cleaned and cleared they turned to recycling paper and the organization was born.
The Association of Women Environmentalists in the barrio Boris-Vega of Estelí, Nicaragua was born in 1996. We are a group of women deeply concerned for the health and safety of our children. Lying in the lowest part of the valley was a stretch of vacant land used as an illegal dumping ground by locals, who dumped everything, including dead everything, including dead animals in a festering heap. Trash filled the creek and chemicals leached into the stream that winds the around edge of the property. Detesting this, the women began to take measures to clean up the three acre lot to make it safe for their children once again. Along the way someone suggested that they separate the garbage and recycle it. Once the land was cleaned and cleared they turned to recycling paper and the organization was born.
The Buildings Were Built by Two Organizations.
The original group of about fifteen women drifted apart and ceased to function. Later a smaller group re initiated the project in a more focused direction. Through a government grant the city of Estelí and an NGO called The Women of the Third World built the buildings and provided the equipment to begin the recycling of paper.
| Barrio Boris Vega
Las Mujeres Ambientalistas, as it is called, is located on the banks of El Zapote Creek in the south west part of the city of Estelí in barrio Boris Vega, with 1,300 people comprising 280 households. Most are unemployed or underemployed as street-vendors, housekeepers, tortilla makers and bricklayers, among other services.
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We Hand-Make Greeting Cards
We make them with paper that we recycle mixed with plant-based fiber such as corn husks, banana plant stalks, onion skins and coconut shells that we artfully craft into beautiful greeting cards which we sell in our own store, in restaurants and hotels around town.
| Community Education
We have initiated activities that are improving environmental conditions in our neighborhood, promoting among the local population through the use of ecologically sustainable products and teach the habit of separating household trash for recycling.  |
