Wasteland

MANILA, Philippines. Back in February, I got the chance to check out the Smokey Mountain of the Philippines with my Uncle Fabian. It's an entire town built atop a smoking landfill in the District of Tondo.  The residents make a living roaming the city scavenging for old wood from construction sites and homes going through remodeling. The wood is buried in the dirt cooked for 3-days to make charcoal. The air quality very smokey and very toxic. A person can make up to ₱500 a day (around US$12)

The residents of Smokey Mountain are hard working people. They make money by recycling everything, from used electronics, plastics, paper even food, aka "pagpag" (leftover food from restaurants, picked clean and recooked).

More info can be found with the good people from Smokey Mountain Tours. An NGO that is bringing awareness to Barangay 105 in the District of Tondo.

Here is a few photos I made during the walk-about.