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HAITI / PAPER CHARCOAL
STORY: HAITI / PAPER CHARCOAL
TRT: 2.58
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS
DATELINE: 10 DECEMBER 2009, HAITI
1. Med shot, basket of charcoal in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood
2. Med shot, man standing over a basket of paper charcoal briquettes
3. Wide shot, man selling paper charcoal in a blue container
4. Tracking shot, man picking up paper charcoal
5. Tracking shot, buyer purchasing paper charcoal
6. Tracking shot, man pays for paper charcoal
7. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Edner Andre, paper charcoal buyer:
“I have to pay twice as much for wood charcoal than this paper stuff. I just spent only 25 cents and now I can cook a lot of food. This paper charcoal is much better.”
8. Wide shot, workers picking up trash in the street
9. Med shot, chucking trash in a truck
10. Pan left, exterior of trash treatment plant
11. Wide shot, interior of trash treatment plant
12. Med shot, women sorting trash
13. Med shot, interior of paper waste bucket
14. Tracking shot, man carrying wet paper to be pounded
15. Tracking shot, man pounding paper
16. Tracking shot, stick pounding wet paper
17. Wide shot, workers squeeze wet paper through briquette molds
18. Tracking shot, squeezing paper through wet briquette molds
19. Med shot, briquettes get pushed out of the molds
20. Med shot, worker carries fresh briquettes to a drying table
21. Med shot, wall of dry briquettes
22. Tracking shot, refocused on briquettes burning
23. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Ginette Sejour, factory worker:
“We did some tests where we boiled 2 liters of water with both types of fuel. The paper briquettes took only 11 minutes. The charcoal took 17 minutes. It was clear, the briquettes work better than charcoal.”
24. Med shot, woman worker takes pot of food from the floor and puts it on the burning briquettes
25. Tracking shot, briquettes burning under the pot of food
26. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Samuel Toussaint, factory manager:
“We are seeing demand rise, so we have to be careful to manage our stocks. We have a capacity to make only 2000 briquettes per day. In the near future, we are going to get 5 more machines, which will greatly increase our production capacity. The product is in high demand.”
27. Med shot, trash refocused onto briquettes
28. Med shot, briquettes being sold in a neighborhood alley
29. Med shot, woman putting briquettes in a bag
30. Tracking shot, money exchanging hands
31. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Carline Toussaint, briquette seller:
“Because when the hurricanes hit, we have a lot of problems around here. It’s because the people are cutting down too many trees. If everyone would use these briquettes, they wouldn’t cut the trees anymore. And we’d be protected from hurricanes.”
32. Tracking shot, briquettes being placed on a table
33. Med shot, briquettes on a table in the neighborhood of Carrefour-feuille
A new product is hitting the streets of Haiti’s capital that could help wean the population off charcoal fuel.
It’s burnable briquettes made out of recycled paper. They’ve been on sale in this neighborhood for the past six months, and have attracted a lot of attention from buyers. One of the biggest draws is their low price.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Edner Andre, Paper Charcoal Buyer:
“I have to pay twice as much for wood charcoal than this paper stuff. I just spent only 25 cents (US$0.25) and now I can cook a lot of food. This paper charcoal is much better.”
What’s more – the briquettes are made out of the city’s garbage. Tons of it are collected every day and brought to this trash treatment facility. Workers sift through the garbage, separating out the glass, metals, and plastics which they sell for recycling. The paper is saved for the briquettes.
This wet paper glop is leaching out its toxins in water. Then it gets pounded by hand into a mushy pulp. Workers then push the pulp into cylindrical molds, and press them to squeeze out the water. When they’re through, out come perfectly formed recycled paper briquettes. With a few days of drying, they will be ready to sell on the local market.
Besides being cheap, the briquettes burn much more efficiently than wood-based charcoal.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Ginette Sejour, Factory Worker:
“We did some tests where we boiled 2 liters of water with both types of fuel. The paper briquettes took only 11 minutes. The charcoal took 17 minutes. It was clear, the briquettes work better than charcoal.”
Besides cleaning up garbage, briquettes offer a cheap, renewable alternative to Haiti’s millions, who depend on charcoal fuel for their basic needs.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Samuel Toussaint, Factory Manager:
“We are seeing demand rise, so we have to be careful to manage our stocks. We have a capacity to make only 2000 briquettes per day. In the near future, we are going to get 5 more machines, which will greatly increase our production capacity. The product is in high demand.”
The factory hopes to increase its output by ten fold in early 2010, putting 300,000 briquettes per month on the market
Increasingly, briquette sellers are popping up on small side streets in the capital. In the face of rising natural disasters, Haitians are becoming more aware than ever of the need for change.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Carline Toussaint, Briquette seller:
“Because when the hurricanes hit, we have alot of problems around here. It’s because the people are cutting down too many trees. If everyone would use these briquettes, they wouldn’t cut the trees anymore. And we’d be protected from hurricanes.”
By offering renewable fuel that is cheaper and better than charcoal, Haiti may have a chance to save its forests, and its people from future floods.
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