Launch of Clean Philadelphia Now Campaign. Photo by Steve Weinik.
What is Trash Academy?
Earning it the title of ‘Filthadelphia’, the trash and litter that defaces the streets of our city is an apt metaphor for the systematic devaluation of underserved communities. Litter and dumping is both an environmental and racial justice issue, disproportionately affecting black, brown and marginalized communities. In response to this pervasive injustice, Trash Academy, is an effective intergenerational “collaboratory” co-led by engaged residents of diverse backgrounds, artists, activists, and organizers to address the issues of trash.
Collectively, Trash Academy designs projects that deepen people’s understanding of litter, consumption, and the wastestream. Through innovative, creative methodologies the projects:
strengthen the movement for environmental justice,
campaign for specific policy and/or regulatory change
divert materials from incinerators, landfills and accelerate circularity
Trash Academy educates through participatory research, teach-ins, and workshops, and uses games and public art as a disarming point of entry to build campaigns that drive proactive transformation of the waste stream to reduce its impact on people in specific highly impacted neighborhoods here in Philadelphia and the planet at large.
Our Objectives
Advancing environmental justice
Nurturing grassroots leadership
Affecting policy and regulatory change
Expanding education and outreach
Strengthening strategic alliances
Raising media attention to environmental justice issues
OUR STRUCTURE
TA Strategy Circle: TA utilizes a horizontal leadership model, the Strategy Circle is responsible for all administrative decisions and is composed of Lois Williams, Teea Tynes and Shari Hersh.
Trash Academy Leaders: The TAL’s are responsible decsion making and collaborating on campaign work, project design, public activities/schedule, public speaking and interviews with the press. We meet biweekly or monthly depending on the actions we are engaged with.
Core Principles and Methodologies
Grassroots Leadership Development
Empowering community members who possess innate leadership qualities to engage in effective communication and outreach serves as a continuous wellspring for nurturing and revitalizing grassroots leadership on pertinent matters. We acknowledge the significance and primacy of grassroots expertise, and therefore, all Trash Academy leaders receive compensation.
Participatory Research to Build and Share Knowledge
Working with community members and professional experts, TA fosters deep learning and discovery through systems analysis and identifies the best solutions within reach. In particular we utilize “Implosions”* to bring a 360-degree perspective to collective discovery.
Art and Game-Based Activation
Working with artists and designers–both professional and from among our membership– we design engagement tools such as games, costumes, performance, “Implosion” diagrams, and other creative points of entry for sharing knowledge and activating community.
Education and Outreach
Using the Trash Mobile (a mobile studio) teach-ins, games and artwork, Trash Academy travels to community events and online forums to educate about the issues to ensure community members are empowered to take informed action.
Alliances
Trash Academy prioritizes strategic alliances to ensure the best opportunity for impact. We strongly believe we are more effective and successful when we work together.
Campaigns, Policy and Regulatory Change
Trash Academy leaders, esteemed for their expertise, spearhead outreach initiatives to inform and drive shifts in policy, regulations, and behaviors. Leveraging the insights of residents with lived experiences and the visionary perspectives of youth, complemented by the creativity of artists, we harness a unique synergy for impactful campaigns.
“It was exciting for me. Much bang for the bucks. It has opened my mind to other paths, Thank-you.”
Zulene Mayfield leader of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, about using an arts based game to educate and take action about incineration.