Trash in the Tijuana River Valley (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $25,000 that will go to the construction of benches made of garbage for a park in Tijuana, Mexico.
According to an EPA press release, the agency joined the San Diego Center for Civic Engagement in awarding $45,000 to 4Walls International for the construction of park spaces that will use trash pulled from the Tijuana River Valley as building materials.
One of the parks is in Mexico, the other in the U.S.
The San Diego Center for Civic Engagement provided $20,000 for the effort with the EPA providing $25,000.
When questioned by CNSNews.com, the EPA confirmed that all of the $25,000 awarded by the federal agency is dedicated to the efforts for the “Los Sauces” park in Tijuana.
“The park will make use of thousands of discarded plastic soda bottles stuffed with trash as fill material for the construction of park benches and other infrastructure,” the EPA says.
“This innovative project turns a negative into a positive–using trash itself to create new park space for the local communities,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
The $20,000 from the San Diego Center for Civic Engagement is to fund efforts to improve signage and create and install park benches made of trash at Border Field State Park, located 15 miles south of San Diego.
Source material can be found at this site.
