The game which I chose from the social change website is ‘Garbage Dreams’ which is a game inspired by a documentary of the same name and is based on the theme of environmental conservation and economic growth that can be attained by recycling the waste (garbage). The game involves the player to act as the ‘Zaballeen’ community boys from Cairo who collect, sort, and recycle the garbage to ensure that at least 80% of collected waste gets recycled rather than getting dumped into landfills (Games for Change 1). The game also inspires the player to sort garbage in a way that ensured maximum profitability and assured impact on the global economy. The game presents a medium of social change by inspiring people to adopt more of garbage recycling practices which can address the environmental issue of waste management and by boosting the economy by using the income from such recycling activities.
The game also addressing the social issue of divisions between the elite corporate and the poor ‘Zaballeen’ community boys who earn only via collecting and recycling garbage in Cairo. The government of Cairo had outsourced the garbage management contracts to three foreign organizations who used to recycle only 20% of the garbage collected and the rest of the waste get dumped into landfills which later hampers the environment near to the site (Games for Change 1). Thus, the game poses a social culture driven change by letting the ‘Zaballeen’ community boys earn their livelihood via managing the garbage and maximizing the environmental benefits by recycling 80% of it. This game also provides a social method of managing the wide gaps in the existing disparity between the prevalent gaps between economic hierarchical differences of the elite and poor ‘Zaballeen’ boys.
Works Cited
Games for Change. "Garbage Dreams". Environment Games. 2010. Web. March, 14. 2016.
