Zaachila's Plastic Family

Eliseo Vargas, 35, Abdiel Vargas, 13, Ashliin Esmeralda Vargas, 2, Imelda Vargas, 34, Herminia Vargas, 32, and Auria Vargas, 63, travel down the path near their home in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Herminia Vargas, left, 32, and her mother, Auria Vargas, right, 63 buy tortillas from a mobile vendor outside of their home in Zaachila, Mexico on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017.

Lucero Vargas, left, 6, eats a tortilla with her mother, Herminia Vargas, 32, at their home in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Auria Vargas, 63, grinds corn to feed the family’s chickens in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Herminia Vargas, 32, burns wood in preparation to light her stove to cook dinner in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Auria Vargas, 63, cleans dishes outside of her home in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Eliseo Vargas, 35, sits on the bed in his room in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Herminia Vargas, 32, collects water from her family’s well in preparation to do laundry in Zaachila, Mexico on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017.

Lucero Vargas, 6, runs to the edge of her family’s lot to buy ice cream from a mobile vendor in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2017.

The Vargas family poses outside of their family homes in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Auria Vargas, left, 63 helps her son, Eliseo Vargas, right, 35, as he returns home from collecting recyclables in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Eliseo Vargas, 35, stands near the pile of plastic he recently collected in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Eliseo sells the recyclables to a nearby facility and the money he earns is the Vargas’s main source of income.

Auria Vargas, 63, feeds her family’s chickens in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Yanitza Vargas, 13, sits outside of her family’s home after school in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Auria Vargas, 63, watches her grandchildren outside of her family home in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Imelda Vargas, 34, watches as her daughter, Ashliin Vargas, 2, holds one of their family’s baby chicks in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2017.

Yanitza Vargas, 13, does her homework outside of room in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Abdiel Vargas, 13, Yanitza Vargas, 13, and Deysi Vargas, 15, pose in the window of the family kitchen in Zaachila, Mexico on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Auria Vargas, 63, walks with a machete to chop firewood near her home in Zaachila, Mexico on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.


















