CraftCycle

‘Re-Toyed Trash’ is an ongoing project by artist and designer Alicia Talikowska, encouraging people to Re-Use existing materials and use found objects to create something really unique.

Alicia holds workshops to help anyone make art from junk. Sometimes the workshops feature a visiting artist showing in their own style the possibilities of re-using materials.

‘In the workshops we supply lots of materials that we find on our travels and discarded objects, such as broken toys, old electrical equipment and scrap fabrics which can be used to make a new toy creature. We also have adhesives to stick parts together, sewing needles for stitching plush toys, and some handy tools to help the process. However, we do welcome people to bring some of their own junk to work on. If you can stick it together, give it a go!’

Workshops are usually held on each month on Saturdays at different locations. Read more at  http://recycledtoys.wordpress.com/

My introduction to the existence of dump communities came through reading an article online in 2004 by David Pred called ‘Cambodia Landfill: Life in Hell’.  Please read it: it inspired me to become a founding member of Bridges Across Borders and to support their work on a continual basis. If the article moves you as well, I hope you will consider joining their efforts at babsea.org.

Let’s discuss and evolve a post: picture and info tour of global beadmakers using recycled materials

Recycled Paper Beads

• Life in Africa, which mobilizes large groups of people into production “co-ops” with the capacity to generate significant volume of bead product for bracelets, necklaces, and other accessories.
• Great article from AllAfrica about Bead for Life, an organization that promotes small business development through the production of recycled paper beads and  bead products.
• Junk Mail Gems has some great info and DIY resources including a beadmaking guide.
• The Paper University has a terrific how to guide that gives a step-by-step walk through of the process used by many paper bead making associations.

Recycled Glass Beads

• eShop Africa has a great DIY tutorial on how to make recycled glass beads. They also have a great collection of gift products for sale online.
• Great story about the recycled glass artist Jodie McRaney Rusho who uses recycled glass in various ways to produce her stunning artwork. Beads could be next!

Recycled Plastic Beads

• Craftydaisies.com has a great article about using plastic bags as a source of resin for plastic beads. Cool!
• Etsy.com sells many bead items made from recycled materials, including paper and plastic. Could be a great resource for cyclecrafters producing in bulk!
• OneWorldProjects has a great article about recycled materials in craft items from Ghana, including beads.

Some questions for discussion: 

• What aspects of this to be taken to/initiated at the various dump communities?
• Are there existing dump-based programs?
• What would be needed?

[Originally posted to Omidyar.net] Sometime in 2007, according to U.N. estimates, more than 50 percent of the population of the planet will live in cities for the first time. 200 years ago, the urbanized population was around 3 percent. Each week, approximately 1.3 million people leave small towns and the countryside for a life in the city. A billion of these people, most of them children, will end up in the world’s fast-growing slums. Many of them will grow up earning a living on dumps.

In 1995 I spent 3 weeks in and around Dakar’s municipal dump, a landfill occupying what used to be a 2.5km sq. lake at Mbeubeuss. The experience opened my eyes to several important findings.

First, depending on your perspective, the dump is either your entry or your exit into the urban economy if you are poor. In Senegal, many youths — particularly those from the rural Baol region in the south — come to Dakar looking for work. Finding none, and not wishing to return to the arid farms of their childhood, they occupy a niche at the dump.

A second discovery is that dump workers — often considered part of the informal economy in many countries — are almost always part of a network. The entire life at the Mbeubeuss dump is organized into stratified networks around specific activities, principally ragpicking of various items (ie glass jars, cloth scraps, and metal parts), the cleaning and preparation of items for repair and reuse, craft workers, and those who sell items at market.

Third, there is a stunning variety of activity and livelihoods being made at the dump, producing significant value for the urban poor. Items sold at market that are produced from materials reclaimed at the dump will sell for 1/5 of the price of “new” items in a market. This makes everything from footwear to paint to luggage much more accessible to those who need them.

More soon… I’ll also be blogging about this topic in the coming months with my friend Darlene Charneco and others who join in to explore this vibrant field… perhaps you’d like to join along!