Recycling: The latest buzzword in the Philippines

MANILA - Designing fashion accessories with waste items is fast catching up in the Philippines - a field which, besides providing employment to local artisans, is also solving the garbage issue.

Unemployed local youth are making custom jewellery and bags using materials which are often considered waste and thrown away like old glossy magazines, used tarpaulins and aluminum tabs from soda cans.

The products are later sold in upscale boutiques, and sales from these products are actually helping resolve one of the most pressing problems in the Philippines: garbage.

Manila generates nearly two million tonnes of garbage each year, according to a report by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

The EMB has, however, said only 73 percent of this waste is collected by dump trucks hired by the government. The rest ends up in canals, vacant spaces, street corners, market places and rivers, which pollute the environment and pose a risk to human health.

Manufacturing bags using recycled materials has not only addressed this issue but has also helped in providing livelihood to poor families, said Dexter Moreno, production manager of the Philippine Christian Foundation (PCF).

“I didn’t appreciate the value of recycling before. But when I started working here in PCF, I saw with my eyes how the community and its residents have improved their lives by recycling,” Moreno was quoted as saying by Xinhua Friday.

The PCF is an NGO that trains and provides livelihood to women belonging to poor communities in Manila. Most of these women have children and can hardly eke out a living scavenging for garbage in mountains of trash across Manila.

The NGO has trained these women to make bags and custom jewellery using recycled material. It sells these handmade items to several shops in the Philippines and even exports them to Europe, Canada and Hong Kong.

These products are well received and have great demand. This is because more consumers are now more environmentally aware and thus prefer to purchase eco-friendly products, Manila-based entrepreneur Chit Juan said. “Green consumerism is definitely a global trend.”

Juan is a co-owner of a boutique which only sells items that are eco-friendly and socially responsible. Her store has products including bags made of old, discarded or unused items.

But more than just another fashion trend, these products are helping the women provide a better life to their families. One of them is Francisca Mendiola, 54, and a mother of four.

Mendiola used to sew and sell clothes for a living. But she gave that up and decided to make bags as this provided her with a higher income.

“This job provided money for my children’s education. Because of my earnings, they were able to enroll in private schools here in Manila,” she was quoted as saying.