The streets and landfills of Ghana are overflowing with rubbish, most of which can be recycled. However, the Ghanaian people lack education about what recycling is. Even if they were made aware of the idea of recycling, they lack the resources to be able to recycle. A British man living in Ghana, Stuart A. Gold, is doing his best to fix this problem with his company Trashy Bags.
Trashy Bags is a company that makes tote bags, messenger bags, backpacks, briefcases, sportsbag, wallets, and more - all out of wrappers, packages, and materials others might consider to be rubbish. The Ghanaians are encouraged to pick up rubbish off the street and bring it to the the Trashy Bags facilities for money. This cleans up the streets and allows many to receive a steady income when they otherwise would not. These items are then sold on their website, trashybags.org, as well as other sites like thechildhealthsite.com/store that I talked about in one of my previous posts.
I think this is a fantastic way for people to make a statement about recycling and saving Ghana while also carrying our valuables. However, at the moment, I don't think the site itself ships their merchandise. You can buy some of their bags at The Child Health Site Store.
Gold also posts a blog of this life in Ghana and the company. Click here to check it out!
I like the concept of these bags.I have seen other bags/items with a similar concept of using recycled materials.
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! Its amazing how much something that would normally be considered so small, can actual have a big effect. I know that when I've gone to India, many stores use bags made out of old newspaper, which seems to be a somewhat similar process.
ReplyDeleteI think this sounds like a really great innovation. I as well have heard of these types of products which use recycled materials. I think it is a great way to recycle as well as to help reduce the trash.
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