For March we are featuring a new kind of NGO. In Costa Rica, talented
women artists make lovely jewelry from discarded pieces of trash.
RecyclArt then uses its profits to conduct
recycling educational campaigns around the country. And the jewelry-making
provides new incomes for the women artists.Please visit the RecyclArt
website, see the lovely work, and order from them as a way of helping women
in the developing world.
This month we also feature Eye of the Child in Malawi, an African country many of you
may not know about. Please read the website about the fine work
being done to remove Malawian girls from child labor and keep them in school
-- the alternative is early marriage or prostitution.
On the Women’s Giving Tree site, we suggest different
Ways to Give to NGOs in the developing world. Well, here’s another
way to give that most women will appreciate:
You Can SHOP!
Specifically, you can buy RecyclArt Eco-Jewelry: hand-made in the socio-environmental
project of a Costa Rican NGO that helps women artisans make a living, by
transforming trash into designer accessories. The artisans at RecyclArt
are women from rural communities who recoup materials such as pull-tabs
from discarded beverage cans that they weave with colorful fabric remnants,
and turn into unique necklaces, bracelets, earrings and belts.
The RecyclArt project has two activities. First it trains the women recyclers
in this special kind of craftwork. Second, it markets the accessories and
manages the sales, providing alternative streams of income for the recycling
activity managed by women artisans. The proceeds directly support the environmental
education that the recycling women carry out in their respective communities.
Here’s the history of RecyclArt. In 2007, a small environmental
coalition and a Costa Rican NGO join their efforts to develop a project
that unites art, recycling, environmental education and gender equality.
By 2008, a network of production centers had developed and national marketing
had begun. These accessories are now being offered in hotel gift-shops
and souvenir stores around the country, reaching a small market of eco-conscious
tourists. All project activities are still carried out by a team of women
volunteers.
In order to sustain the sales in Costa Rica and to develop exports, RecyclArt
urgently needs to train more women. This additional production will help
the project’s viability, and hopefully permit the women to found their
own cooperative.
My colleague, Alexis Fournier, recently visited one of RecyclArt's rural
groups and wrote:
RecyclArte has made a huge difference in their community. The women
are now invited to participate in municipal meetings, receiving a piece
of land for a new recycling center and are in a good position to receive
a subsidy to build it. They have been empowered, suddenly have status,
are no longer garbage-handlers but nationally recognized artisans, close
to exporting! We must replicate this in other villages, and we will!
The environmental commitment and buying-power of first-world consumers
directly supports these campesina conservationists, whose creativity contributes
to preserving the planet.
Contact RecyclArt in Costa Rica to know how to order from them. Should
you wish to become more involved, the project can help you organize “eco-jewelry
parties” in your area. This kind of informal sales network has proven
effective in generating purchases, especially with “exclusive” articles
that are each of a different style and color.
On the Women’s Giving Tree site, we suggest different
Comments
Alexis said on Tuesday, March 09, 2010:
Ellen Dear,
This is superb.
Finally found how to download it.
Now I'll send it around, to Jo too.
God bless every little bit of you!
Alexis