Photo: Femi Amogunla | Al Jazeera
Peer into the gutters of any large Nigerian city, and you can expect to see trash swept there by the rain: floating cans, nylon water sachets, empty bottles. In 2019, the United Nations estimated our Global Material Footprint (amount of raw material extracted from the earth to meet consumption demands) was 85.9 billion tons -- up 73.2 billion tons from just one decade before. In Nigeria, "wastepreneurs" are innovating ways to give new life to material waste -- transforming trash into art, fabrics, clothes, play structures and more. Born into a family of weavers, Adejoke Lasisi began collecting nylon water sachets and weaving them into colorful clothes. In 2020, she launched a business, Planet3R, and one of her most popular products is a backpack made from 250 water sachets. Jumoke Olowokere, 41, celebrated her 40th birthday in 2019 by gifting 40 schools with outdoor play equipment made from discarded tires, ropes and bottles. Ibrahim Gbadamosi was working in the oil and gas sector when his first solo art exhibition hit a resounding chord with the nation, and he left his job to pursue art full-time. He said he hopes "to always do pieces that can stand the test of time."
|
|
More:
