Jahani's niece wearing the new bindi necklace for sale. Photo by Rolando Polit
First flowers by Co-op! Photo by Rolando Politi
Rolando Politi (aka: Kappo Kappino on Facebook) has started a women’s co-op in India. Rolando conjured up genius recycled art for the MoS contributions to the MoRUS fashion show and now he is on to DEHLI to start a very small factory as a first step for women rag pickers. The women will be making added value products from the waste they find and allow them to make the money off the items they make by allowing them to sell them. The women are starting with flowers. Rolando raised $3,000 for the project recently in an online campaign. If you want to support him you still can. HIS blog. www.recycleandpray.com
HE IS ThERE now for 3 weeks and blogging. He is right there in the streets where tourists rarely find themselves.
Azra with new bulb flowers ready to sell. Photo by Rolando Politi
Rolando is does not support recycling! He supports use of waste in to art that does not return to the stream of waste. Instant reincarnations he calls it. Instead of recycling he is making stuff from the trash. He is teaching people to make added value products from trash and excess . He is not returning plastic bottles that are melted down to make more plastic bottles. Stop making plastic bottles. The world can come up with something better … and they are. The vision is to rethink packaging so it does not need to live in the recycling toxic loop.
Rolando creates art and added value functions for trash. He now is calling his work “instant reincarnation”. He is making added value products out of waste and excess which could be sold for $5- not 5 cents. He wants to teach this trash pickers, the redeemers.
Letter from Rolando before he left:
Rolando. Photo by dd maucher
Funders and Supporters of this “Venture”,
I am happy to announce that all the preliminary paper work is now in place…and that is a feat in itself considering the notoriously problematic Indian bureaucratic system!
A start-up team is in the field now ready to join “skills” for the making of this FOR PROFIT cooperative of women waste workers. It includes the founder of the Union of Waste Workers of Delhi, an Economist from the “Free University” of Barcelona and an Anthropologist from Detroit! I started a BLOG and there are some prelim postings and backgrounds: http://recycleandpray.wordpress.com Bookmark it and share it with any one who would be interested in support…..
If you have more than a “general” interest in knowing more details about the global issue of “waste picking” I recommend that you also visit http://wiego.org this organization supports the struggles of women in the informal sector of the economy and it also has a specific sector for women in the waste picking economy. Find links to all the Blogs under the Blog Roll heading of the home page.
Lastly. there is good breaking news for the Redemption and Waste Picking movement. In as a “short documentary” about Redemption and the lives of redeemers in New York City has just been released and nominated for an OSCAR AWARD. Let’s all root for it to win on oscar night feb. 24th. It can only be very beneficial in adding popular awareness for this still too “invisible” profession but on the way to become legal and respected!redemptionthemovie, can also be found on the blog roll....NAMASTE
Reincarnate & PrayI will try to post as often as allowable in the month of March ….precarious conditions are a constant power outings and Internet Service comes and goes…
