CRAFT FROM WASTEThe Kommetjie Environmental Awareness Group runs a number of litter clean-up projects on the Cape Peninsula. Hundreds of bags of litter are collected each month - of particular concern to us was the large amount of non-recyclable material being collected, in particular plastics. With this fact in mind, we began to explore the concept of making crafts from waste. With a grant from the Claremont Rotary Club we employed a local artist, Monique Fagan, to do product development. Monique designed a number of interesting products. The next step was to explore markets for these products. Once it was established that a market existed the work began in earnest and the Ilithalomsa project was launched. Ilithalomsa is a Xhosa word meaning a new dawn, an appropriate word considering that both the crafters and the junk collected have been given a new lease on life.
This project would never have developed without the unselfish input from Tracey Rushmore from the shop African Image in the city centre and more recently, Maree from Moyo at the Spier Wine Estate. Other outlets include Aartvark in Kalk Bay, a market stall in Barcelona, and a shop in Bondi Beach, Australia. Ilithalomsa is well on its way to becoming a self-sustaining business and the Western Cape Community Chest and the Levi Strauss Foundation have contributed financially to help with business development.
On the 17 May 2006 we opened a designated craft shop called Junk Evolution at our Environmental Centre on Imhoff Gift Farm. The project has grown from strength to strength and the Department of Trade and Industry sponsored a stall for Ilithalomsa at the Design Indaba 2006. A fantastic off-spin of this was that our stall was chosen to be featured on the Top Billing TV programme.
All profits from the craft sales are split amongst the team and KEAG currently employs 16 people in this project. Please pop in and visit our shop. You can also view our products and order online.
