Conserve - Fashionable Upcycled Bags

Born of a desire to reduce India's mountain of waste and to help some of Delhi's poorest living in the City's slums, Conserve India was founded as an NGO by Anita and Shalabh Ahuja.

Conserve started as a recycling project and was quickly confronted with the fact that especially thousands of plastic bags could not be composted or recycled locally. The founders combined expertise in engineering and creative talent lead to the solution. Conserve started "upcycling" the bags by washing, drying, and pressing them into sheets of plastic that could be reinvented as fashion accessories. The principle of handmade recycled plastic (HRP) was born.

Other examples of materials used by Conserve to reduce, reuse, upcycle and add value to waste, create income and jobs are:

Rubber tube.

The inner tubes of old truck tyres are soft and durable and a great alternative to leather. Once the inner tube is washed, it is cut into shape or patterns in a way that allows total flexibility in designing fashionable, functional and fun bags.

Seat belts.
Rolls of un-used seat belt material from manufacturers that would go to the landfill are used and woven together into fabulous bags.

Today, Conserve India employs and trains hundreds of people from Dehli's most disadvantaged communities. The generated income from selling the products is spent on social welfare projects and education in those same communities.

The products are a great fit with current eco-chic trends in the United States and Europe. They are functional, dramatic and make excellent conversation pieces.

Calypso Chile

Founded in 1994, Calypso Chile is a family crafts workshop based in the neighborhood of La Reina, Santiago de Chile. Through perseverance, the family successfully built a sustainable business that supports not only this family, but as well the families of others. Calypso Chile creates, produces, sells and exports their fused glass pieces national and international to several countries worldwide.

As a member of the WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), Calypso is operated under the principles of Fair Trade, ensuring that all of the artisans and crafts people are paid a fair price for their work.

Fused glass is a term used to describe glass that has been fired (heat-processed) in a "kiln" at a range of high temperatures.

The process of fused glass requires sheets of glass to first be cut into the desired shape. Next, the glass design is put into the kiln. As the kiln heats up, the glass contracts, expands, and adheres together. When the piece is melted to the artist's satisfaction, the kiln temperature is slowly lowered to allow the glass to cool down and avoid cracking.

Thera are three main distinctions for temperature application and the resulting effect on the glass. Firing the glass at the highest temperatures is a "full fues". The techniques can be applied to one glass work in separate firings to add depth, relief and shape.

All kinds of items can be made with fused glass. Wall hangings and jewelry are some of today's most popular pieces.

Women in Business Development (WIBDI), Samoa

Talofa from Samoa.

Women in Business Development, Inc (WIBDI) was founded in 1991 as a small non-profit organization with focus on providing opportunities for families living in rural areas of Western Samoa. They do encourage the families to earn a living with the resources available to them, provide training, supervision and support plus give access to microfinance.

The strong family culture in Samoa shaped the way WIBDI is working. It focuses on individual families and not on individuals or villages. An extended family in Samoa can be a large community with members up to a hundred individuals. The head of the family is the point person and works directly with WIBDI. Over the years the organization found, that a family that can earn money for itself seems to be more committed to sustainable, long-term projects and willing to re-invest money into it.

Projects through this energetic group of women include traditional crafts like Siapo making, jewelry made from coconut and seashell, carving coconut bowls and fine mat weaving. A lot of the produced crafts are sold on the Samoan Islands and a smaller amount is send to overseas markets and retailers like World Travel Art.

WIBD started a bi-monthly organic market day in order to help rural organic farmers. All products offered on the market are certified by the "National Association for Sustainable Agriculture in Australia". Fresh fruit and vegetable, spices, cocoa, honey, pure cold pressed coconut oil and more are offered. Over time the markets became so popular that by now they seem to be part of Samoan way of life.

Women in Business Development clearly has become the link between small Samoan producers and the wider global market. They found ways to overcome obstacles like the remote island location, natural disasters and limited quantities that can be produced. The approach of focusing on individual families has proved to be successful and the strong, flexible mindset of the women in the organization will guarantee the success to go on.

Artesanas Campesinas (ARTCAMP)

ARTCAMP is a rural women's artisans cooperative in Tecalpulco, Municipality of Taxco in Mexico.

Located between the hills of Acapulco and about 100 miles southwest of Mexico City, Taxco, in the State of Guerrero, is one of the oldest silver mining sites in the Americas. It has retained its natural charm and colonial ambiance with red-tiled roofs and cobble stoned narrow streets. Silver Jewelry making goes back generations and the final pieces were always considered exquisitly beautiful in craftsmanship.

ARTCAMP was created in 1991 after the local handcrafted jewelry industry almost collapsed due to broad changes in fashion and fierce competition from Asia. Before the collapse, many families were employed and buyers came from all over to purchase the handcrafted jewelry of Tecalpulco. Suddenly the pieces were no longer considered valuable and price cuts were forced upon the humble producers of Mexican artisans.

Especially in rural areas like Tecalpulco now a day it is common that single women support their families without the support of husbands or fathers as men leave the villages in search for work in other areas of Mexico or the United States.

When a small foreign-owned factory went bankrupt the women who worked there determined to try and continue to employ themselves joined together and formed what was eventually constituted legally as Artcamp SC de RL. In response to a desperate situation, the women persevered, drew strength from a centuries-long cultural experience, they generated new timely designs and production forms and ultimately found markets for their products.

The years of the early 1990s were difficult and they lived from job to job and from hope to hope but never stopped to improve themselves.

Over the past years the women of ARTCAMP became well organized, efficient and go about business in a professional way. They found new markets and work through and with the "Artisan-Owned-Direct-Distribution-Model" that allows the Coop to sell their fashion Stone Mosaic Jewelry directly to retailers in the markets of the US.

ARTCAMP has not been a beneficiary of grants or charity and by standard the women of the coop are poor BUT contributed in many ways to the community in form of expansions of the local hospital, language learning and indigenous literature projects, water projects and more. By organizing more projects, without concerning oneself with the fact that one has no or little money, the projects and the desired goals take giant steps into becoming reality.

Sculptor uses Nature as his Inspiration

Animals and flowers are tucked into every corner of Paul Cummings' house. The creatures are not real, but cast in marble, alabaster, soapstone and wood. Using a chisel and mallet, and sometimes an air hammer, Paul uses nature as his inspiration and creates art that is not meant to be realistic but creates an intimate, friendly display.

Paul took up the art as a child growing up in North Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. When he was 12, he used a pocketknife to carve wood and turned it into wooden birds. His craft was carefully nurtured over the years and he is an artist for more than 50 years. Paul specializes in stylized animal forms, but had the opportunity to study many aspects of art, including watercolor, acrylic and oil painting, and three dimensional design next to wood and stone carving.

In the mid 70's, Paul began teaching stone and wood carving in the Palm Beach County Community Schools. This continued for a number of years as he expanded the stone and wood carving classes to his country home. He had 10 acres of woodlands and therefore plenty of space for an outdoor studio. In 2002 he moved out of the country and into the city and had to find a new studio space for teaching classes. He rented a building at a friend's local farm and was able to contiune classes. Pieces of his sculptures are found in many private and public collections in Florida and elsewhere.

Paul has not only a passion for carving but is as well a naturalist and outdoor enthusiast. He is a memmber of the Florida Trail Associations' Loxahatchee Chapter and part of a group of volunteers instrumental in trail maintenance in State Parks and other public lands. A remarkable milestone in 2011 is the celebration of 20 years of leading the annual "Big-O" hike around Lake Okeechobee on Thanksgiving week. What a great accomplishment !

Find pieces of art by Paul Cummings on worldtravelart.com.

Note:
Paul is working on one of his latest pieces on the picture shown. It is a sculpture showing a women looking at a birds nest, with a baby chick showing its head out of one of the eggs.

Haitian Steel Drum Metal Art

Haitian Metal Art; a process of turning steel drums into unique, intricate works of art.

This art form was born in Haiti in the early 1950 by a simple blacksmith, Georges Liautaud. He repaired tools and created primitive metal crosses for the graves in the Croix-des-Bouquets cemetery. An American teacher encouraged him to expand his talent into the creation of decorative metal art pieces. A few highly gifted craftsmen apprenticed under him and the tradition has continued since.

Croix-des-Bouquets is still the center of Haitian Metal Art. When driving through the primitive streets, one can hear the "tink-clank-tink" coming from the homes of artisans.

Most artists purchase the used metal drums near the port in the capitol of Port au Prince. In order to turn a steel drum into a unique, intricate work of art, the barrel is stripped of its top and bottom, filled with dried banana or sugar cane leaves, and then burned for quite some time to remove the residue of the drum's former life.

Once done and cooled, the drum is sliced from top to bottom. By entering the cylinder and using body pressure it is opened and pounded into a perfectly flat surface. With a stick of chalk, the artist then draws the design onto the "metal canvas". With the use of hammer, chisel and other tools, the piece is cut, shaped and contoured to its completion. The final piece is coated with a protective finish and some of the products are hand painted in bright colors.

Steel Drum Art is a great and innovative concept of eco-friendly art. By supporting this art form and by introducing new designs and new market outlets, artisans are enabled to have a sustainable income in the poorest country of the American Hemisphere where unemployment is estimated at between 60% and 80%.

Explore Fair Trade

What is Fair Trade ?

Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency, and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, disadvantaged producers and workers . (FINE, 1998)

In Fair Trade, artisans are being paid a fair price for their goods and receive up to 50 percent in cash advance when an order is placed and the balance when the order is shipped. A long-term relationship and continuity of orders is maintained so that the artisans can plan for the future.

Fair Trade ensures that the products offered are produced ethically and that quality and consistency meet the buyer's expectations. Fair Trade products keep cultures and traditional production techniques and materials alive by adjusting to modern and current trends.

Who started the Fair Trade Movement ?

Fair Trade traces its roots to 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler, a volunteer for Mennonite Central Committee visited a sewing class in Puerto Rico. She discovered the talent the women had for creating beautiful lace and the extraordinary poverty in which they lived despite their hard work. She began carrying these pieces back to the United states to sell and returning the money back to these groups directly.

The first US based Fair Trade shop opened in Pennsylvania in 1958 and in the late 1970s, US-and Canadian-based entrepreneurs who defined their businesses with the producers at heart began to meet regularly, exchange ideas, and network. This informal group would evolve into the Fair Trade Federation and formally incorporate in 1994.

In 1989, the World Fair Trade Organization was founded as a global network of committed fair trade organizations, aiming to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged people through trade and to provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas.

Since 2000, fair trade sales and consumer awareness have increased tremendously, as the range of fair trade products has also expanded.

Get Involved

• Entrepreneurs, citizens, students, educators, community leaders, and many others remain the backbone of the fair trade movement (following tips and links are from the Fair Trade Federation website).

Fair Trade in Your Home

• You can easily incorporate fair trade products into your home-life.

Fair Trade in Your School

• At all levels, teachers and students are encouraged to bring fair trade into their school.

Fair Trade Your Meeting

• Whether it's a conference for 800 or a small team-building workshop, you can bring Fair Trade to your meetings.

Fair Trade in Your Workplace

• Whether you are looking for great corporate gifts or promotional products, a number of fair trade alternatives exist.

Fair Trade Travel

• The Fair Trade Federation offers a variety of opportunities to meet and interact with fair trade producers while enjoying a unique vacation experience.

Since 2002, people in more than 80 countries have set aside the second Saturday in May as World Fair Trade Day, the first global campaign for the Fair Trade movement connecting producers, businesses, and customers around the world.

Thank you for supporting Fair Trade!