I Love Trash

It was still early when I stood by the busy street waiting for my friend to pick me up. Said the traffic was shocking. We made it on time in WTC where my friend had an hour volunteer job at her organization’s monthly bazaar. It’s amazing that they hold such bazaar every month whilst in Jakarta we saw such size of bazaar at least twice a year only. So I was ‘lucky’ to have a chance to experience one here.

It’s another bazaar. I walked while chanting a mantra I don’t need, I don’t need. I browsed the stalls quickly, just checked out what’s available and favorite in Manila. What struck me is Filipinos enjoy any kinds of bags: large pouches, tote bags with many compartments for baby stuffs or other purposes, handbags made of ethnic clothes from India and local, collapsible synthetic bags, and also bags made of waste polyethylene containers.

The latter had attracted my attention because it reminded me of our friend’s creation back in Jakarta. Well, she moved back to Manila a few years ago so I wonder if she had a finger in similar business here. This business is special because it involves communities that do garbage collecting, cleaning, then making the material into something. Hat off!

Then, I saw many stalls sold similar stuffs only designs that differed from one to another. I started to wonder. I checked out my friend what’s the tale behind the mysterious ample bags made of waste. The tale is… our friend introduced the idea of utilizing waste in Manila but then the business had grown uncontrollably. As the business grew, they stopped braiding waste strips but fresh strips from… printing shops! Yes, brand new waste strips! I was so disappointed learning about the fact that ruined what I had appreciated before. Of course, our friend pulled out of the business because of the difference in idea. No more concept of reuse and recycle!

Walked around together, my friend showed me other waste that had been turned into home wares. Digital print signboard! I adored. I’d already liked braided newspaper for boxes and place mats but digital print signboard as material is new to me. But… wait a minute? Is this for real? Now I know that I need a good research before admiring an eco product. It seems the new belief of using more eco stuffs has been commercially abused.

So I learned. I could say I don’t need because nice things I saw could be categorized into two: I could get it in Indonesia and I could make it myself. I care about cutting back on consumption and finding worth in all the stuffs I had acquired. It’s in my vocabulary now to refuse extra packaging especially those made of non-degradable materials. In the end of four-hour window-shopping, I got many good ideas. That’s enough for me. Nothing is wasted.

Picture of name-tags made of waste polyethylene.