By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
We were shocked to read this week (here) that plastic, or to be more correct, plastic microfibers, have not only been found at the lowest depths of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, at the highest points of our Mountains on the top of Everest, but now even across the Arctic. We as humans have now polluted the entire planet with plastic!
According to the study by OceanWise here, 878 tonnes of plastic microfibers are released from North American household laundry every year. This is the equivalent weight of 10 Blue Whales into rivers, lakes and oceans (some Blue Wales can weigh as much as 220 tons, so given an adult African Elephant can weigh up to 6 tons, that’s a serious load of Elephant!). Note, as well - that is just North America! Everyone must now look to what they personally can do at home, and especially in factories where plastics start the process into our lives. But where to start? That huge weight of Elephant is so daunting.
In business this means, for example, looking at the amount of plastic we use to wrap our products. The HoF has shown us one company that is introducing a clingfilm that is 9 micron thick for wrapping pallets of products before they are sent out (a micron is one-millionth of a meter), previously they used 20 microns, but new technology means that 9 microns is just as good. In this one move the company has cut its plastic usage for this in half and its costs dramatically (contact us if you want to know more for your business). In Japan we have seen paper being used to wrap, but with seeds glued across the paper so that anyone receiving their goods can then add water and enjoy beautiful flowers for the following weeks. Such a beautiful idea.
For clothing (from where many plastic microfibers come) let’s see if we can introduce less harmful fabrics into our manufacturing process. Not everyone of course can manufacture to the same degree as Nicola Luther of LUNAR our brilliantly talented Lioness who designs and makes such beautiful, natural and eco-friendly clothing as seen in our start-up story here, but thanks in part to Polyester and Nylon we are now deep into the ‘Plastic’ age (previous ages have been the Bronze, Iron and Stone) exactly because it is quick, easy, and cheap. If these last few decades have shown us anything, it is that the consumer has demanded cheaper and easy to use, and this has created the perfect environment for plastic/polyester. Our entire clothing ecosystem is now firmly entrenched in Polyester as can be seen by this chart:
Obviously we still have to wear clothes and there is no parent who would consider decking out their constantly growing children in 18th century woollen clothing for school - the cost to say nothing of the rips and stains would be crazy, and we are sure that a 100% woollen tracksuit is not the coolest thing on the playground…! Indeed most of us if we were to look at our clothes now would recognize the ‘man-made’ sign. But seriously, the growing number of garments the world consumes has become crazy.
Of course many Lionesses have seen this incredible problem and created solutions. Rather than throw away old plastic bottles, they transform them.
In many countries there is sadly little done to remove plastic waste from the streets, yet Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, founder of WeCyclers, Nigeria found a simple solution to this. She enables low-income communities in Nigeria to make money from the waste piling up in their streets. The company deploys a fleet of cargo bicycles to collect and recycle this unmanaged waste in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos. Every week, these bicycles go around people's homes picking up a variety of plastics, cans and sachets. The residents receive points based on the weight of recyclables they collect, which they can redeem for basic food items, consumer electronics, or even cash. A brilliantly innovative, viable and eco-friendly solution to a huge problem.
Likewise as we saw last weekend in our cover story of the incredible Chioma Ukonu who with business training from various prestigious institutions around the world decided to also save the world. Chioma has built RecyclePoints, which starting from her kitchen, has become a major waste management company in Africa, creating over 230 green jobs and recycling over 100,000kg of waste monthly, and issues ‘RecyclePoints’ as a social currency that can also be used for the weekly shop.
These incredible Lionesses are not the end of it. So many of our membership have seen the world’s problem with Plastic and have designed solutions.
Such as Lorna Rutto who owns and runs EcoPost. As she says:
“Every single day in Nairobi, Kenya, 2,800 metric tonnes of waste is normally generated, 20% of which is plastic. Most of this is crudely dumped, littering the streets, clogging the sewers and even encroaching people’s homes. In addition to that, Kenya has only 2% forest cover. Our forests are in serious decline owing to human settlement and the need for timber for building and construction. We actually turn the trash to cash and reduce the cutting down of trees. EcoPost Limited provides this solutions by manufacturing durable, aesthetic and environmentally friendly fencing posts which are highly demanded.”
“…turn the trash to cash and reduce the cutting down of trees.”, now that’s the kind of multi-tasking we all love to see!
Being up with the times and saving lives, two brilliant Lionesses Lynn Munitich and Lee Barker, founders of WAYSTD (South Africa) transform plastic bottles into masks. As Lynn says in our article: “…the reality is that plastic won't just disappear overnight, nor will production of products containing plastic. It is up to us to find viable, eco-friendly solutions for the use and reuse of the plastic waste we generate daily as a society.”
That is so important - “…it is up to us to find innovative, viable and eco-friendly solutions to this crisis.” The more we think it is someone else’s problem, the less chance we have to solve this.
Another of our inspirational Lionesses has looked from the viewpoint of education leading to inspiration. This involves not only teaching young adults about the Green needs of the world, but also reaching deep into their open minds and asking them to think and design green solutions. As we have said before don’t fear the young, in fact encourage them in your business, their minds will question from a new and sometimes very interesting angle, and although their suggestions will not come from a place of experience, if nothing else this will make you think afresh about certain aspects of your business. Doing exactly this is Adenike Akinsemolu, founder of The Green Campus Initiative (Nigeria). As she says: “…we encourage social entrepreneurship as a way of promoting sustainable development. Our centre offers a place for budding entrepreneurs to gather and innovate for social change.”
Given the way that Lionesses and indeed the majority of women led businesses around the world work, it is no surprise to see the term ‘social entrepreneurship’ being used. Thought for others, for the local community, is so often the core of the incredible businesses our membership create.
The HoF recently spoke to the brilliant Lioness, Lynn Worsley the Founder of All Women Recycling, Cape Town. The company produces kliketyklikbox™, an eco-friendly gift box recycled from discarded plastic 2-litre cool drink bottles, plus some new fabulous innovative products in collaboration with World Changer. Her workforce is 100% local young women, primarily single mothers, most previously unemployed for longer than 2 years. These women are then taught the specialist skills needed, whilst at the same time learning essential business management, life and sales skills. Lynn describes her company modestly as a small eco-business, yet with her motto ‘One Bottle at a Time’, she has now taken one million bottles off the streets, exporting to 11 different countries including the USA, Australia, UK and the EU! One million!
As we keep on saying, so many innovative businesses have simple ideas, but the difference is:
that the Founder actually saw the simple solution
(that which makes Entrepreneurs stand out across the world) - they act on their thoughts and dreams.
All of these incredible Lionesses in their own way benefit so many people along the value chain, including waste collection vehicle drivers; dump site sorters and street waste collectors; the long term unemployed; schools and colleges; all of whom profit from having additional sources of income, training and understanding of what it will take us to pass on a world to our children. The process of recycling plastic bottles not only creates employment opportunities for those most in need, but also raises community awareness of environmental concerns, keeps towns clean and mitigates climate change.
As Brenda Katwesigye, who has reduced the cost of eye glasses by 80% using recycled plastic (whilst employing local female artisans in Uganda), plus significantly increasing accessibility of eye testing services through her company Wazi Vision, said: “One of the ladies we employed sent me a text message 3 months ago telling me that she was so grateful that she earns some money now and is able to take care of her son. She is a single mother and seeing the change in her and how much more positive she is lately really makes me feel like in one way or another, entrepreneurship is really about making an impact in the lives of others. Even when it’s just offering them a job. That is the most satisfying thing about being an entrepreneur - The small contributions we can make to other people’s lives.”
Seriously, if one ignores the modesty for a moment, what one sees is the huge power of the Lionesses to make a difference AND conquer the SDGs.
If you are still unsure as to whether you can make a difference with your one plastic bottle, seeing such a huge weight of a problem in the world and finding this incredibly daunting, please remember as our HoF asks on these occasions:
“How do you eat an Elephant?
Answer: One bite at a time.”
We can do this.
Stay safe.