PagaBags
- Fondatrice - Gérante
2013 - maintenant
PagaBags, good for people, good for the planet” –
Recycled materials are being innovatively used in Burkina Faso to empower women weavers with a vital source of income.
The challenge:
Over the past twenty years, single use plastic bags have been furtively replacing the traditional market and shopping bags in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, creating a staggering volume of waste. For a handful of peanuts, a plastic bag. At the market, three mangoes, a plastic bag… add two avocadoes and other plastic bag. At the pharmacy, a small box of pills in a plastic bag..… In a city that counts 2 million inhabitants, it is estimated that each family uses 5 plastic bags per day!
At the same time, waste collection, especially in the poorest neighbourhoods of Ouagadougou, is sadly deficient, and for the most part, carried out by poor women’s associations who eke out a living by going door to door with a cart, donkey and broom offering their services to remove waste from homes. Their clients, poor as well, are hard driven to pay for this basic service. As a result, part of the waste that accumulates is burned causing toxic fumes. The remaining plastic proliferates in the streets, clinging to trees, invading landfill, clogging water systems, causing flooding and disease. In all evidence, the problem of plastic bags is an intricate one: economic, social, environmental and health related.
The solution we’re proposing:
What if it was possible to recycle plastic bags thus giving them an economic worth? Who would throw them away, who would burn them? Convinced that creating an outlet to recycle plastic bags would not only reduce pollution but would also provide income for those involved in recycling, the NGO Initiatives de Développement Stratégique (IDS) launched a project in September 2012 in Ouagadougou, joining forces with women waste collectors and a small group of talented weavers in the neighbourhood of Bogodogo. The project was given the name PagaBags. Paga means woman in Morée, the local language.
PagaBags connects poor women’s associations involved in collecting waste with those involved in weaving, in a common recycling venture that has mutual benefits: the collectors sell their plastic waste to the weavers, the weavers use the recycled plastic in their production process. The new and innovative material resulting from the weaving process is used in creating a line of original and beautiful quality handbags and accessories.
In September 2013, PagaBags was established as a social business. The women, most of whom are illiterate, are being trained in management, organization skills and quality control, creating a sustainable business model with economic, social and health benefits. Whereas, the professional training and income empower women, the beauty that comes out of this workshop in Burkina, with bags now being marketed in Europe and the US, gives women a sense of dignity and a respected standing in their community. While the website is under construction, a Facebook community page has been launched for public exposure.
PagaBags is official field partner sponsored by the Women’s WorldWide Web (w4.org). This means that independent monitoring will be carried out on site to oversee our respect for our business ethics commitments.
