00:04These textile scraps are about to get a major glow up. Blandin Bachingese finds her materials
00:10in the trash cans of local sewing workshops in Bukavu. The artist and environmental activist
00:15grew up in a family of simstresses. That's where I first came into contact with Fabric
00:21Scraps. At first, it seemed like child's play, but then I realized that everything that was
00:27being thrown away, discarded, could be used to make something good, useful and beautiful.
00:35This is where her work starts. When I'm standing in front of a trash can or among fabric scraps,
00:41it's the scraps themselves that inspire me. It's from these scraps with their different textures,
00:46colors and patterns. Every time she heads out, Blandin collects about 100 kilos of textile waste,
00:54carrying it in small loads she can haul on her back.
01:01Back home, everything gets sorted in her yard. A dozen women help her separate the scraps by color
01:07and texture, work that allows them to support their families. Larger pieces become ready-made items
01:14straight away. The smaller pieces are assembled into a patchwork, which is then transformed into new products.
01:25We produce handbags, backpacks, travel bags. We also make clothing, t-shirts or shirts,
01:31personalized with fabric scraps. For the very last fabric scraps, we use recycled wool and acrylic
01:41paint to create artistic paintings, incorporating the fabric scraps. Every year, 92 million tons of
01:52textile waste is produced worldwide. Most of it ends up in landfills like this one in Ghana,
01:58taking decades to break down, polluting soil and releasing greenhouse gases. Blandin and her team
02:04are stopping some of that waste before it gets there. And she already has big plants for the coming years.
02:15A bigger center where we can employ and train more women to make them more financially independent.
02:22And of course, where we can transform bigger amounts of textile waste.
02:26And thus, we have to embrace a larger quantity of textile waste.
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