Reducing waste in the Oshana workshop

Lebanon’s waste management systems are in crisis. The collapse of the lire has left the government unable to pay the private firm responsible for rubbish collection, which is now running at 50% capacity, prompting memories of 2015, when some 20,000 tonnes of garbage piled up in Beirut’s streets. Recycling schemes are woefully inadequate, and there is no fabric recycling at all.

At Oshana, we inevitably produce a certain amount of waste fabric - offcuts from cushion covers, bag linings, etc. While we reuse what we can (for example every year we do scarves that use up odd ends of skeins of wool), sending fabric to landfill has long bothered us.

Our parent charity Makani has been teaching women the craft of weaving, upcycling old fabric by making rag rugs which they can sell locally for income or use at home to improve insulation and warmth in the winter. This is reducing the amount of waste we throw away at Oshana, as well as supporting women psychologically and economically.

Weaving workshops were combined with education on recycling, and workshops on women’s rights and parenting, for holistic support.

This project was possible due to the generous support of the Australian Direct Aid Program - thank you so much.

Read the full story here on Makani’s website.