In East Africa’s beautiful Tanzania back in February 2015, two Irish citizens, Alexis Cronin and Evanna Lyons, were discussing Arusha’s plastic pollution and unemployment problem over lunch, and that week, Dunia Designs was born. They rallied up teams of plastic waste collectors, borrowed 2 sewing machines, someone’s back shed and started making their first pouffe made of plastic bottles & local f
abric. The pouffe became a seat and soon after that a couch and table were made, so they decided to show their products at some local fairs. The response was so positive, that they started taking plastic from companies, schools and lodges and using their profits to send some of their staff back to school. Their staff of 3 became a staff of 6 and is now as many as 20 in busy plastic collection season. Deciding that using the plastic bottle itself was not enough in terms of impact, and aware they were not dealing with the even more toxic problem of soft plastic waste, (bags and packaging strewn across the streets), they looked into plastic lumber (reconstituted plastic) and now use it as raw material for making furniture instead of tradition wood. Now, using shredded plastic bags as cushioning, and reconstituted plastic to form the foundation to their furniture, they are branching into all forms of indoor and outdoor furniture, seeing that there are few limits to what this ‘Greenwood’ can achieve. We are constantly researching the qualities and capabilities of recycled plastic in the creation of both indoor and outdoor furnishings in order to tackle the ever-increasing challenge of plastic waste in our environs. Currently, we are looking into testing a form of building brick using shredded PET bottles We are also testing the potential of plastic lumbar and welding and are committed to finding a solution to the tons of agricultural plastics left over from chemical waste, pesticides and fertiliser farming. Our offshoot projects include developing the ‘Greenwood’ school desk to help solve the huge desk crisis across Tanzanian Government schools. We are looking into developing Greenwood beehives for hive fencing as a deterrent for wild animals away from the many huge farms in Tanzania now living side by side with Africa’s wildlife. This has the added benefit of producing honey for local consumption and revenue. We are also exploring vertical planters made of Greenwood to use in the growing number of farms engaging permaculture as their primary farming method. By clearing Tanzania of soft plastics to create plastic lumbar, we are helping to conserve the precious and diverse tree population of Tanzania’s indigenous forests. As well as this, we as donate our profits back to the World Land Trust’ Save an Acre’ project, of which David Attenborough is Patron. We also pay for children to attend primary and secondary education.
