Finding the potential in waste
The Upcycle Foundation shares with the paper how they plan to change lives and the planet, a waste product at a time.
Do you ever just look at discarded junk and think to yourself, ‘hey, that has the potential to become a thing of beauty.’
If that’s not your first thought, then you are not alone as it takes a particular eye to see that an old broken TV can be upcycled into a fish pond or maybe even a rainwater collection system.
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The imaginative eyes that help stop these disused products from filling up our landfills are those of the Upcycle Foundation. The Northcliff Melville Times spent some time at the Greymont-based organisation to find out what else they did that positively impacts our communities.
Its founder, Winnie Mchenry, said the foundation started a year ago and since its establishment has managed to divert at least 40 tons of waste from going to landfills. They have also trained six entrepreneurs who now have small businesses, and have even expanded, opening another small shop in the area that sells donated waste which they then clean and prepare for artists to do creative artwork.
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The foundation’s focus is on receiving waste products from corporates which have post and pre-production waste to donate that would otherwise go to a landfill. For them, working with corporate companies also allows the organisation to have a steady stream of waste supply, though they do accept donations from the community for training purposes.
Upcycling has always been a passion for Mchenry because it’s the only way she feels she can do her part in saving the planet. “If I can teach every person who is unemployed how to use upcycling to make money for themselves, then I can save the world and help others find employment, it’s like the perfect system to help solve all our problems,” she said passionately.
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“My passion has always been to teach people how to earn a living for themselves.”
Mchenry’s big dream for the foundation is to have training and development centres all across the country where they will continue with their current business model as a continued effort to change the planet and the people in various communities. She hopes that within the next five years, the country will boast about 20 of these centres and one day broaden its reach to other African countries.
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