Mel has always been conscious of keeping her ecological footprint low by following small things in everyday life like switching off the light when not needed, trying to avoid single-use plastic bags, walking or riding her bike when possible, and so on. Her love for nature also drew her big move from Germany to the beautiful island of Mauritius where she has participated in several beach clean-ups.
Mel found everyday household products very expensive in Mauritius. Having a background in design in her earlier life, it was a perfect opportunity for her to lean on her crafting passion and convert waste materials into something useful, decorative, more affordable, and earth friendly! She collected tin cans, glass bottles, used paper, basically anything that she could find discarded as waste. Mel built furniture and storage containers from waste which saved her a lot of money and beautified her home in a unique way.
She challenged herself with finding other materials, like old, discarded t-shirts to craft organizers and baskets using the traditional crochet and weaving techniques. The outcome is beautiful and needs a lot of patience and innovation when you are only using what’s available as ‘waste’ so there isn’t really a choice in getting your ‘raw materials’.
“I am excited to be a part of the circular economy and to show people how to make a unique and useful object at home by using materials others declared as waste”, says Mel.
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