After almost a year in South Africa, I thought that it was about time that I shared some African recycling experiences with EcoStreet readers. Not all of these recycled objects are from South Africa, some are from West and East Africa too, but they all have the flavour of the African bricoleur (one of my favourite words since discovering the wonderful Italian artist-housewife-blogger Cynthia Korzekwa who introduced me to it). “…bricolage is a technique where works are constructed from various materials available or on hand…” (from Wikipedia) Those that practice bricolage are bricoleurs. Africans are some of the best bricoleurs I’ve encountered.
1. The plastic bag football
“Where the world sees trash, Africa recycles. Found all over Africa, these are the balls that children create out of old trash to play soccer.” – White African
2. The drink can 2CV
“Need a new car? African recycling craftwork.” – Gertrud K.
3. The Coke Scooter
“African recycling craftwork – Karneval der Kulturen 2006, Berlin Straßenfest” – Gertrud K.
4. Old gear dumbells
“Old gears make great weights. From Ashifi in Ghana.” – White African
5. The recycled plastic beaded curtain
“Rubbish curtain.” – NeonMan
unjenesaisquoideco
6. The wire truck
“The truck. This is a common past-time of South African children and many African children in general. This flippin’ thing is hand created and features functional steering, wheels, flat bed and even rear-view mirrors, all out of recycled materials. Unbelievable.” – Sunshine Rabbit
7. The recycled plastic lampshade
unjenesaisquoideco
8. The old tyre planters
“Old, painted tires make great flower pots. From Ashifi in Ghana.” – White African
9. The plastic bag chicken
A true icon of African recycling creativity.
Rev. Santino
10. The recycled plastic trophies
“Ecological trophies” – unjenesaisquoideco
11. The recycled rubbish township scene
“African recycled art” – Vilseskogen
12. The scrap-metal animals
“Zimbabwean Elephant. I love recycled scrap-metal objects from Zimbabwe. Purchased these from a vendor in Grahamstown, South Africa. ” – caribbeanfreephoto
caribbeanfreephoto
13. The recycled home
“Informal settlement wall detail” – John Charalambous
“Informal settlement shack” – John Charalambous
“Informal settlement window detail” – John Charalambous
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
excellent post
Love the tire idea. I have two by my driveway, they are cut with points and then turned inside out. I will try to get a picture up on my blog some. Love the other ideas too.
Love the pictures. My favorite is the coke scooter, that must have taken some time and precision. If more people took up this hobby it could impact the environment in a significant way. There are certainly other more effective ways but this is a great start.
.-= Owen´s last blog ..The Recycling Bin in our Copy Room says, "White Paper Only". Is our Recycling Bin racist? =-.
Dear Eco strett
I would buy this recycled plastic bag chickens but firstly I want to know the total cost with
shipping.
I live in Vicenza near Venice.
Thank for all
greetings
Monic
Very inventive and distinctly african artifacts! great work
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