Made in Heaven: Changing the fate of waste in SIDS!
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Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
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Founding Story
Deepti
Beeharry Panray
Environmental Protection and Conservation Organisation
, PA, Pamplemousses
, PA, Pamplemousses
More than 5 years
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From the biography of late Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius,Hon.Duval,locally recognized as founder of Mauritian tourist industry,I read"tourists come here to spend money & enjoy the tropical warmth"However,"most of them go back without spending all the money they intended to spend during those holidays” I realized that apart from the classy hotels & plenty of sun, sand & sea, other things could have been offered to those tourists.When it comes to souvenirs, all items are imported from China, Indonesia, India & Madagascar.None are 'Made in Mauritius'.Inspired by Mark Twain's quote that 'Mauritius was made first then heaven was copied after Mauritius',I came up with the idea of creating MADE IN HEAVEN-a local brand for souvenirs made locally
Waste, Supply Chain Micro-entrepreneurs.
The action addresses issues of poverty alleviation, unemployment & job creation;it creates direct employment for 32 people&indirect employment for 350 people from needy backgrounds.The impact will be considerable economically.It helps to reduce our landfill wastes by 500 Tons or more since the project consists of using solid wastes (collected at source or production line drop outs), transforming these into high quality tourist items which are placed for sale in all tourist shops throughout Mauritius
In 2011, 414,543 Tons of wastes were land filled in Mauritius, figures show a net decrease of some 27,000 Tons in 2012. This initiative will further decrease the amount of land filled waste in the future.The objective of MADE IN HEAVEN is to sell ½ kg or more of these wastes to our 1 million visitors annually. If this objective is attained, 500 T of solid wastes will be exported, estimated at around MUR 1200 per kg (Euros 30.00). This will bring around Euros 15 million in term of direct foreign currency.The actual situation- most of our tourist souvenir shops are flooded with items imported from China, India, Indonesia and Madagascar. Mauritius will further save in terms of foreign currency if importation of these items is considerably decreased or eventually ceased. At the same time, this project creates employment for unskilled, uneducated women and youth from deprived backgrounds.
We intend to increase rate of items offered&spread these in all existing outlets throughout the territory.Other objectives are:to compete with products made in China,etc &promote the national brand ‘Made in Moris’so as to slowly decrease importation of these items.Unexpected world crisis may decrease the number of visitors in the future.To remedy the situation,some items will be produced for the local market,such as corporate gifts&items inspired by international events such as the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.Special items made for internationally recognized sites such as the Appravasi Ghat & Le Morne Heritage Site,both of which are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage.Items will be made & exported to other Indian Ocean Islands through the IOC.
MADE IN HEAVEN-shop & workshop is located near SSR Botanic Garden-a world known garden,visited by 600 visitors daily.The same visitors often visit our workshop where artisanal items made from reused & recycled materials are handcrafted on the spot before their eyes.They can then purchase similar items on display at the attached shop.Thus, the initiative is self-sustainable as items sold generate income to run the general initiative.
MADE IN HEAVEN team has successfully engaged local communities from deprived backgrounds in the running of four clustering workshops.These include a Pandanus waiving workshop at Grand Sable village-for fishers wives and families;Coconut workshop at Agalega for the isolated community living on the island;a textile recycling workshop at Petit Raffray village & a glass recycling workshop at Long Mountain Village to provide employment to the needy.