I’ve always been a big fan of using whatever free resources present themselves to make what you need. Last night, I realized (yet again) that the biggest free resource in Morocco is garbage. At the moment, I don’t have a garden so composting (aside from tossing veggie scraps out my window) isn’t really an option. I’m using old yogurt containers as my spice holders and various tins for various things. I’ve amassed quite a collection of plastic shopping bags and last night I decided to see what I could do with them.
First of all I twisted them into some surprisingly strong and supple cordage. I wasn’t sure they would work for this, but they did. I used two methods, twisting and braiding and ended up with a rope around four feet long before I started trying to figure out how to use them to weave. I’ve only made a few small squares so far, but I think it is very possible to make an interesting rug from these things.
If I can actually get to a point where I can produce valuable commodities from this waste and then pass this knowledge on to the people around me, it will almost instantly clean up a vast portion of Morocco. The cordage is good, the weaving seems great, and I’m fairly certain I can make a basket from the old plastic bags.
Sometimes I forget that waste is really only an unused resource.
And the good news is that I’m not the first to think of this. Check this out!
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf517076.tip.html
Vago Damitio is the Vagabond in Chief. He is also a writer, blogger, traveler, adventurer and teacher. He has spent his life mastering how to have incredible adventures on minuscule budgets. Someday he hopes to have the option of using gigantic budgets for miniscule adventures.
