From left: Ivana Thomas, Nandini Mathur, Prashansa Oruganti and Paridhi Gaur of Project Upcycle with their products. Pic: Abdul Basit
Doha: Upcycling and fast fashion might seem like relatively new words for many, but not so for these teens in Qatar, who have started practicing it in their lives and are encouraging others to do the same with Project Upcycle.
Six students from Doha undertook this mission, Project Upcycle, a small step towards undoing the growing disaster that fashion waste has become and upcycling them for a better future.
Their project involves spreading awareness of the effects of fast fashion and making a minor change by collecting old, torn clothes from members of the community, then reusing them to make items such as tote bags, scrunchies, face masks, etc.
“From being able to upcycle old clothes to sustain an eco-friendlier lifestyle, to using colourful and creative prints to making one-of-a-kind products, our student-led organization has done it all through this venture of ours,” says Dianne Lobo, one of the team members. Working together with her are Nandini Mathur, Ivana Thomas, Prashansa Oruganti, Paridhi Gaur, and the youngest member, class-10-student Amrit Manoj.
The project began as these students, at Birla Public School, came together more than a year back when they won second place at the Global Act with Impact Awards, a competition organised by The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) Qatar. “Six of us were selected for this programme based on our abilities. All of us met for the first time, got to know each other, and immediately began brainstorming. The concept of upcycling used clothing was largely the idea of Ivana and Nandini,” says Dianne.
Helping these students in their upcycling project is a tailoring venture and an online business that is working towards sustainable alternatives to stop single-use plastic. The products are priced at QR50.
“We first approached Eco Souk in the hopes of finding an outlet to sell our products as they have previously worked alongside numerous THIMUN groups and share our commitment to sustainability. Then we found Sewing Studio, through social media, who finish our designs into final products,” added Dianne.
Millions of unsold second-hand clothes end up in landfills when they can’t be recycled, says Nandini adding that with this project they aim to change that. “As part of our mission, we aim to promote decent work and sustainability, and the true beauty behind each piece of clothing. And in the process bring awareness regarding the improper disposal of clothes,” she says.
None of the members imagined that the project would be such a huge success with them receiving so much support from their acquaintances. “The response we received thus far has been pretty overwhelming. We conducted a donation drive to collect old clothes a few weeks ago,” Dianne added.
The profit from the sale of the final upcycled products goes to charity and to fund the next batch of products, stated team member Paridhi.
Though initially, the team had plans to pass on the project to the next batch of selected students from their school, they are unsure of its feasibility now. “We had originally planned to pass on the project to successors, but then the workings of the project have grown more complex and proportionally efficient in the past two years. We are very proud of the scale to which Project Upcycle has grown and have a workflow and trust as a team. But then might have to shut down the project by 2025, once all our final unsold products are sold and profits donated to charities,” added Dianne.
The future of Project Upcycle might not be decided yet, but the awareness and difference that these students are making with their initiative are visible for all to see.
