February 22, 2011

[MyWorld] Working with Waste

Meet Ann Wizer and her Invisible Sisters.

 Makati, 2011

Ann is an American visual artist, environmentalist and activist. Like me, she has lived in Asia for over 25 years. And she works with waste. In her art she started with natural debris and about a decade ago moved to industrial waste. Why? Because, she says, "there's just too much of it." I sure agree!

In 2008 Ann started her social enterprise in the Philippines: Invisible Sisters. This organization teaches marginalized women to crochet and knit fashion accessories from plastic waste materials. This provides poor mothers and grandmothers with skills, income and self-esteem.


And the consumer gets a colorful handcrafted one-of-a-kind must-have item that is not only creative and trendy but ecofriendly. How cool is that?


You can read more about this celebrated eco-warrior and her wonderful design intervention into poverty reduction and environmental protection at her website. And by the way, she is looking for partners and investors, so if the glove fits, do connect with her through her website.

I spoke to Ann and took these photos last Saturday when my friend Jill and I visited Art in the Park in Jaime Velasquez Park, Salcedo Village, Makati. After two decades in the world of designing, producing and marketing handcrafted products, I know a little about the effort and dedication that success  in this field requires. And so I greatly admire people with heart like Ann who use their creative talents to make our world a better place.

So with this post I join the community at MyWorld Tuesday.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow - what a wonderful idea. It's amazing how waste can be turned into all sorts of beautiful objects.

Dina said...

The things look pretty.
It's nice to know talented and devoted people like your friend.

Kay L. Davies said...

I agree with Fi. It's amazing! And I agree with Dina, it takes talent and devotion, but I also think it must take a great deal of patience.
Words can't describe how much I admire people like your admirable friend Ann.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

EG CameraGirl said...

Ann is an amazing woman. I admire her for thinking "outside the box" and coming up with beautiful designs to help other women make a living.

Sylvia K said...

Oh, she is indeed an incredible woman and how wonderful to be able to come up with all the incredible ideas/things to help other women. Would that more of us could "think outside the box" and help heal our world as well as help other women! Incredible! Thank you, Francisca, for sharing this with us and what a wonderful look at your world! Have a great week!

Sylvia

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Interesting she is a Ann too, and we both are into environmental issues. I don't do as much as she does, I only write and the couple of times when I am in the field teaching people.

Pat Tillett said...

What an amazing woman!
That is such a great idea.
My hat's off...

Carola said...

That's cool. I always admire people who do projects like that.

eileeninmd said...

Ann has a wonderful talent and she surely does deserves to be admired. Great post and photos.

B i r g i t t a said...

Very cool things! I will go to her page immediately :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Wow! Wonderful post and wonderful person -- I'm on the way to her website now.

Unknown said...

i've seen her booth at the salcedo market last year. there was also a segment at the Manila FAME last year, i think, where students exhibited their eco-friendly clothing designs. i remember a cocktail dress made of CD disks!:p

Anonymous said...

Oh I used to love crocheting, I never got any better, but would love to pick up the hobby again.

Christine said...

A woman to be wholly admired. Thank you for this post, Francisca.

Indrani said...

Wow! Great work.
Thanks for sharing these.

H said...

Women like her give hope to those in extreme need and make the world a better place for us all! Great post!

Walk in New York said...

tu presentes de belle creation

Remember, Every Friday, The Challenge "Walk In The Street Photography"

Crafty Green Poet said...

Brilliant, that looks an excellent project! I always like to see people using waste materials in creative ways, though wouldn't it be nice if there weren't so much waste around in the first place!

Lowell said...

After 25 years, Ann might consider herself Asian, right? :-) That's a long time...

But, I think Ann is one of those people who keep the world spinning in the right direction. Quite an amazing woman it would appear. More power to her and her Invisible Sisters!

Bhushavali said...

All these products are great...
I esp. love that outfit!!!
Thanks for introducing this fabulous lady!!!
Fashion Panache