IT’S not often people set out to create a Christmas gift guaranteed to be absolute rubbish.
But Yarraville’s Green Collect has been employing people who have experienced homelessness to help create unique fridge magnets, notebooks or journals from unwanted office equipment.
The organisation collects tonnes of big business’s rubbish throughout the CBD and ‘upcycles’ it into gifts that are sold through its not-for-profit stores.
CEO Sally Quinn says the idea is to create quality gifts that are ethically produced and environmentally sound, giving work opportunities to those most in need. The studio has been extra busy in the lead-up to Christmas filling corporate orders for gifts made using big business cast-offs. “They are buying back product made from things they’ve thrown away.”
Ms Quinn said the Green Collect range — including pieces made from reclaimed fabric by sewing groups with refugee experiences — offered the gifts of work, dignity and belonging.
Visit 71 Anderson Street, Yarraville, or greencollect.org
