Waste-to-wealth entrepreneur, Adejoke Lasisi, says Planet 3R was born out of passion for environment, covid-19

Adejoke Lasisi, the founder and creative director of Planet 3R, is famous for her innovative skill of converting waste ‘pure water’ sachets into eco-friendly bags, shoes and other fashion items. She shared with PAUL OMOROGBE the operations of Planet 3R and how it began through a combination of a passion for a clean environment and covid-19.

Planet 3R’s approach to waste collection

I am the founder and creative director of Planet 3R. At Planet 3R, we give life to waste. Majorly, we convert ‘pure water’ sachets and textile waste into eco-friendly products. Our solutions are in various ways. One of the approaches that we took was to go to schools and communities to sensitise them on the need to have a clean environment. We believe that getting waste from primary sources is actually the best way, unlike having to pick it up from drainages.

Another solution we provide is to create employment opportunities, especially for women and girls in different communities. We also create hubs in communities. One of the reasons we do that is that we believe that waste generated in host communities should be converted in the same community. Why carry this waste around when it is not even hygienic to carry them around? That is the main reason create production centres in these communities.

 

Tell us about your products?

From the pure water sachets, we produce bags, especially for students. We also produce shopping bags because we don’t want people to keep procuring more waste after they go shopping. By using our reusable shopping bags, it reduces the nylons that people use and keeps the environment clean. So far so good, we have been able to collect 104,000 kg of waste.  With that, we have produced numerous bags. We have partnered with foundations. They pay for school bags which day share in schools. We have partners organisations and even governments to train people in communities.

 

How we started and where we are now

I was actually born into weaving of Aso Oke. It was my mum’s work. I saw my community and the amount of waste that was not going anywhere if we didn’t do something about it. How can we create opportunities from this problem that we see?  I decided to take action.  I started using the weaving skills I acquired from my mum to convert the waste that I saw in my environment. It was a bit challenging when we started. The products were not coming out well. But from the feedback I got from people, I learnt that some people were excited and fascinated. Others said, “How can I wear something made from waste?” Some said wow when they saw what they felt was the most useless thing being made into something wonderful.

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We have gone on to train people in Togo. Now someone wants to partner with us from Sierra Leone. So far so good we’ve been able to get funding from the Canadian government, and from a lot of organisations. They have supported us in improving more hubs and creating opportunities for communities.

 

More about how Planet 3R began

I started weaving Aso Oke since I was 9 years old. That was about 27 years ago. But I started Planet 3R in 2020. That was during covid-19. At that time, we were not doing Aso Oke. There were no events, so it reduced the demand for Aso Oke. So I thought, “This thing about cleaning the environment and creating a solution, maybe this is the time. Let me just start it and see what we can do from here.” I did not know it would be accepted. I did not know they will be calling me in different places and in different countries – from outside Nigeria to come and offer training or partner with them. This was something that was born out of a passion for a clean environment and covid-19.

 

On the issue of funding

We still need funding because there is still room for improvement. If we can get some machinery to make our work easier and faster, because for now, the production process is a little bit slow due to the fact that everything is manual. We can’t supply organisations on a large scale because we cannot meet demand. For now, we are trying to look for a solution. That means some parts of the process must be up automated, not entirely everything. At the same time, we want to create more centres for women and girls in different communities.

 

How many women and girls have you engaged?

For now, we have about 16 of them. But with time, we’ll get more centres, especially with the grants that we won. For now, we have just three centres in Ibadan and one in Abuja.