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MANILA, Philippines -- Two Filipino social enterprises received a total of £15,000 (P1.25 million) in financial grants from the Body Shop Foundation for their ecologically friendly principles.
Rags2Riches, which makes designer pouches and other products from scrap cloth and is supported by fashion designer Rajo Laurel, received £10,000 to further develop and expand its training programs.
According to Body Shop retail director for Asia Pacific Bill Spence, the firm was chosen for not only giving livelihoods to women at the dumpsite of Payatas in Quezon City but also from saving landfills from 21 tons of reusable wastes.
On the other hand, Earth Day Network, which makes bags from used tarpaulin signs, received £5,000 to improve its production processes. It started its Tarp Bag Training Project after the 2004 election, when campaign tarpaulins went up all over the country.
Spence said the grants will help make the two social enterprises self-sustainable.
"The grants are not just about publicity. The company was set up by its founder to be socially responsible, not simply to generate profit but also to give back to the community. This is not just charity which is easy. It is to give money and allow it to do good in the grassroots so that the social enterprises become ecologically self-sustainable and the people gain self-respect," he said after the awarding.
Spence said that over the past three years, the foundation has given out some $600,000 worth of grants to 53 projects throughout the world.
He said Body Shop generates 25,000 jobs in Asia, Africa, and South America.
Rags2Riches executive director Reese Fernandez said that apart from numerous volunteers, the non-government organization has five full-time workers and 24 "nanays" (mothers from Payatas) who make mostly bags and pouches that they market through their partners like the House of Laurel.
Laurel also helps in product development.
Fernandez said the enterprise, which started in November 2007 with an initial capital of P10,000, is expected to export its products to New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Holland, Italy, and Paris soon.
"Currently, our profit-sharing is 70-30 in favor of the community, but we are studying if this is sustainable," she said.
Voltaire Alferez, executive director of Earth Day Network, said the tarpaulin project, which was the brainchild of Binggirl Clemente, now accepts used tarpaulins from companies like Globe and Smart, which turn these into corporate giveaways.
Alferez said the project helps them achieve their goal for zero trash.
He said of the waste produced, 30 percent can be turned into compost, 50 percent (like hard plastics) can be recycled, and only 20 percent are residual, needing more high-tech waste disposal systems and more creativity to turn into something useful.
