How this South African uses waste to improve her life

DW (English)

Cape-town based Lizl Naude has a talent for turning discarded materials into functional homeware. With her up-cycling business she even managed to finally move her family out of living in shipping containers.

Transcript

00:00When your whole life is waste, 100% waste, what would you do?

00:07We were literally on the dump. We felt like outcasts.

00:11Ashley and I have moved 44 times. We have been married for 23 years.

00:17So you do the maths. I've been in many, many spaces.

00:22One of them was these two shipping containers.

00:26Liesl and her family lived in them for five years.

00:29Morning, guys. How are you, Trevor?

00:32Let's find out how she finally managed to move her family out of these shipping containers.

00:37Now they serve as the factory for her hip cycling business.

00:43We were burgled five times in Johannesburg.

00:46Our home was emptied a few times.

00:49I literally broke down one day and I said, Lord, I need something.

00:53I opened my eyes and there was this rubble heap opposite the dam where we lived.

00:59And he said, use that. You've been doing it.

01:02Those were the words that came to my mind.

01:05With this motto, Liesl Nordea has managed to build a small company that she upcycles waste and turns into hip household goods.

01:13So this is our snack caddy.

01:16This is a candle holder.

01:20Is this why she called it hip cycling?

01:23We're basically saying that we can make upcycling look hip because usually when you think upcycling, you think junk, you think pallet furniture.

01:32But we want to make it more hip, you know, more accessible for homes and something attractive.

01:41And Liesl has had plenty of practice.

01:45Life has thrown many curveballs at her.

01:48Down and out of work and living on others' generosity,

01:50it was her creativity that enabled them to keep their dignity and feeling of home.

01:59For me as a mother and as a wife, I wanted to create a home as soon as possible.

02:05Whether we stayed in the space for two weeks, two months, two years, I wanted to make it a home.

02:11But we never had the budget.

02:13Liesl has always used life setbacks as inspiration and her husband Ashley has watched in awe.

02:20I think it was an eye-opening moment.

02:22It just unleashed her.

02:24It unlocked that potential, that hidden potential that she always had.

02:29Ashley recently joined her company as the business strategist.

02:33In lockdown, it was quiet.

02:35I found a piece of wood and I thought, okay, I'm going to cut out an African shape.

02:41And then I just posted a picture of myself on Africa Day and people just started inboxing me.

02:47Starting out making everything by hand, as their business grew, she finally invested in more machinery.

02:54A lot of the clients that we work with require custom.

02:58So they will tell us what they want and then we work with them.

03:02Like these cute glasses key rings for an optometrist.

03:06These are sold at Table Mountain and they're all made with 100% waste plastic.

03:16Her team of six all have stories of resilience, learning alongside her.

03:21We're a small team but we're dynamic and we get things done.

03:25One of my gifts is problem solving and being resourceful.

03:32And I think the team has also adopted that.

03:37We first look at how can we fix it.

03:39And we try and fix it with, you know, the South African ways.

03:43Even to moving a 350 kilogram machine themselves.

03:49It took us two hours to push it into the facility.

03:54We all felt so good because we all work together.

03:58And I'm extremely grateful for that attitude.

04:06Recycling waste is a lifeline for thousands of South Africans.

04:10Waste pickers provide an essential service, recycling 98% of packaging in South Africa.

04:17We want to start with campaigns to educate the community of the value of waste.

04:23And possibly attach a value to a piece of plastic so that they can also generate an income.

04:32I know where our first big milestone is to employ 94 people.

04:38And we want to do that before 2030.

04:40Is this the overnight one?

04:41Relying on the changing attitudes towards waste, Liesel and her team are an inspiration.

04:49South Africans have always been drawn to our story because it's a story of hope.

04:53South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:54South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:55South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:56South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:57South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:58South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

04:59South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:00South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:01South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:02South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:03South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:04South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:05South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:06South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:07South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:08South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:09South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

05:10South Africans have always been drawn to our story.

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