CARRIED IN BLOOD, MADE BY HEART OUT OF THE TRASH BIN

When asked what they want to say to Mum’s, they put it in a very Nordic way, simple and practical.

- Long live Mum’s!

*For more stories about telephone BEAD products, please check the article “Out of the trash bin”.

Recycling Local Materials For Global Good

By Viktoriya Kuzina & Marianna Haavisto

What do telephone wires, plastic bottles, paper and cotton have in common? Any of them can be found in Africa. Any of them can also be used to bring amazing interior design items to life. From small jewelry to full size chairs and mirrors –Mum’s always relies on local recycled materials and factory leftovers as a primary source of working materials.

Mum’s hires people to gather recyclable waste providing employment in localities all over the world with a fair payment to its workers. Every type of waste may be later used and turned into a piece of art: a chair with a hand-knotted seat made of recycled plastic, a lampshade made of bottles and canisters, cushions made of reclaimed cotton and many others. Mum’s tracks down the origin of the materials to ensure they were ethically produced and obtained. For example, instead of wool gathered by mulesing techniques Mum’s relies on painlessly sheared hypo-allergenic alpaca wool from Bolivia, along with leather leftovers of shoes production from Africa, hand-dyed sari cuts from India, and Cambodian silk.

By re-using locally gathered materials and factory leftovers at the workshops, Mum’s votes for better working conditions and a cleaner environment as well as for animal-friendly and cruelty-free production principles. Choosing Mum’s products does not only support the ethical design principles but also unites people around the world.

This is Zanele making lampshades, texthangers and brooches and animal trophies for Mum’s.

By Chi Zhang

Mum’s products are 100% handmade by skillful craftsmen in Asia, Africa and South America. There are young talents who are only in their 20s and there are also experienced craftsmen who have been in the business for almost 30 years.

To them, handicraft skill is embedded in their blood.

Babulal, Dinesh, Ravi,

Surender, Akbar ali, Rabban ali...these Indian craftsmen have been working with Mum’s for almost 3 years now. They make carpets, floor cushions, bags and wall hangings. Through their clever hands, a small carpet (90cm x 200cm) can be made in three to four days while a large one (170cm x 240cm) takes about a week.

Collecting recycled material in Africa. (Up) “Now they are able to weave their own dreams”. (Left)

Mum’s uses various types of ethical materials: local, first class wool in India and Bolivia, surplus and recycled materials in Cambodia and South Africa. We have made sure no mulesing technique is used within shearing as it is very painful for an animal. The raw material is processed into fine desing in the hands of local artisans.