Having the freedom to gather waste is what has made this project so vibrant and rewarding for the team. With rescued materials they have produced items of real value to the recipients

TURNING TRASH INTO TREASURE WAS THE ETHOS BEHIND THE RECENT #INFINITY PROJECT, A VISIONARY COLLABORATION BETWEEN LOULÉ DESIGN LAB AND INFRAMOURA. ARTISANS AND CRAFTWORKERS GOT INVOLVED IN A BID TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Words: DEBBIE REYONOLDS

LEARNING HOW old event banners, road signs, unwanted furniture, leftover wood and plant waste were turned into the likes of music instruments, funky chairs, pictures frames, dominos and herb gardens grabbed my attention. Finding out how these creative items were then used in social upliftment projects was inspirational. Talking me through the process was the Loulé Design Lab’s Joana Dias, who is clearly passionate about the recycling and reusing concept. She explained that the Design Lab, which is an incubator of the Loulé Municipality’s Criativo Project, teamed up with public space management company Inframoura late in 2021 to work on a circular economy project.

Inframoura works in Vilamoura and Vila Sol and included in its functions is the collection of municipal and household solid waste, urban cleaning and maintenance of green spaces.

“The challenge was to image a social project which would give new life to the old household and garden waste they collected,” says Joana. “It was clear from the start that we needed funding for such a project and so we submitted #infinity to the Environment Fund in the category of Sustainable Consumption and Production.”

In competition

“This was not easy because it is a national competition with around 200 applicants, but we were very lucky to come in ninth place and were awarded funding of €18,900 in June 2022.”

Another challenge was that the terms of the funding stipulated that the project had to be completed within six months, which meant that the team was under huge pressure to get the work done, taking the summer holiday into account.

“Thanks goodness, we had done some of the groundwork,” laughs Joana. For example, with the help of the Loulé Municipality’s Department of Health and Social Development they had identified three worthy institutions to be the recipients of their creations – Lar Casa do Povo from Ameixial (an old age home), Fundação António Aleixo (a children’s day care centre ) and Associação Humanitária de Doentes de Parkinson e Alzheimer (AHDPA, a home for people with Alzheimers and Parkinson’s).

“It was very important from the start to identify what these places needed so that we were providing true value,” Joana explains. “It was also important in the beginning to visit the Inframoura waste yards to get to know the refuse collection team and the types of bulky waste items and materials that are usually collected.”

With all this in mind #infinity was born with the purpose of giving waste a new life “through actions that range from the renovation of furniture to the dismantling of bulky waste items for source material, to the reuse of waste left by the pruning of Vilamoura and Vila Sol green spaces.

“The major goal of ours was to reintroduce these objects, supposedly at the end of their life cycle, back into the life of people in social upliftment projects,” says Joana.

With the project in full swing, the challenge of knowing what materials were needed and available at any given time was overcome by setting up a WhatsApp platform between the various work groups. The next step was making prototypes of the designs for evaluation and confirmation by the team, followed by the production of each project design.

The results were remarkable

For example, for the day care centre, I loved the fish made out of discarded traffic signs, which transformed into a giant xylophone; the board game made from the bases of old chairs and the mini kitchen constructed from various waste. For the Casa do Povo, which was typically institution bland, they re-imaged discarded chairs by reupholstering them with old event banners. “This not only brightened them, but also helped in making them more hygienic and easier to clean,” says Joana.

A particular favourite of the team was the old manual sewing machine which they fixed for one of the residents, who had been a seamstress.

She didn’t know how to use a modern sewing machine, I was told, but getting one that she could work with gave her a new purpose. It was lovely, the team say, seeing how happy it made her, never mind how happy her husband was to see her enjoying herself.

A once bare white wall was transformed into an art gallery with photographs of places around the institution, which were then beautifully framed using the wood from old palettes and fruit boxes.

Old traffic signs were repurposed again, this time to make wheelchairfriendly desks, another design also used for AHDPA. Also, for both places, the team used the wheels and mechanisms from old baby prams to make colourful pedals to help with arm and leg mobility.

One of my personal favourites were the ‘dominos’ made from garden waste, which instead of numbers or symbols used colours to provide mental stimulation for the residents.

For all three projects, the team also created mini aromatic and sensory herb gardens.

“When it came time to handing over the designs it was so rewarding seeing the response,” says Joana. “Everyone was amazed by how waste could be turned into such unusual, creative and functional objects.”

Increased input

Noteworthy is that in the original proposal 58 objects were identified and approved, but the seven design teams were so invested in the project that they ended up making 98.

This included bags for the Inframoura garden workers made from event marketing banners. “Because these are made with plastic and fibre they can’t be recycled, so we identified the need that the gardeners had for a bag which could safely carry their tools and clothes, but which also looked good,” said Joana. “One of the workers was so excited to get a bag which featured a famous singer’s face.”

And then there were the composting bins, which were created for the Inframoura canteen garden and also for their clients.

The initial #infinity project was completed in November 2021, but that was not enough for the Loulé Design Lab team, who decided to keep the project alive.

“The process taught us new methodologies and ways of thinking, which highlighted the need to continue, in a larger way, as the Infinity Movement,” says Joana.

Which is how they got involved with Loule’s Festival Med, creating an ‘Islamic Terrace’, showcasing seating made from cardboard, banners and other municipal waste. “We also made tables out of old wine bottles, which we got from restaurants in the area.”

She said the entire process was a reflection on how our throwaway society needs to change.

“It’s become so easy to just throw things away instead of thinking about how to revalue, rethink and reuse beautiful old pieces that can then stay alive for generations to come.”

Winning the Praticás Sustentáveis do Loulé for Loulé Design Lab validates the work that the team has done, which includes projects like Infinity, and Joana says, they are committed to getting more people to respect nature and the environment.

“We learned how fulfilling it can be to give things another life rather than letting them end up in a landfill site. It’s good for us and especially for the planet.”

The Infinity Movement’s dream is to have the space and the finance to continue what they started with the original project.

“We have shown that it is possible to build a sustainable creative recycling economy,” says Joana. “It starts with small steps, and then hopefully it’s a lifelong journey.”

The seven Loulé Design Lab players are André Silva Sancho, Leni Farenzena, Gonçalo Gama, Gustavo Arguello and Carla Martins, Sandra Neto and Veronica Guerreiro, Marta Lourenço, Paulo Tomé.