Talk about climate change and the biggest affected cities in Asia, Jakarta is one of the top cities that have the worst air quality, water quality and issues concerning waste and garbage.
There is so much of an issue of garbage in the Capital of Indonesia that the people that live in landfills are concerned about of all things avalanches killing them because the landfills are so enormous.
According to a Treehugger article in 2009, the World Wildlife Federation reported that Jakarta was one of the top three cities in Asia that have been seriously affected by climate change, overpopulation and risk of flooding. The article added that:
The Indonesian capital fares slightly better than Dhaka, and is under much less stress from increasing storms (though sea level rise and flooding risks are still high). However, it is much more subject to socio-economic stresses due to climate change — a huge portion of the nation’s GDP is generated in Jakarta and it has a large population. In terms of adaptive capacity, things are slightly better than Dhaka, Jakarta scoring 7 out of 10 (in this case high scores indicated worse performance).
That is why the company A Lot To Say out of California is working with Jakarta to make umbrellas out of the landfill trash in Jakarta. A Lot To Say owners Alison and Jennifer Stanich recently told me that Every umbrella is scavenged from the trash that litters the sidewalks, waterways, and landfills of Jakarta.
Ok, so each piece of trash IS sanitized and then hand sewn into amazing items like these umbrellas as shown below. After looking at these umbrellas I noticed they are extremely durable. According to Jennifer Stanich, “What makes the textiles look new is what makes them potentially devastating to the environment: They never break down.”
Frankly, one of the things I like about these umbrellas are that the people in Jakarta can create a commodity from the garbage. The price per kilo is the SAME as paid for rice. This makes searching for trash and making umbrellas equivalent to farming or agricultural workers. This has a significant and profound effect on these peoples lives! So when you purchase one of these products, each purchase fights poverty by giving back work, hope and a real future of the people of Jakarta.
Also, according to A Lot To Say, when you purchase an umbrella, a percentage of the proceeds goes back to the City of Jakarta to provide clean water to families who live in the slums.
To get one of their authentic, individually sown, hand-made umbrellas go to the A Lot To Say website.
They are offering up a 25% discount on their umbrellas and will still donate monies to combat poverty in Jakarta. So buy it and add the JAK25 coupon code so you get hooked up by the Green Living Guy!!
