What happened last week

Two weeks ago, we received a call from a brilliant fabric supplier of ours. They have been very nice and kept a lot of leftover fabrics for us in their warehouse. However, as Hong Kong has one of the highest rent in the world, they were forced to give up the warehouse. This results to tonnes of perfectly fine fabric being at risk of being discarded. Being a eco-friendly brand that aims to reduce waste, we went into crisis mode and tried to find a place where we can accommodate and digest these fabrics.

This is the sheer volume of fabric being discarded from a small warehouse in Hong Kong

We struggled for about 5 days straight, walked all around the industrial areas in Hong Kong and reached out to everyone we know who might be able to help. We were desperate, despaired, wondering how we were supposed to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world when land is so scarce. Isn't it ironic that when we want to reduce waste production with waste material, we struggle to find the resources to digest existing waste material in the first place?

Fortunately, the Secretary for Environment of HKSAR Government Mr. Wong Kam Sing, GBS, JP, reached out after seeing our distress post on Facebook. His assistant Michelle helped us secure a spot at Kwun Tong Community Green Station, with the help of CFSC 基督教家庭服務中心, for temporary storage of the fabric, so that these precious resources would not go straight to the landfill and would be given a second chance!

With the location sorted, all we had to worry about was the transportation process. There was enough fabric to fill up a 16-ton truck.

The discarded/saved fabric filled the truck up to the top!

With the help of 4 amazing volunteers , including Rachel from Water For Free (They are an organisation fighting for a very meaningful cause, check them out if you don't know them already!), and the Community Green Station, we managed to put all the fabric into the warehouse in 8 full hours. It may not seem like much, but they are packed to the last bit and they have to be organised in a way that there's no chance of collapsing, because the weight could actually kill someone!

All sorted and placed!

We are very happy that the fabrics are saved and can be utilised efficiently in the end. This is a step fighting towards circular economy. The amount of materials we saved, and the amount of waste these materials can further save, could surely make a difference in Hong Kong and the world. Stay put for more updates about how we will use these fabrics, or give us your suggestions in how we can use them effectively!