Filipino dressmaker designs gowns from waste materials

Nora Buenviaje works as a seamstress in the Philippines. She has been making dresses out of waste materials for the past seven years.

She says wearing clothes made from such items as recycled newspapers, plastic wrapping and rice sacks can save money and look fashionable.

Using a foot-operated sewing machine, Nora stitches and weaves plastic and other materials into inventive and stylish gowns. They are sometimes completed by headdresses.

"The bubble wrap from delivery packages are nice-looking and make for a good design, especially the black and white wrap," she explains. White bubble wrap is good for making fairy or wedding gowns, she says.

The dresses sell for between HK$230 and HK$390. They are worn for everything from debuts (a coming-of-age party for a woman's 18th birthday) to weddings.

Rivers of plastic

In Asia, there is plenty of waste material for Nora to work with. About four-fifths of the world's ocean plastic is thought to flow into the sea from Asian rivers. The Philippines alone counts for a third of that sea plastic, according to a report written by Oxford University last year. All this plastic is becoming a big problem for the environment.

"It's important to recycle or utilise used materials so we can help our Earth," says Lalaine Alcalde, who has bought dresses from Nora.

Gowns win awards

The recycled material used for each dress will depend on what her clients are looking for, says Nora, who lives in the town of Cainta, about 15km east of Manila.

Her gowns are sometimes worn in beauty contests and pageants. "I get delighted whenever they win," she says. "The designs are simple, but they still win."

Many fashion shows and competitions were stopped during the pandemic, but Nora hopes they will resume soon.

She wants to organise fashion events to showcase her unique clothes made from recycled materials. Maybe it will remind people that we should reduce the amount of plastic we use. Or maybe it will inspire other people to create clothing in this way too.

Fun facts

Old plastic bottles can be recycled into new plastic bottles, but it doesn't stop there. Recycled plastic can be used to make phone cases, playground equipment, rugs - and clothes!

Quick questions

1. What kinds of waste materials does Nora recycle?
2. What does the story say about rivers in Asia?
3. What equipment does Nora use in her work?