Old uniforms turn into bags and pet clothes and give income to vulnerable women

A social work and income project created by the Municipality of Indaiatuba, in the interior of São Paulo, in 2006, was the beginning of an action to change the lives of women who today transform used work uniforms into a source of income.

One of the programs is Costurando Caminhos, developed by the concessionaire Rodovias do Tietê in partnership with the Uni Arte cooperative. The objective is to minimize environmental impacts: uniforms that would be discarded are transformed into other articles and become a source of income for 22 women who work at the cooperative.

“The objective of the cooperative is to generate work and income for women who do not work in the formal market for several reasons: due to age, by choice, to take care of family members, not having the time that the formal market needs”, says Judite Fernanda. Simionato, 56, coordinator of Uni Arte.

“Here, we meet the demands of the house and the woman, and also complement it with productivity. Within the cooperative there is no minimum workload and there is freedom in the amount of production.”

Elizabeth das Graças Torresilhas e Sousa, 66, is one of Uni Arte’s cooperative members. She has been on the team for 12 years. After losing her husband in the pandemic, she says that work has brought more than financial support.

“Work helps me a lot to feel useful, valued, because I’m doing something. It does me a lot of good,” says Elizabeth, who has a 12-year-old daughter.

For Judite, the environmental issue is also of fundamental importance in the project. “The uniform doesn’t go to the trash. We transform that material into a product that the person will use for a few more years, it’s not just a small deviation. This is the conscience and the responsibility that we and the companies have.”

Of the 22 Unia Arte cooperative members, 15 work daily at the site. Some work from home. “There’s no division, we do whatever comes up. Of course, there are those with more practice in a certain part, but take what comes up”, says Elizabeth.

The cooperative originated from a project to generate work and income between the City of Indaiatuba and Instituto General Motors, which lasted four years. After the end, the participants moved to the Cooper Art Camp Cooperativa de Produção dos Artesãos e Artistas Plásticos de Campinas, with a branch in Indaiatuba. As of 2018, it became Uni Arte, with no connection with the city hall.

Work with uniforms began to be developed through the ReTornar project, a program of the Toyota do Brasil Foundation, as of 2012. “We did not know this possible field, this demand from companies. With Toyota’s need to change uniforms, they gave us this opportunity, we developed products and worked with them until today”, says Judite.

Through the work, an e-commerce was created for the sale of bags, backpacks, fanny packs, wallets, key chains, pet clothes, among others. Since the beginning of the program, seven tons of waste have been reused, which resulted in the production of 81,000 gifts, according to the foundation.

According to the coordinator of the cooperative, there were five customers in 2020, and today there are 26. One of the new ones is Rodovias Tietê, one of the concessionaires of São Paulo roads, which started the partnership in May this year.

The program was presented to the concessionaire by Denis Marucci, coordinator of QHSE (Quality, Safety, Environment and Health) at Rodovias Tietê. He had participated in the action at the automaker.

“There was this concern of discarding uniforms correctly, but with a view to the social and sustainable side”, says Marucci. “We started to reuse our used uniforms and transform them into gifts for the employee.”

Disposal occurs due to wear of the uniforms, if it is torn or if it no longer fits. According to the company, there is a variation of approximately three months for the exchange, as it is used every day. When the old uniform is delivered to the company, it is separated and sent to the cooperative.

“We deliver the new and reuse the old, using the tools of the three R’s: reuse, recycle and reduce”, says the coordinator.

The cooperative receives the material, produces the gifts and resells it to the concessionaire, which distributes it to the employees. They are bottle holders, garbage bags for cars, notebook covers, among others. Leftovers are reused for stuffing pillows.

“This idea of ​​reusing has a great value. It is easy to dispense, pay the landfill fee or incinerate. But looking for someone, finding a cooperative that does this work is not so simple. But it worked and we are doing well”, says Marucci .