Collect. Recycle. Manufacture.

One of the biggest global problems in the world is the increasing felling of forest areas, where the wood is used for paper production. Another important issue is the growing paper consumption and excessive consumerism. During the project all learners analyzed situations in their countries and shared their experiences with other participants from partner countries. Project participants learned to produce handmade paper out of collected waste-paper and taught other members of community to do the same. We encouraged the learners to look back to the past. Using our ancestors’ wisdom, we learned to produce ecological dyes extracted from herbs and ground pigments. Ecological dyes were used in the process of handmade paper making. Afterwards, the handmade paper pulp was used to make greeting cards, Christmas and Easter decorations, books tags, interior decorations, Shrovetide masks etc. Our handmade showpieces were exhibited and sold in exhibitions and fairs. Moreover, we not only encouraged people to re-use paper and taught how to bring it back to life, but also inspired to use the knowledge of our ancestors. The whole process of producing handmade paper and ecological dyes was filmed. From all this material we created two films which will are available for all educators to use in their future seminars and training sessions. We also prepared methodologies which included handmade paper and natural dyes techniques and an album with all the showpieces made by the project participants.