I’m Stewart. For fifty years I have made things out of what other people throw away.
It started in 1974 with leather offcuts. I had no capital, and the only material I could afford was the material nobody else wanted. The footwear industry was booming, and the bigger it ran, the more it threw away. We turned those offcuts into key rings, belts, handbags, toys and even lounge suites. We had so much fun, because there were so many different types, colors and finishes to turn into something beautiful.
Then came fifteen years of picture framing, built on the offcuts of the big frame makers. Then twenty-five years of reclaimed timber at Heart Eco, in Shongweni near Durban.
Somewhere along the way, necessity became conviction: if it works for leather, it should apply to everything. And to everyone.
World Without Waste is where I write about what fifty years have taught me. Heart Eco is where I live it.
Sponsored by Heart Eco · hearteco.co.za
