Environmentalists in Nigeria Have ‘Trashion’ Shows With Clothes Made of Garbage

One person’s trash is another’s treasure, right? Well, for some young creatives in Lagos, Nigeria, the answer is yes. The environmentalists have begun taking trash and turning it into fashion. The end result is called “trashion.”

15-year-old Esohe Ozigbo is one of the trashion designers. The budding eco-couturist talks about the movement, saying, “The Trashion Show means a lot to me, I have been doing it for years, and it is like a way of showcasing to everyone what we can do with the trash we so carelessly discard.”

Esohe is part of a conservation group called Green Fingers Garden. The group works to pick up garbage and recycle some of it into surprisingly attractive styles. Afterward, they stage their awareness-raising trashion shows at shopping malls. 

In Lagos, Esohe and her other fellow trashionistas have a lot of material to work with. The city has a population of 20 million, and about 10,000 metric tons of waste is generated every day.

And although the medium is uncommon, the message behind it is undeniable. “I really think it is like us making a statement and showing that we care about the environment, and you should too,” Ozigbo says. “We are just teenagers, but we are trying to like make a change in the world."

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