At the tender age of nine, Adejoke Lasisi commenced her journey into the art of weaving aso-oke, a traditional handwoven fabric of the Yoruba people in Nigeria, under the guidance of her mother. It took her a remarkable 15 years to master this craft, and upon leaving university, she found herself not only with a valuable source of income but also a means to forge new connections.
“I began weaving aso-oke textiles professionally while serving as a corps member in the NYSC (Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps). My clients were mostly couples preparing for their traditional wedding ceremonies. I later approached the NYSC empowerment programme with an offer to provide hand-weaving skills training for corps members at a discount,” she recalled.
During her mandatory year of national service, Lasisi seized the opportunity to train fellow corps members, laying the foundation for her entrepreneurial venture. In 2013, Jokelinks Weaving School emerged as a center for aso-oke weaving and training.
Adejoke Lasisi looking for waste in a compost pit to weave her fashion items. Photo: Adejoke Lasisi
Yet, Lasisi recognized a broader market for her products, prompting her to explore innovative approaches. Concerns about the fabric’s weight and style led her to design a loom that produced lighter aso-oke with appealing designs. For Lasisi, Jokelinks became a platform not only for cultural promotion but also for social impact and job creation.
Driven by a desire to effect positive change, Lasisi’s attention shifted to addressing the pervasive issue of poor waste disposal in communities. Witnessing the challenges faced by rural dwellers with limited resources, she founded Planet 3R in 2019, with 3R symbolizing the company’s objectives: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
“I kept noticing the issue of indiscriminate waste disposal and thought about what I could do for the community. Most people in the rural community live in tenements. None can afford to pay waste disposal companies or think of the best way to discard waste without causing environmental hazards,” she observed.
The onset of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 proved serendipitous for Lasisi. Faced with a halt in her aso-oke business due to decreased demand, she redirected her focus to Planet 3R. Collaborating with her team, they started crafting prototypes of plastic-textile products.
“We pick discarded pure water sachets from the roads and sort them into different colours. Then we wash them with disinfectant and let them air dry outside for three days and shred them into bits. The cutting department shreds about four hundred nylons in a day,” Lasisi shared.
A woman fully dressed in fashion items made by Plastic 3R from discarded plastic waste. Photo: Adejoke Lasisi
Through this process, Planet 3R transforms plastic waste into a unique textile that comprises 90% plastic and 10% cotton. The company produces a range of fashion items, including slippers, bags, table mats, backpacks, laptop bags, and shopping bags.
“Our backpack is 15,000 naira (US$32). The laptop bag costs 10,000 (US$22), while the shopping bag sells for 4,000 (US$8). Our baseline for shopping bags is 300 thousand naira monthly(US$650). But, I prefer bulk sales to one-offs because it’s stress-free,” Lasisi explained.
In a noteworthy achievement, over 70 thousand kilograms of plastic waste have been repurposed into textiles by Lasisi and her team. With more than twenty employees and a budget of $19,800, Planet 3R aims to expand its production to empower more young people to establish sustainable textile businesses.
“Going forward, we plan to turn this plastic into a damp-proof membrane. During one of our prototyping stages, we realized that water doesn’t penetrate through the fabric once we’ve done heat transfer on it. I realized that if we decide to make a damp-proof membrane, it will be a cheaper and more lasting solution for many that cannot afford to buy damp-proof membranes for their buildings. It will prevent houses from dampening,” said Lasisi.
In 2022, Planet 3R earned recognition as one of the six global participants in the British Council’s Global Making Matter Challenge.
Olumide Idowu, a climate activist and media consultant for the African Development Bank Group, lauds Lasisi’s initiative.
“She didn’t begin her journey thinking of climate change; she just saw something wrong and decided to fix it. By adding value to the environment, she subconsciously contributed to climate action. That is the aspect of her business that caught my attention. Climate change is about practical solutions that people can see, feel, and touch,” he remarked.
“If you want to support climate action by turning waste into wealth, adapting, mitigating, and creating job opportunities are some of the key factors. She is putting all of these into action, representing some of the most significant climate change answers. We need more young people to do that,” he concluded.
