For new readers, here is a little about G-lish and the basket/bag/mat/pot producing process.

Most Ghanaians do not have access to clean drinking water other than in “pure water” plastic sachets. As such, water sachet rubbish is a massive problem in Ghana. Millions of sachets are discarded daily and end up polluting rivers and soil since there are virtually no rubbish collection services.

G-lish turned problem into opportunity with recycled baskets when they married the urgent need for income generation in rural communities with the skills of traditional Bolga basket weavers and a need to re-use waste plastic sachets and scrap cloth.

Each product uses 250-300 pure water plastic bags, and about 1/2 kg of scrap fabric. One basket takes 5 full days to produce and is made by the hands of at least 5 different producers—a truly community effort:

1 person cuts the waste plastic water bags into strips,
1 person twists the plastic water bags into twine,
1 person cuts the scrap cloth, another person twists the scrap cloth into twine.

The final step: a skilled basket maker weaves the plastic and cloth twine using traditional basket making techniques for which Bolga, in Ghana, is world-famous.

We are especially proud of G-lish who won an award sponsored by the UNEP and SEED Init in 2010 for its unique, creative and sustainable processes.

As of February 2012, G-lish has consumed over 120,000 pure water plastic bags in production.