A brand new piece of design is hitting the streets of Montréal in the present day, although it seems nothing just like the shiny model launches we’re used to seeing. As a substitute, The Dignity Bag arrives with the very sensible mission of giving security and a way of legitimacy to town’s binners, the employees who gather cans and bottles that might in any other case find yourself in landfill.
In Canada, they’re referred to as binners or valoristes. In Brazil, catadores. And in Mexico, pepenadores. Regardless of the identify, nearly each main metropolis depends on this invisible workforce.
They get well discarded containers utilizing no matter they will discover, from procuring carts to bicycle baskets. It is powerful work, largely unacknowledged, even if “each container that binners gather will get recycled”. In Quebec alone, round 1.5 million refundable containers nonetheless find yourself in landfill day by day.
Recognising that hole between the significance of the work and the dearth of public visibility, No Fastened Handle partnered with Coop Les Valoristes to design The Dignity Bag, which is the primary software particularly created for this group. It is a easy object with an unusually weighty function. Constructed from a single piece of business tarp, it options reflective parts, security straps, a straightforward drawstring opening and room for 240 cans, matching the capability of the usual plastic baggage used at many depots.
The bag was co-created with working binners and formed by their day-to-day realities. As a substitute of designing from a distance, the workforce embedded with them, strolling routes, testing prototypes and refining particulars to match actual use. Their hands-on method knowledgeable all the pieces from its development to the daring kind printed throughout the again, which will be tailored for various cities to create a “workforce” identification for collectors worldwide.
Marica Vazquez Tagliero, co-director at Les Valoristes, explains: “Binners are the unsung heroes of recycling in communities world wide, and this mission cannot solely change how binners work but additionally result in actual change when it comes to how they’re seen.
“When individuals begin separating refundables for his or her native binner, we’ll realize it was all price it!”
The launch is backed by donated media and a brief movie directed by Thomas Soto of Les Enfants. Soto spent every week embedded with the group to make sure the story felt sincere and respectful.
The movie centres on Alexandre, a Montréal binner who additionally suggested on the bag’s design, giving viewers a glimpse into the bodily and emotional realities of the work. Images for the marketing campaign was shot by Gabrielle Lacasse of Shoot Studio.
No Fastened Handle provides that the mission is each private and political. Inventive director Jean-Philippe Dugal says: “This was a really private mission for me, as I do know working binners and it is an extremely powerful job.
“The Dignity Bag not solely helps them work extra effectively and extra safely, however it additionally offers them the visibility – and the dignity – that they deserve. Our aim is easy: to make sure that this software is absolutely funded, making it out there to binners in communities throughout Canada.”
Though the initiative begins in Montréal, the intention is worldwide. The design is open, replicable and intentionally inexpensive, making it appropriate for municipalities and grassroots organisations alike. Early curiosity suggests the thought may journey shortly.
The workforce emphasises that it takes a giant bag to make a giant change, and whereas the item itself is simple, its message is unmistakable: the individuals who maintain our recycling methods transferring should be seen. Anybody interested by adopting the bag in their very own metropolis can study extra at TheDignityBag.com.
