Pervasive Repurposing
As I explore Mumbai for examples of REculture I've seen over and over that the notion of repurpose is firmly embedded even in a supporting role. Tight profit margins drive workers to maximise resources that are at hand or cheaper to source than brand new ones.
A scrap merchant who strips electrical wire to recycle its plastic and copper content sits on a makeshift chair that uses a broken ironing board as it's back support.
A business that sorts and sells parts that have been salvaged from automobiles uses old rice sacks to package similar items together for dispatch. These sacks are purchased from grain traders and are much cheaper than buying fresh ones.
The earlier example from my post on Drum Recycling shows how fabric scraps, discarded from nearby clothing factories, are used to make a mop for cleaning inside drums.
