Type of structure: Inclusion organisation

Transcription

1 Friperie Solidaire France Type of structure: Inclusion organisation The Potogreen initiative: microgardens are hung from parking bollards to make the urban environment greener. Number of people: 27 employees on inclusion contracts and three permanent members of staff. Year the group was founded: 2002 Leader(s): Lydia Feghloul Environmental issues contact person(s): Nobody at the present time. Group activities: Collection, sorting and selling, clothes production and customisation. Year when the group started its environmental practices: 2011 with the potogreen project Environmental initiative leader in the group s day-to-day life: A collective undertaking CONTEXT Building structure: - Number of buildings: three sites (two shops / selling premises and a sorting workshop). - Floor space: 300m² in Alfortville, 400m² in Maisons Alfort and 110m² in Paris. - Number of residents: an average of 33 people on inclusion contracts over the course of the year. Volunteers: six board members and three volunteers helping with the production and sorting work. Seven interns in Building layout: A sorting and storage workshop, which is also used for customisation. - Two shops: for selling and collection and the place where recently arrived items are sorted. Means of transport used by the group: a truck and a car. Insulation (double glazing, roof insulation etc): on the sorting workshop, roof insulation. Type of heating (electric, wood-burning boiler etc): Gas boiler (radiant heaters) and electric heating. Type of fuel: Gas Rents all the sites. Specific town / region / country context: The Ile de France Region has stated that it wants to set up 30 recycling and waste reuse facilities. The environment is a topical issue at regional level. For example, funding applications require the group s environmental practices to be listed and emphasized. Specifically, the Friperie (meaning secondhand clothes store) is faced with a waste disposal problem, as the waste reception centres are located in the part of the urban area that is home to only one of 1

2 our three sites. As a result, the allocated waste disposal tonnage is not conducive to the development of the group s business (due to the group having premises in three different areas). Group-specific context The Friperie Solidaire has an agreement to send 3m³ of waste to the waste reception centre for free every week. The group must deal with 55 tonnes of waste a year. Paying the waste reception centre to process the waste would have a big impact on the group s financial situation. THE EMMAUS MOVEMENT: A WELL-ESTABLISHED STAKEHOLDER IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL SECTOR DUE TO ITS ACTIVITIES The Friperie Solidaire is a professional and social inclusion organisation aimed at people in difficulty and uses its workshop to achieve its aims. Its business is based on collecting, sorting and selling secondhand clothes. The business is split into two divisions: - A social division works on social and professional inclusion and has the following objectives: in-house selling, sorting and collection training, getting back into contact with the business world, mapping out a career plan, addressing the various issues preventing someone from getting a job, and supporting scheme leavers. - The economic division runs the secondhand clothing collection, recycling and selling business, enabling people in difficulty to be employed. It offers 17 posts of which 13 are in production and four in sales to enable people to get back to work in a supportive environment. Clothing donations provide the Friperie with its raw materials and sales in the association s shop are its main source of income. The Friperie Solidaire has also participated in the development of the Co-Pain socially-responsible grocery store project created in Collection / sorting / recycling WEEE are collected and sent to the community in Charenton which has a dedicated recycling process and a partnership with Ecosystème. The following diagram illustrates the Friperie socially responsible recycling chain. 2

3 Textiles that are not suitable for sale but are useable are sent every week to Emmaus processing platforms (Relais and the Plateforme du Lien to produce métisse, cleaning cloths, and other products). This is unrecyclable waste. If your group collects / recycles / resells unwanted goods: - Goods are collected from people s homes and people drop them off at our premises. In addition, the group also has a container in front of the Maisons Alfort sorting workshop (people can drop off unwanted goods seven days a week). - Types of materials and items collected: clothing (men s, women s and children s clothing), household linen, shoes, leather goods, books, CDs, DVDs, video cassettes, vinyl, toys, crockery and ornaments. - Quantity collected each month: 34 tonnes. - Secondhand stores opening hours: Alfortville shop: Tuesday to Friday from 10am pm and from pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 6.30pm. Paris shop: Mondays pm and Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 7.30pm General public environmental awareness raising work: - Public events: Recovering tent material from the services community in Ivry. The workshop cuts them using a pattern and sews them to produce pots (using the tent material as a covering). The container is made from recycled milk cartons. On 5 June 2011, a project aiming to make the 2 nd arrondissement of Paris greener was launched with the involvement of local residents who are managing and growing the plants, while pledging to leave them in public spaces. The micro-gardens are placed in small fabric pockets made out of tent material. Four pockets are put together and tied to the neck of the parking bollard. These potogreen, as they are known, are the result of a social and educational initiative. 3

4 - Open days: The Friperie runs two open days a year to enable the public to discover its work and the collection, sorting and recycling process. - Publication of a brochure: Yes - Leaflets available for clients, donors and partners. Flyers are produced for special events and are handed out in markets and shops and delivered to people s homes. - Articles in the media: 4

5 - Go to: and Political lobbying via a network, petitions etc: The Friperie takes part in the campaign days organised by the Emmaus Movement. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PRACTICES CHAMPIONED ON A DAILY BASIS AND THAT CONTRIBUTE TO OUR IDEAL OF COMMUNITY LIVING. Waste Waste sorting: glass, plastic, paper, metal, ink cartridges, medicines. Practical example at a team meeting: outdoor waste sorting workshop. The community does not use plastic bottles. Reusing waste (art and making bags etc) Recycled waste: tunics for women made out of men s shirts in 2010 and on an occasional basis. + Cuts the water bill. Employee awareness raised. Premises have been laid out so as to separate waste sorting. Facilitates waste disposal. Knock-on effect on donors and customers. Collective awareness raised, albeit on a small scale. Food Transport + Fair Trade players involved when the shops run big sales. Truck journeys are optimised. Rationalisation of delivery and collection rounds. Collections are grouped together. Use a GPS (enabling the journey to be optimised and cutting petrol costs). Cuts costs. Saves time. 5

6 Energy Purchase of consumables Energy audit with GDF in Need to heat the sorting section of the workshop. The existing three-year-old system needed to be changed. In the end, the group did not opt for this solution and work was carried out to extend the existing cables. The radiant heaters were donated by the owner. Reuse stationery. Leaflets made from recycled paper. Reduces waste to some extent and saves money. Multi-socket outlets with off switches were also installed. In terms of safety, the fact that we switch everything off and don t pointlessly use power (not leaving devices on standby). Improves employee wellbeing and comfort. GROUP ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS RAISING Employees on inclusion contracts are aware of the environment, even if it does not seem immediately relevant to them. Daily steps to save water, energy and materials are taken more on financial rather than environmental grounds. The group really became aware following the visit of Léa, the Emmaus Europe intern, in La Friperie realised that they could take awareness raising further with everyday practices. NETWORKS AND PARTNERSHIPS For social work, the group works with Val de Marne Council, the Employment hub and the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Work. For economic issues, the Friperie works with the France Active network and Emmaus France, among others. For environmental issues, the Friperie is involved in the PREDMA (regional plan to reduce waste). It participates along with all the Emmaus groups in the Paris Region. 6

7 DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS AND PLANNED ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES For your environmental activities We stopped providing plastic bags, as this raises the awareness of our customers, in June Plan to develop substitute fabric bags. Plan to develop a partnership with the local council to raise awareness about the types of donations that the Friperie needs (including the installation of containers). SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE (Interviews with Lydia and Virginia, March 2010 and June 2011) What would you like to share with the other groups? Think about everyday steps, have multi-socket outlets and sort waste. Small steps that are just as important as big initiatives. What have been the benefits of these environmental practices / activities for your group? Work with human beings is at the heart of environmental issues. The environment is a driving force that is giving our business and our team a fresh boost. The employees are involved without having any special expertise in this area. The environment is a stimulating and meaningful issue for inclusion scheme employees as part of the process of taking ownership of the work. It has enabled the Friperie to raise its media profile and to obtain support from donors and customers who are aware about the environment and consuming differently. Do you think that Emmaus has an environmental role to play? Emmaus is already playing a role in this area due to its work with wood, WEEE and textiles (Le Relais). We now need to convey the environmental message outside the Movement and stress the fact that Emmaus does not simply collect waste. Do you think that Emmaus has a role to play in galvanising society about this issue? (Lobbying) It plays a role via its work. Maybe the message, or at least the external message, is unclear. We are a well-established organisation but we need to highlight the Movement s innovative actions. Emmaus encapsulates the multi-dimensional nature of the environment. What common basis would you define for the Movement for environmental issues? Bring together all the Movement s component parts, which at the same time incorporate the groups. A common basis cannot be defined individually by each group. Either we stick with the existing situation, or we do this as a Movement. 7