Teen Climate Activist Creates 'Trashion' Shows From Garbage To Send A Message
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A 15-year-old eco-warrior is making a splash in Lagos with her "Trashion Show," where models strut down the catwalk wearing outfits made by items we would normally throw in the garbage.
Esohe Ozigbo and other environmental activists collect discarded items like plastic bottles and shopping bags to create the outfits. They stage their shows in shopping malls, mixing fashion with advocacy in a bid to spread a green message.
"The Trashion Show means a lot to me," she tells Reuters. "I have been doing it for years and it is like a way of showcasing to everyone what we can do with the trash we so carelessly discard, and I really think it is like us making a statement and showing that we care about the environment and you should, too."
Plastic waste and litter is almost everywhere in Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa's most populous country, Nigeria. With more than 20 million people, the mega-city generates 10,000 metric tons of waste every day.
Ozigbo and her group participate in community clean-ups, recently wading through a mass of plastic pollution that blocked a waterway. Their mission is supported by Greenfingers Wildlife Initative, a not-for-profit conservation group founded by Chinedu Mogbo.
"Together we went out, we picked up the plastics, we cleaned the environment," he says. "But rather than just taking everything maybe to a dumping site or so, we felt we get creative with it, so we decided to spruce things up and start the 'Trashion Show.'"
Ozigbo, who cites Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg as her inspiration, says she hopes the group's efforts will make people think about how their own actions impact the environment.
"We are the generation who are going to be leading in a few years, and like the older people at the end of the day they will end up leaving this earth and we will be the ones left with it, so we need to start now because in a few years it is going to be too late to do anything," she says.
