Arts
It's Plastic-Free July! My guest today is Diti Kotecha, co-founder of the sustainable, vegan, eco-friendly plastic-upcycling initiative Thela, which she runs out of Athens, Greece. She is one of the few people in the world I know who REALLY walks their walk, standing firm in her values and beliefs without being rigid. Her company rescues discarded plastic bags, turns them into plastic yarn (or "plarn"), and uses traditional techniques like crocheting and weaving to make gorgeous, useful stuff like housewares, pouches, purses, jewelry and accessories. Not only does she significantly delay plastic from entering landfills, but her work also helps revive traditional handicrafts in the state of Gujarat in India, provides respectable employment to village women, waste collectors, skilled artisans, senior citizens, and prison inmates; saves cattle and other roaming animals from choking on waste plastic; and educates collaborators and consumers around the world on how to REALLY live a more sustainable life. I couldn't be more proud to count her as a friend, and have her as an ally for the planet. I hope you're inspired to make a change by this special episode of The Rayna Sense.