尝翱狈顿翱狈听鈥听Furloughed from her job and confined to London by coronavirus lockdowns, Flora听Blathwayt听founded a business based on rubbish she retrieves from the muddy banks of the River Thames.听
Just over a year after she was struck by the colorful pieces of plastic she collected as part of a river clean-up, the 34-year-old makes and sells thousands of greetings cards decorated with them each week.听
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When she moved to Peckham in south-east London, she sent a batch of plastic-decorated cards to nearby residents offering help if they were shielding from听coronavirus disease 2019.听
鈥淭hey were all the first washed-up cards,鈥澨齭he said.听鈥淪ome of my听neighbors were like听鈥榯hese are amazing, you should start selling these,鈥欌澨齭he told Reuters.听
She now works on the cards alongside a part-time job for a company selling packaging made from seaweed which she joined after being furloughed by, and then made redundant from, a business that makes sauces from unwanted fruit and vegetables.听
A geography graduate, she had no formal art training but enjoys being outside and finding new potential in old buttons or plastic straws while cleaning the river bank for a local environmental charity.听
She now produces around 4,000 cards a week, she said, and sees her success as part of a wider movement.听
鈥淚 think the way forward will be people making things and starting businesses which don’t have so much impact on the environment, whether it鈥檚 reusing something, whether it鈥檚 upcycling something, whether it鈥檚 making something from waste. I think that鈥檚 the way forward,鈥澨齭he said.听
鈥淪o听I hope people are going to do more and more听鈥听and they are. I鈥檓 by no means the first.鈥澨鈥听Will Russell/Reuters听
