FL: Who is Carnicycle & what is your mission?
C: Carnicycle is a made up of a group of entrepreneurs who strive for social impact and environmental awareness. Our team is made up of individuals from Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Bermuda with varied backgrounds (engineering, culinary arts, biotechnology and crafting). Our mission is to bridge the gap between Carnival Culture (carnival, fetes, and other festivals) and sustainability through our recycling services, partnerships, eco-tips and shop.
FL: Tell us why having a sustainable Caribbean culture and carnival is so essential?
C: Caribbean culture and carnival has been an embodiment of our multicultural nation since its existence and for most it gives us a sense of identity. Making carnival sustainable not only preserves this, but is also essential on many levels because it alleviates problems that extend past Caribbean identity. For example, Climate change is an increasingly dangerous threat to human lives and there are direct consequences to us such as increasingly bad hurricanes and typhoons. We believe that we should take responsibility in reducing our negative contribution in anyway possible.
FL: What parts of the costumes can actually be recycled & are these costumes strictly female, or can male Masqueraders join your initiative also?
C: The entire costume can be recycled by both male and female masqueraders. This includes your head piece, and bra, to your wings, shorts (male) and arm and leg pieces.
FL: Walk us through the process of how a Masquerader can recycle their costume, what happens to the materials after, and how does it help the environment?
C: Masqueraders can look out for our collection sites which are announced leading up to Carnival. Collections sites can be found at strategic locations during the parade and at selected hotels.
Masqueraders can donate a portion of their costume (Head pieces, leg/arm pieces, wings, bras, shorts) at the designated collection sites. After the costumes are collected, the regular bras are donated to a bra recycling non-profit, Free the Girls, or local women shelters in the host country. The frames are donated to local designers and the feathers are cleaned and resold at a discounted rate as a way to sustain the recycling service. Carnival more so operates under a linear economy whereby raw materials are used to make the costumes after which they are usually discarded. Our initiative helps the environment because it:
Reduces waste that enters the landfill
Gives animal feathers a second life
Creates a circular carnival economy
FL: What are some tips the average person can do during and after the carnival season to be more eco-friendly?
C: It’s easy for masqueraders to do their part! It’s important for masqueraders to know that there are opportunities to have sustainable practices during the Carnival season, even when feteing. We encourage masqueraders to:
Think Reusable- This means bringing a cup or reusable straw (if the fete allows)
If there is no use for a costume
Recycle your costume- look for our collection sites (TBA) during and post carnival to donate your costume. This gives animal feathers a second life, promotes a circular carnival economy, diverts more waste away from landfills.
Stay tuned and Spread the word- Follow us on instagram or join our email list to find out how you can be more sustainable during carnival season and tell a friend!
FL: Are there any brands or products you can suggest that we can start using today for a better tomorrow?
C: Yes, there are many affordable alternative brands that can be used. We have recommended some eco-friendly Caribbean brands that we recently featured on our website:
Cedros Bay(Trinidad)
Caribbean Blue Naturals(St. Lucia)Iri
e Rock Yaad Spa(Jamaica
Earth Mother Botanicals (Barbados)
Be All Natural (BAN) (Grenada).
FL: What carnivals have you collected from? How did it go & what carnivals would you love to see Carnicycle at in the future?
C: We’ve collected costumes from Jamaica, Barbados, Miami and soon Trinidad and Tobago for carnival 2020. In total, we’ve collected nearly 100 costumes (88 to be exact) and over 1000 feathers. From these costumes, we’ve donated wire frames to designers in Jamaica like Exult Carnival, we donated the bras to jamaican non-profit, Acts of Grace. In Barbados, we donated to a woman’s shelter BPW Barbados. We would love to see Carnicycle be represented at other international carnivals such as London’s Notting Hill Carnival or Toronto’s Caribana. Also, we’d love to show our support at more recent Carnivals such Bahamas/Bermuda.
FL: What would mas bands need to do for Carnicycle to be offered to their masqueraders?
C: They just need to reach out to us! We would like to have many mas bands help us recycle as many costumes as possible. They have the most influence and voice to their masqueraders, so they are a vital part of the sustainability of carnival. In return, we support their designers by donating the wire frames and certain feathers for costume testing. We also try to offer their masqueraders some tangible incentive for donating their costumes.
FL: Lastly, what is in store for Carnicycle In 2020?
C:Carnicycle aims to grow our costume recycling efforts and combat carnival waste through innovation and strategic partnerships.
a. Innovation- Right now we are focusing on growing the scale at which we recycle. We have recycled at three carnivals this year, next year we plan on recycling at five different carnivals (Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Notting Hill, Miami). In the future, we want to implement more innovative ways to create costumes sustainably from design, using different materials and technology.
b. Strategic Partnerships- We definitely have to thank our partners for helping us execute our costume collections. In Jamaica we partnered with Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica, Barbados, (Sustainable Caribbean and Caribbean Collective) as well as Clean Heart Campaign for Miami carnival. These strategic partnerships are with like minded organisations that allow us to achieve a goal/mission that is bigger than ourselves.
Our partner for Trinidad Carnival is Siel Environmental, a for profit social enterprise based in T & T with a mission to transform the way people think and act towards waste. Costumes are considered to be waste post carnival so we look forward to working with Sian Cuffy-Young of Siel to continue to educate the population at large about another alternative than dumping old costumes.
