Here’s another project using old carpets (see our earlier post on a chair made of rolled-up carpet), this time handbags by Spanish initiative Maam Project, manufactured by prisoners.

The bags are die-cut from used exhibition carpets and assembled in prisons or at workshops for the mentally and physically disabled.

The following information is from Maam Project:

In Maam Project we specialize in designing and producing items from the review and recovery of industrial waste, contributing our part to the sustainability of our society and economy.

We collaborate with companies to build communications campaigns to position themselves as ecologically, socially and sustainability concerned.

MAAM aims creatives, manufacturers, communication agencies, institutions, museums and exhibitions that share values of respect for the environment and people interested in eco-innovative products for sectors such as promotional gift, packaging, office, jewelry and personal use objects.

We design and produce products for people who appreciate quality in design and sustainability of the planet. It is an ecological and social project as part of production takes place in prisons and / or occupational workshops for people with physical / mental difficulties. As waste cannot be generated at will our original productions are necessarily limited.

We realized that the current production model is unsustainable, we commit to the promotion of local economic and social ecology in a balanced way exploring new areas of creation, contributing to the protection of the environment (paper, inks, plastics, metals, glass …). We like to think our creations help to generate a change in habits of consumers and manufacturers by designing products that meet real consumer needs. It is not social or environmentally sustainable to produce in the other end of the world just because labour costs there do not have yet reached ours. The same product costs more work hours, we cannot guarantee the environmental control we demand for ourselves and we incur in much higher transportation costs and production quantities. Our projects and products have values that are not visible, so they must be explained either by communication campaigns, with explanatory labels or through the distribution channel. If we do not transmit these values to the final user, our project loses the power to demonstrate that our values are sustainable.

Xavier Majoral and Charles Amadó know each other from childhood; we went to the same school and later to the same university. Our international professional paths took us to meet again in late 2008 and a year later we embarked on a project to design and market products based on waste which brought us to launch Maam Project.

The first productions were supervised and even executed personally by us. From collecting the carpet from the fairs ground, clean it and prepare it for production to necessary transportation to the production centers (industrial, prison, final customer ) even some manipulations and final labeling, in order to ensure quality and delivery time. Quite an adventure.

Our bags, made from recovered carpet from exhibitions, were the image of the 080 Barcelona Fashion week in winter and summer 2010 editions.

The bags are made using a die, without additions or superfluous materials, which highlights the value of their design. The color range is multiple, varied and unique as they are limited pieces. They do not only are useful to bring the catalogs in the corridors of the fairs, but they can have many other utilities while are more durable and have less impact than plastic and paper bags that we are so used to.

Maam has already worked in a variety of projects from jewelry and office bags to bottles for wine sector. Today, having overcome these challenges enables us to provide our customers with the expert, pragmatic and pioneering vision that defines us.
team

The collaboration with other companies and organizations allows the sustainability of the project and makes it more flexible to the specific needs of each project.

• Centro de Iniciativas para la Reinserción (CIRE), Departamento de Justicia de la Generalidad de Cataluña
• Artesania Catalunya
• Fira de Girona, Fira de Cornellà
• El Tinter (printing)
• Mimcord (paper ropes and strings )