On 26 August 2022, Lizl Naude of Lilly Loompa Upcycled Homeware was announced as the winner of the Stellenbosch Network #ideasforchange Challenge.
Cape Town Designer, Lizl Naude from Paarl, is known far and wide for her quirky, upcycled décor items. But more than that, she is known for her purposeful and environmentally consciousness approach to design. In 2020, during the pandemic, she launched her “My Africa Lap Desk” – made with discarded, waste material.
Compared to Europe and some first-world countries, South Africa is lagging in terms of seeing the value of recycling and upcycling. Over the last 5 years, Lilly Loompa Upcycled Homeware has been changing this narrative by producing high-quality products made with discarded waste material and introducing it to the market.
“We collect all our material from neighbouring wine farms, construction sites, industrial kitchens and waste dump sites. It then goes through a process of cleaning and restoration, and finally, it is transformed into a beautiful and usable product to use in your home,” says Lizl.
“My family and I lost all our material possessions a few times between 2006-2016. This caused immense financial suffering and setback. During this desperate time, I prayed for a solution and I clearly understood that the way out for my family, and others, was ‘Waste’. Lilly Loompa (Pty) Ltd has been trading since 2018 and currently employ three people and out source teams.”
Lizl’s vision is to pioneer the way to a cleaner South Africa through innovative upcycling. Her goal is to lessen the amount of waste to landfill by designing and manufacturing desirable and usable homeware products that people can purchase on their online store.
“Through our enterprise, we want to raise awareness on what can be done with waste material. There is value found in waste and opportunities available for the communities of Stellenbosch and Paarl through collecting waste, and earning an income.”
“We want to work with scientists and engineers from University of Stellenbosch and CSIR and look at harvesting and creating new kind of materials from current waste streams. We believe there is value in waste that is overlooked, and with more research and innovation, it can be a much-needed commodity,” Lizl concludes.
Eco-friendly, handcrafted and 100% South African, each Lilly Loompa piece, once trash, is now a meaningful piece of treasure.
