Summary

'Member when we raised money for the KaosPilots to come here and create an awesome business plan for the Upcycling Initiative Oaxaca (UIO)? Well, they did! And now we have been invited to submit a slightly modified version of that plan into The William James Sustainable Business Plan Competition to receive up to $10,000USD in funding and some excellent feedback on our plan from people who really know business! What a great opportunity to get UIO off the ground in Oaxaca, Mexico.

What is UIO?

The Upcycling Initiative Oaxaca (UIO) offers physical and virtual spaces for the elaboration and sale of upcycled goods (made from waste materials) crafted by local upcyclers and sold to tourists and “green” consumers for the social, environmental and economic benefit of Oaxacans. We aim to spread the practice of upcycling through workshops to catalyze a radical shift in perspective from seeing waste as an intractable problem to seeing it as our planet’s most abundant resource.

What We Need & What You Get

We have already passed the first round of the competition and have been invited to submit our business model to the William James Foundation. Fortunately, we already have a great model that just needs a bit of tweaking.

So, what's the catch? There is a one-time fee of $500 to enter the competition and we don't have the funds!

We are offering the perks of love, gratitude and upcycled goodies if you make a donation of $50 or $100. We just need 10 people in the whole world to make a donate $50 to the cause... or  5 people to donate $100. It'll make a great holiday gift!!!

If we don't reach our goal, I will have to go further into personal debt in order to submit the plan to the William James Foundation and that would be a real tragedy!

The Impact

This project, the Upcycling Initiative Oaxaca (UIO) is of great importance to me personally. It is really the first time that I have felt such clarity and passion about an initiative in my life. Help us get the business feedback we need to make this dream come true.

 

The Value Proposition of UIO

The value proposition offered by the service side of UIO is a beautiful, well-designed platform (physical and virtual) offering tools and skills not available elsewhere for the co-creation of innovative upcycled products, learning, and the advancement of the upcycling practice.

Our products will truly upcycled, high quality, unique accessories, housewares and furniture, fully traceable to their source, tell a story about the Oaxacan hands that made them and create value by providing meaningful livelihoods for everyone involved in their production and sale.

The business will generate clear and measurable environmental value by reducing the amount of waste that ends up in Oaxaca’s landfill (which was slated to be closed in 2010 but continues to be in use despite its dangerously overfull state). Finally, UIO offers an alternative to the problem-based approach. Instead, we create value by fomenting a new mindset about waste, which thereby fosters human creativity and cracks open all kinds of new possibilities.

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word wide and far about this campaign. Use the social media share tools (below): post to facebook, tweet up a storm, or post on your own website or blog.