By Sanne Sevig | Director
By Sanne Sevig | Founder
Dear friends,
People often ask us what makes the Siargao Recycling Art Studio successful.
The answer is simple: it isn’t just our machines.
It is the growing network of families, businesses, volunteers, local government units, schools, and partner organisations who all play a part in giving plastic waste a second life.
Every recycled product we create begins with someone choosing not to throw their plastic away.
Growing a Community of Partners
Over the past few months, we have continued strengthening the network that makes our work possible.
Plastic now reaches the studio from local households, beach clean-ups, Eco Siargao, resorts, surfboard manufacturers, and our partners in General Luna. We were also grateful to welcome visitors from Agusan LGU, our SunCrew scholars, Nature Kids volunteers, and many tourists who came not only to learn but also to contribute.
One of the most heartwarming moments has been seeing visitors arrive carrying bags of plastic they collected from beaches around Siargao. Many simply wanted to help and donated the materials without expecting anything in return.
Together, these small actions create a much bigger impact.
Our Swap Program Keeps Growing
Our Recycle & Swap program continues to encourage families to clean and separate their plastic before bringing it to the studio.
During this reporting period of 3 months, local households exchanged more than 358 kilograms of plastic waste through the program.
The most popular rewards continue to be our refillable household products, especially dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent. As the new school year began, we also added school supplies to our swap corner, helping parents exchange plastic waste for notebooks, pencils, and other essentials that many families must otherwise purchase themselves.
It is a simple idea, but one that continues changing habits while supporting households at the same time.
Building with Recycled Plastic
Our recycled plastic is now becoming a permanent part of our community.
Since our last update, the studio has produced 645 eco hollow blocks, helping us continue construction around our Kids Club, customer sites and community structures.
Together with recycled plastic lumber, some materials are now being used to build a durable perimeter fence surrounding both the Kids Club and our Washing Program livelihood project.
We are also constructing a compost toilet and expanding our organic learning garden, where children grow vegetables while learning about sustainability and healthy food.
For us, recycling is about much more than making products. It is about creating places where children and families can thrive.
A New Milestone for the Studio
One of the biggest improvements this quarter has happened behind the scenes.
Thanks to yours and Action Against Hungers Philippines combined support, we have installed new water drums, washing facilities, and drying areas that now allow us to properly wash, dry, and process selected plastic waste before recycling.
This may not be the most visible upgrade, but it is one of the most important.
It improves the quality of our materials, increases efficiency, and allows us to accept types of plastic that previously could not be processed.
Every improvement like this helps us keep more waste out of Siargao’s environment.
Looking Ahead
Our vision continues to grow.
We hope to create even more products from recycled materials, expand production of eco hollow blocks and plastic lumber, and welcome even more households into our recycling network.
Most importantly, we want every person who visits the studio to leave believing that plastic waste is not something without value—it is simply a resource waiting for a second chance.
Thank You
The Siargao Recycling Art Studio is far more than a workshop.
It is a community effort powered by people who believe that small actions, repeated every day, can create lasting change.
Thank you for being one of those people.
Together, we are proving that a cleaner future for Siargao is possible.
With gratitude,
Sanne Sevig
Founder, Nature Kids of Siargao
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
