Beirut, Lebanon
Jean Paul Fares
Jean Paul is a product designer. His main mission is to give a second life to plastic by integrating into everyday products.
Lebanon, previously known for its stunning beaches and clear blue waters, is now overrun by human waste. The terrible evidence of humanity's "plastic footprint" is everywhere along the coast; the Mediterranean Sea has been covered with garbage for years as part of Lebanon's long-running waste catastrophe. The government's and the judicial system's failure to implement precise environmental protection rules has resulted in mounds of waste being dumped on the Lebanese coast.
The garbage crisis has become one of the biggest problems in the ocean. In an effort to reuse plastic waste, product designer Jean Paul Fares has turned it into beautiful products that can be used and re-used.
Jean Paul joined forces with Recycle Beirut and beach cleanup groups around Lebanon to collect single-use plastic that can't be recycled. They did this because neither the government nor the people were doing anything about the growing garbage problem.
JP put his knowledge of industrial programming to use by running a machine that shreds hard plastic. This lets him put the tiny pieces back together by mixing them with concrete and putting them together into lanterns, pots, and table tops. He definitely doesn't believe the radical myth that plastics can only be used once and never again. Instead, he thinks that recovered and reprocessed hard wastes can be given a second life.
What began as a hobby is now a national project that many people are interested in. People buy his products online, and a few concept stores show his work.
JP hopes for a better future, one in which we stop plastic trash from ending up in the ocean. He thinks it's a great step toward paying attention to the plastic crisis that's threatening the sea and using the crisis to help make products that are useful for people.
Jean Paul Fares, a creative producer on a creative mission to transform and recycle plastic
