Page 39 - Fiji Traveller Issue 1
P. 39
creative consultant to national tourism organisations in Marshall conversation happening. The tourists have the vehicle to really
Islands, Nauru and Federated States of Micronesia, teaching actively participate in sustainable products [and], by buying from
community members to make jewellery and artefacts from PET the women, they are putting cash directly into the pocket of the
plastic bottles. community,” said Marlow.
Locally, one of the most meaningful projects has been working “It enhances the guest experience, empowers the women’s
with the Solomon Islands Community at Wailoku. “We conducted livelihoods and the community at large because it’s a flow-on
training to create seedling raisers from waste plastic and effect, and the hotel gets to mitigate its waste streams all in one
introduced composting techniques to bolster interest in organic simple program,” he added.
farming. At the same time, we conducted jewellery classes from Marlow thinks there is room for the tourism industry to do
waste plastic bottles for the mothers,” Marlow said. much better in terms of supporting local artists and craftspeople.
“It was in partnership with the British Council and Save the “You know, I cut my teeth professionally in large quantities
Children Fund. It was the first training where tools and materials for hotel developments in Fiji, because I thought it was really
were gifted to the participants, so it was very meaningful for all important that Fiji tourism have Fiji artefacts as part of the
concerned,” he added. cultural package. I think it’s a terrible blow to the quality of the
He has projects in Koro Island in the pipeline and wants to visit guest experience that when they get to Fiji, saving for years and
other parts of Fiji to share his creative talent. spending thousands of dollars, and when they get here, their
Working with plastic began at the suggestion of his mother, rooms are decked out in Indonesian artwork,” Marlow continued.
who had watched him using a soldering iron to carve styrofoam. “I mean, don’t come up to us three months before your hotel
“She was sitting there one day and was wondering what I was is opening and say we need 800 pieces of artwork, because
going to do with all the plastic bottles and a pair of scissors. Then we can’t deliver. But if we are brought into the process early
she asked me about the machine I used to carve styrofoam, so on… we could be creating the artwork while the hotel is being
we brought it and started testing it. My brother came up with the constructed,” Marlow explains.
original range of plastic wear and it proved to be really popular,” He says given enough time, resources and respect, artists can
Marlow continued. get the job done.
Warwick said his brother, Craig, moved on other artwork, but “There’s got to be a meaningful space where everyone can
he continued in the medium. come together, Fiji Tourism, as the self-appointed arbiters of our
national image, you know they should be in the conversation,
Art and tourism the hotel developers, Fiji Arts Council, and wherever possible,
Marlow says living in Suva has meant he has been able to we should be sourcing these artworks from native materials from
survive as an artist due to expatriate clients, “looking to take local landowning units,” he said.
something back home”. Now truly a mentor to craftspeople and artists, Marlow’s
He says the challenge for young people is to find new advice to young people following in his path: “Originality is key;
economic niches and income streams. being able to come up with fresh ideas that are relevant to the
The trash to cash idea can very well be a solution for an issues of the times.
industry that generates a lot of waste. “The large-scale hotels “Young people [also] need to be mindful that respect is
in Fiji are producing a massive scale of waste, especially in the everything in this world, and if you want to be heard, you need to
forms of wine bottles and water bottles. Luckily, we have ways be prepared to listen. A teacher who has forgotten how to learn
to mitigate that. is no use to anyone. Be positive and make your life count for
“At the moment, I’m in talks with a major hotel operator to something meaningful in the lives of others.”
set up a system where the trash streams are made available
to the land-owning units, and they turn those into sustainable Look out for jewellery and objects made from plastic bottles by
products.” women taught by Warwick at smaller resorts around Fiji.
He continues: “This is a way to get the environmental
39