Mohammad Alhajji began recycling unused materials as a hobby when he was young. This hobby grew into a passion for upcycling discarded items into useful or artistic objects. Alhajji continued pursuing this interest during and after his university studies, where he learned more about recycling practices from abroad. He now runs Zawayed, a social enterprise that teaches communities in Jordan how to reuse and reinvent traditional objects through upcycling workshops.

1. COMMUNITY
One Man’s Trash is Go’s Annisa Rochadiat checked out
anOTher’s Treasure
Images by: Motaz Abu Hamdeh
creative Zawayed, who are reinventing
traditional objects through upcycling
W
hen Mohammad Alhajji
pursued a hobby of
recycling unused
materials to build new things with
on his free time, he didn’t expect
it to be an enlightening experience
that would eventually become
a fixture in the ever-growing
environmental conservation scene
in the Kingdom. Growing up in the
early 90s, while other boys were
fascinated by pastime activities
like sports and video games,
Mohammad had a passion for
creating useful and artistic objects
out of discarded items he would
find and collect from rubbish bins.
As he grew up, the NYIT Jordan
alumni continued to be captivated
by the sight of objects morphing
into something new; of rejects being
given a new lease on life, through
his own handiwork spawning from
ideas churned out of his head.
Before he knew it, his bedroom,
which doubled as a makeshift
workshop, had turned into a
junkyard and he became known
EDTOKNOW
NE Simply in the family as the “go-to guy”
touch base with whenever anyone needed to dispose
Mohammad Alhajji via of anything recyclable.
www.zawayed.net, send “During my university years,
him an email at info@
zawayed.net, or tweet him I started learning and researching
@MohammadAlhajji about recycling, as the concept and
to learn more about practice was still new at that time,”
joining!
says Mohammad, adding that most
of the literature he read was written
by foreigners. Working as an
internal auditor for an international
company, his frequent business
trips abroad were learning curves
of knowledge and inspiration that
would not only alter the way he
looked at waste management, but
Eco Art for SAlE! also the infinite possibilities that
If you’re fan of green design and green products created out of refuse and
knowledge thereof had to offer for
interior décor, you’ll be happy to know that a communities. What initially had
collection of Zawayed art pieces are currently started off as a pastime — recycling
refuse into artwork, a concept
being exhibited (and available for purchase!) known as upcycling — became a
at Café Des Artistes, rainbow St., Jabal Amman. community-building mission and
72 | OCT. 2011