Five Powell River people are gaining work experience in a pilot project that has environmental benefits.
Tanned, Wild and Woolly, a social enterprise, held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, June 26 at a site where discarded sheepskins are being recycled into usable products.
Pebble in the Pond applied for Job Creation Partnership funding after local sheep farmers discovered there was no longer a place for them to have their skins tanned. The society received $128,000 for the 42-week pilot that wraps up in January 2015. It is planning to turn the sheepskin business into a self-sustaining, non-profit social enterprise, which will create increased employment in the future.
In addition to standard sheepskins, Tanned, Wild and Woolly intends to make jogging shoe liners, bicycles and motorcycle seat covers, under-saddle horseback riding pads and bathmats, called baamats.
Don McRae, minister of social development and social innovation, attended the official ribbon cutting last week. He commended Pebble in the Pond for its funding application. “You are leaders and are showing other areas what can be done,” said the minister. “The program is under subscribed so I’m happy to see this enterprise take place.”
He also mentioned that when he was minister of agriculture that Powell River’s Sunshine Organics received the largest amount of funding for Buy BC program. Its owner Melissa Call is co-founder of Pebble in the Pond and was present for the opening.
“You obviously know how to get things done in Powell River,” McRae added.
Mayor Dave Formosa agreed with the minister’s assessment. “We’re a can do and do do community.” He commended Pebble in the Pond president Judi Tyabji Wilson for her vision driven by a desire to keep sheepskins out of landfills.
She told people attending the ribbon cutting that during her research, she found that about 3,000 hides a year were being disposed of on Vancouver Island alone.
Linda Wegner represented John Weston, MP for West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country at the opening. The federal government contributes funding to the program.
Pilot project participants will gain experience in waste reduction, small business management, marketing, sales, customer service, processing and transportation. Tyabji Wilson said she was thrilled to find “such an enthusiastic and talented group of people” to work with and said she expected the social enterprise to continue after the pilot ends.
Once the official ceremony was completed, tours of the site were offered. Hides are in various stages of production. Tannin tea is being created with wood chips. Then the skins are soaked in excess oak wine barrels donated to the pilot project by Jackson-Triggs Winery in the Okanagan.
“Tanned, Wild and Wooly’s goals are to divert waste, create jobs and make useful items,” Tyabji Wilson said, “and we’re well on our way to doing just that.”
