Act: Inspiration

How Make Something Week Brought together Thousands of Makers around the Globe

January 16, 2018

GreenpeaceFashion Revolution, and Shareable joined forces last December to inspire people around the globe to join the maker movement. The inaugural #MakeSmthngWeek campaign, which ran from Dec. 2-10, featured more than 185 events in 32 countries across six continents.

The goal of this campaign was to reduce wasteful consumption over the holiday season and encourage people to make or repurpose what they need. Workshops like a toy sharing and repairing workshop in Aveiro, Portugal, an upcycling event in Hannover, Germany, and a gift making workshop in Helsinki, Finland, encouraged the over 10,000 participants to create new things from old items, repair broken goods, and learn new skills through do-it-yourself projects. All events were free and hosted by volunteers.

Make Something Week event in Beijing, China. Photo by Wendi Wu/Greenpeace

“Whether in Rome, London, Berlin, Nairobi, Miami, Auckland or Mexico City: the amazing makers on our events demonstrated hands-on, that with some creativity, knowledge and skills, you can truly make this world your own — rather than just buying into a prefabricated and wasteful reality only others profit from,” says Chiara Campione, global project leader at Greenpeace Italy.

Many participants got creative with their interpretation of Make Something Week. Some created sharing corners at the event locations, where people swapped books, toys, and clothes. The campaign also generated great conversations around the #makesmthngweek hashtag. Hundreds of influencers and campaign volunteers created a vibrant online community by sharing their experiences.

While Make Something Week for 2017 is over, the movement continues to grow. To stay up to date with the campaign, show off your maker skills, and keep in touch with other makers, follow @makesmthng on Instagram and continue to use the #makesmthng hashtag on Twitter.

Header image of #Makesmthng week event courtesy of Greenpeace

 

This article is cross posted with permission from Shareable.net.

Courtney Pankrat

Courtney Pankrat is a freelance writer and founder of the website: Roaming in Plain Sight. Courtney’s expertise is in sustainability, communications, travel and food writing. Publications include Sustainable Brands, Shareable, Civil Eats, Triple Pundit, and Edible Silicon Valley. Courtney is currently traveling around the U.S., writing her travel blog and telling stories of the people she meets along the way.

Tags: maker culture, new economy, sharing economy