Do you ever think about your garbage once it’s been thrown away? Lizl Naude does, because everyday waste is what eventually pulled her out of the dumps.

When a business deal went awry, Naude lost everything – her house, car, and most of her possessions. With two children to feed and no way to support them, she had to come up with a sustainable solution. She decided to start at the end — using her creative streak to give new life to items that had seemingly run their course.

“I looked to my environment and saw the possibilities,” Naude says. Realizing that people often discarded functional materials, the self-taught designer began turning trash into products she could sell through something she calls ‘hip-cycling’. “You see waste, I see a possible lamp,” Naude says. In 2016, she founded Lilly Loompa. Her company manufactures a range of homeware, from elegant table accessories to stylish glass platters – all handcrafted from scrap. “An item’s second life can be more significant than the first,” Naude says.

With the increasing demand for more sustainable products, Lilly Loompa is growing. Not only can Naude now provide for herself and family, but she has hope for a bright, fruitful future. “Just as I give these pieces a second chance, this business gave me a second chance,” she says. All of our lives are capable of being crafted into something better than it was before – it’s just up to us to recognize, shape, and renew our potential.

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It’s unimaginable that a 14,000 pound animal would fear a tiny insect, but elephants are scared of bees. Ronnie Makukule is using this simple fact to conserve vulnerable vegetation and protect crops. Elephants have the capacity to completely wipe out thickets of trees by eating or trampling them. Efforts to deter them – thorny hedges, deep trenches, or fighting back with rocks, spears, firecrackers and guns – have not only failed, but in some cases resulted in the loss of life of both humans and elephants. In the midst of what appears to be a lose-lose situation, Makukule manages the world’s largest land mammals with fences made from bee hives.

The revolutionary method harnesses the natural animosity between the two creatures. When bees are aggravated by elephants, they target their vulnerable spots – their trunks and eyes. The elephants have since learned to stay away. Working in bee husbandry, Makukule’s fences provide a more humane method of control. It also allows him to explore his interest in conservation, which has been growing since he was a child. After Makukule was awarded a scholarship to study environmental education and nature conservation at the Southern African Wildlife College, he then ran environmental awareness programs at schools for the Timbavati Foundation. In 2016, Makukule joined Elephants Alive, using his ability to identify individual elephants and collect DNA samples to become a valuable researcher on the team. However, it’s his work as head of the Bee Project that has made the most significant impact.

Human aggression towards elephants has contributed to their already dwindling numbers caused by poachers. Beehive fences are a peaceful means of alleviating the conflict between humans and elephants, without causing harm to either. The bees also pollinate plants and add to the biodiversity of the area. Unlike electric fences, the initial cost of beehive fences is soon counteracted by the income from honey production. It’s an ingenious method and proof that nature has the best solutions. With a little creative thinking, something small can make a huge difference in conservation and wildlife management.

Beautiful News is reframing our world, one film at a time, every day at 4:14pm.

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