"Upcycling leather" More and more classes are considering the SDGs.

On June 24, 2024, we carried out a special project to work on "upcycling leather products" with students from Suzaka City Higashi Junior High School. Tokunaga and Harayama from Groover Leather participated in this activity online from our workshop in Chikuma City and learned about how to recycle leather products together with the students.

We meet with the students a few days in advance and ask them to collect any leather products they no longer use.
Some of them are made of real leather, but some are made of synthetic leather (most of the school bags are made of synthetic leather). There are steps to making the products. Whether it's a school bag or a pair of shoes, you need to undo the stitching and make it easier to work on.
During the online meeting, we were shown the leather products they had collected on the screen and asked each other how they disassembled them to make the products.
The on-screen explanation was a bit tedious, but I managed to get through it.

The event took place during the first week of summer vacation, so we headed to junior high school in the morning.

They are junior high school students, and are a similar age to my children. While there are some who respond well, there are also many who are reluctant to open up.

This was the second time, and some of the kids who came to the first one joined us, so the number of participants was about double that of last year (^○^)

The items collected included school bags, bags, shoes, belts, etc., which was also double last year's amount!

To be honest, I felt that this was a lot, but the kids who had free time were called out to each other and the responsibilities were naturally decided, which led to increased efficiency.

We bring a hand clicker (a cutting machine) from the workshop and cut the pieces.

Once you get used to it, you will be able to cut out what you want to make with each part without us giving you any instructions (^○^)
The mold used for cutting is seen in the foreground of the photo.

The photo shows a triangular coin purse cut out, and the striped pattern is on the back of the school bag.

Synthetic leather is a vinyl-like material made from a gauze-like fabric finished with urethane paint.
To reuse it, we need the power of natural leather, so the photo shows glue being applied to pigskin toko leather (leather whose surface is used in the project and whose back is left over).
Attach this to the synthetic leather.

This is a photo of the coin purse being finished by attaching buttons.
This is the second time for the two of them, and they are doing the work with ease.

Once cutting was done, we focused on the finishing work! It was helpful that we had a large number of people this time.

I feel that satisfaction has increased as there are more unique pieces than last time.

Thank you to all the students who participated this year.
We would also like to thank the teachers at Suzaka Higashi Junior High School and all the people involved in organizing the event.

Leather products are originally a by-product made from the waste that humans eat.
I believe this will also be a welcome activity for leather craftsmen, who are the foundation of the SDGs.

We would like to continue engaging in economic activities that keep ethics in everyone's minds!