BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM
2025 Local Changemakers Series: Compassion-driven sustainability & care for the overlooked
Welcome to the first installment of The Optimist Daily’s Annual Local Changemakers series. Over the next five weeks, we are highlighting ten extraordinary individuals and organizations making waves in their communities through heart-led innovation. This week, our theme centers on compassion-driven initiatives. We are spotlighting changemakers who are showing the world what it means to pay real attention to what so many people overlook, whether that’s discarded plastic or the gray-muzzled companions too often left behind.
Join us as we head to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where a scrappy, joy-filled operation is transforming plastic waste into dignity, employment, and beauty.
Turning litter into livelihood: PeaceCYCLE’s impact
In Haiti, safe drinking water is often packaged in four-ounce plastic sachets sold for just a few cents. But with no national recycling infrastructure and limited waste management, millions of these pouches end up clogging streets, canals, and ecosystems every day. It’s estimated that 8 million are used and discarded daily.
That’s where PeaceCYCLE comes in.
Founded in 2014 by Amber Rose Heimann, PeaceCYCLE is a Port-au-Prince-based social enterprise that’s rewriting the story of waste. By collecting, cleaning, and creatively repurposing these ubiquitous plastic sachets into durable, eye-catching products like tote bags, lunch sacks, and pencil cases, the initiative doesn’t just tackle plastic pollution—it empowers people, especially those long overlooked by Haiti’s formal economy.
“The concept is that inserting employment creates a positive cycle (of peace), and eliminates the many negative cycles that plague the nation—illiteracy, gang involvement, environmental degradation, prostitution, malnutrition, poverty, and lack of hope,” explains Heimann.
The PeaceCYCLE process: a labor of love
Turning waste into beauty is no small feat. The process begins with collection: sachets are flattened and brought in by community members. From there, the bags are washed, sanitized, dried, sorted, and fused into sheets using either charcoal irons or solar power (about 40 percent of their ironing is solar-powered to date). These patchwork-style sheets are then cut and sewn by local artisans into eye-catching, functional designs.
Without access to consistent electricity, much of the sewing is done on treadle machines. This results in a zero-electricity, maximum-ingenuity operation that proves sustainability doesn’t have to be high-tech to be effective.
The impact is staggering: to date, PeaceCYCLE has upcycled more than 5 million bags and processes around 1,500 sachets every single day.
But the workshop isn’t just about production. It’s about joy.
Each week, staff gather not only to review progress but to play. From hula-hoop contests and Jenga showdowns to raucous rounds of Left-Center-Right, the PeaceCYCLE team reclaims something often lost in difficult environments: laughter.
“Although adults, our staff has never had the chance to be a child,” Heimann shares. “So we bring in games, laughter, and play to create not only opportunities for growth, but also resurrect a childhood joy that was never explored.”
Reimagining value
PeaceCYCLE is about more than just getting rid of plastic bags. It’s about restoring dignity, both to materials and to people.
“We strive to provide dignifying employment, promote eco-friendly practices, and encourage creativity in Haiti,” the team shares on social media. Each PeaceCYCLE product is handmade by Haitian staff, many of whom would otherwise struggle to find stable work in the country’s informal economy.
By turning a ubiquitous, throwaway item into something beautiful and long-lasting, PeaceCYCLE also invites a shift in mindset: from disposability to care, from waste to worth.
Of course, the true impact of PeaceCYCLE’s work is best captured by the artisans themselves:
“PeaceCYCLE transforms us and makes us valuable humans for society.”
— Pierre, sewer
“By working at PeaceCYCLE, I’ve learned to save money. I have never had a regular income I could depend on—this has changed my life. I’m sending my grandson to school, and I’m so proud of him. I never learned to read, but he’s six and can read already!”
— Yolene, manager
“When I first started sewing, I thought the plastic was too slippery and this was impossible. But with encouragement, I got better—and now I’m really proud of the products I make.”
— Rosianie, sewer
“Just as trash is discarded and seen as lacking value—but then transformed into something incredible—we strive to be the human side of that upcycling process.”
— Rose, founder
A global village of support
While small in scale, PeaceCYCLE has inspired supporters around the world. Their products are stocked in select stores, featured by socially conscious retailers, and shared by buyers who want a story behind what they carry.
The organization is still growing, with plenty of challenges. Each item takes time, care, and effort. In a recent post, the team wrote: “Cutting and washing the plastic bags keeps us busy. Each step of the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive.” But they continue, buoyed by a shared sense of purpose and a belief that beauty and impact are worth the effort.
Want to support PeaceCYCLE?
Visit their website to shop or donate: peacecycle.com
Follow on Instagram: @peacecycle
Learn more about their process: peacecycle.com/the-process
