Ana Maria Penagos
Audencia Business School
Camilla Quental
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“Yo Me Reh-Uso” was created in response to the ever-growing demand of consumerism and its harmful by-products, waste and rubbish. When the founder, Diana Avellaneda, became aware of this problem, she designed and created a social development project to help reduce the consumption of resources as well as reduce the waste produced. Diana’s company employs women, mostly unemployed mothers who come from difficult social backgrounds, in the hopes of making a difference in their lives and helping them receive employment, which would otherwise be difficult in the place they live. Social inequality is still a main concern for Colombians because not only does it exist, but in recent years it has been rising, causing a larger rift between social classes.
“Yo Me Reh-Uso” seeks to comply with 4 of the 17 sustainable development goals proposed by the United Nations. These goals are: gender equality (5), reduced inequalities (10), sustainable cities and communities (11), and responsible consumption and production (12).
First of all, we believe that “Yo Me Reh-Uso” helps gender equality and reduces inequalities because the company offers decent work to women, which provides them with a steady income, which in return creates a more sustainable economy and benefits societies. Providing women with jobs also empowers them to make their own decisions, whether in the workforce or in the privacy of their own homes. It gives women more independence and decreases discrimination against them. Also, being a small company, they are inclined to hire people from the community that surrounds them. This helps reduce inequalities in developing countries, such as Colombia, with the aim to include people from marginalized societies as well as reduce poverty in these same excluded areas of the country.
Furthermore, “Yo Me Reh-Uso” helps aim for a better quality of life for those around them and for the society they live in. They are helping to make a big impact on reducing future economic, environmental and social costs in Colombia. This coincides with goal 11, ensuring sustainable cities and communities, where the aim is to help a society grow and thrive while improving resource use and reducing pollution.
Finally, the company we have chosen has its main aim of impact in goal 12, responsible consumption and production. This goal is the core belief of “Yo Me Reh-Uso.” By collecting unwanted products and giving them a new use, it allows for improving resource use and reducing waste. It aims to help build a more sustainable city for their society to live in. Even though this UN aim is mainly related to urban planning and sustainable living, we believe it to be related to our business of choice for the larger picture of what responsible consumption and production means. Not only is it about our household waste like electricity consumption or water usage, it also has to do with our wasting of material goods. Our company is helping reduce this household waste output in a different aspect of the meaning.
“Yo Me Reh-Uso” is a small, profitable company that is a good example of a company that looks to better the society it lives in. It is not only seeking to make a profit, but also provides jobs to women in need, reutilizing products that are considered waste and reducing garbage in general. Also, it is trying to increase social awareness about waste to help people become conscious consumers instead of being unconscious consumers and wasting uncontrollably. “Yo Me Reh-Uso” uses social media as its main channel to connect with people to transmit its message. All in all, we strongly believe that this company helps make a difference in Colombia and maybe in the long-term, the world.
The company's market revenue is based on the amount of products they sell on the market. Their output costs are low considering they collect or are donated the materials they work with. They are only concerned with paying wages and general costs of production of their products.
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Diana Avellaneda, Yo Me Reh-Uso: Social & Environmental Entrepreneurship
