Fair Trade Recycled Paper Beads from Uganda

Supporting local Ugandan artists, these paper beads are made from 100% upcycled or recycled paper. Perfect for your necklaces, bracelets, or other crafting projects. Multiple sizes, shapes and colors.

There are about 200 beads in each bag. It depends on how many large beads are in the assortment. Each bead is from 1mm wide to 10mm wide and sometimes wider. The hole is about 1mm.

Our wonderful PAPER BEADS from UGANDA come from Project Have Hope, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that seeks to empower women in the Acholi Quarter of Uganda by providing education to both the women and their children and assisting the women to establish business opportunities to promote economic stability and sustainability. They are a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

The women use a variety of paper to make the beads. They purchase reject paper from a local printing press in Kampala and also use scrap paper from outdated calendars or political ads, for example. Despite appearances, the beads are not dyed or painted. Paper is rolled into beads, and the color of each bead simply comes from the paper used to make it. Once the paper is rolled into a bead, it is dipped in a clear varnish to give it sheen, hardness, and durability. It takes about a day to make a necklace.