Eight months after starting the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative, the project of repurposing empty bread bags into crocheted shopping and beach bags is still going strong!
An empty bread bag might only be a piece of rubbish to most, but for a group of ladies in Hout Bay, Cape Town it is providing an additional income to put bread on the table.
There are currently eleven ladies on the team; eight crocheters and three ladies who cut the plastic.
Crocheter, Jane Hoffman (photo above), is raising her grandchildren and is incredibly proud of her granddaughter who has just passed matric. “The extra money that I make from Re.Bag.Re.Use is really a blessing since I can buy bread, milk and even electricity. I’ve also been able to buy data for my granddaughter so that she is now able to apply to nursing colleges so that she can further her education.
“Furthering her education and becoming independent is very important,” adds Jane.
Rookshana Davids, Jane’s granddaughter, says, “I am incredibly grateful for my grandmother’s support and all of her sacrifices she has made to get me through matric. My grandmother is always going the extra mile for me, for which I am very thankful. She has been able to make ends meet with the money that she makes from crocheting and her pension.
“I am excited to further my studies. I am motivated to better my life and also find a way to help support my grandmother and younger siblings,” shares Rookshana proudly.
“Your empty bread bag might just be able to put bread on the table for someone,” share Regine le Roux founder of the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative. For every Re.Bag.Re.Use product that gets sold, a portion goes to the ladies that cut the plastic, the crocheter as well as a local charity. You are also making sure that the plastic does not land up in landfill or our oceans.
The bags are works of art, “It is very exciting to see how the different patterns and colours of the empty bread bags become beautiful bags,” shares Jane.
How you can support the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative:
1. Save your empty bread bags and donate them to the Re.Bag.Re.Use team (our team are eager and ready to get them cut up and repurposed into shopping bags);
2. Buy a shopping or beach bag
3. BackABuddy to raise funds, Regine le Roux is running 100 x 10kms this year. If you would like to sponsor a kilometre, please visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/re-bag-re-use the funds raised will be used to pay more cutters, more crocheters as well as a percentage will go directly to the Neighbourhood Old Age Home (NOAH) and Sungardens Hospice.
For more information please visit our Instagram page: www.instagram.com/re.bag.re.use/
WhatsApp: 083 302 1528
Email: rebagreuse@reputationmatters.co.za
