They're bright, reusable and help keep unwanted fabric out of landfill.
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The iconic boomerang bags hit the Slow Food Earth Market in The Levee this month to celebrate Plastic Free July and encourage shoppers to help find another life for unwanted fabrics.
Quilt covers, fabric scraps, curtains, unwanted stashes - it's all being transformed into trendy shopping bags by skilled volunteers who are committed to sustainability.
The Boomerang Bags Boomerang Park group, based in Raymond Terrace, sold about 80 bags at both of the July earth markets.
"We sold the bags and we were doing newspaper bin liners and we had newspaper seedling pots as well, and cutlery and produce bags," group coordinator Jo Gamer said.
"From the two markets all of the money we made from the bags this month will go to Slow Food Hunter Valley.
"A lot of people already knew about the bags and were happy to support us knowing that the $5 they paid was going to help Slow Food Hunter Valley.
Top tips to make an impact this Plastic Free July:
- Make an appointment with yourself - maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour - to look at your plastic use in the house. Start with a bin audit and then brainstorm ways to swap that item for a plastic-free alternative.
- Get the whole family involved, especially the kids. After all, they are our future.
- Research a plastic-free alternative for the items you identify. Be creative and have fun with it.
- Look to others for inspiration - there are plenty of blogs and information to help you succeed.
- Write down the changes you want to make this month and put the list somewhere you will see it everyday, like on the fridge. Remember, start small so you don't become overwhelmed.
"A lot of people who go to the earth market are already aware of plastic free and things like that but it was still worthwhile being involved."
Slow Food Earth Market Maitland chairwoman Amorelle Dempster invited the group to participate and said if offered something different to the market's usual sustainability message.
"We always tell people to bring their bags to the market but most of what we talk about is around reducing food waste and using vegetables in multiple ways so nothing is wasted," Ms Dempster said.
"The Maitland Boomerang Bags group is going to come to the market in November and December, and we are looking forward to having them in the lead up to Christmas."
Ms Gamer said the community-driven initiative always attracted generous donations.
"We get thread donated to us, we've had sewing machines and over lockers donated to us. It's amazing how generous people are when they find out what we're doing," she said.
"We give away two bags for every bag that we sell. With the money from the bags that we sell we have to buy a few things, like the label that says our name, and we had to buy a screen for screen printing to do the pockets we put on them, but otherwise the rest of the money we put back into the community."
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Belinda-Jane Davis
Passionate about community news
Passionate about community news
