Heidi – “ Naomi heard about Boomerang Bags and introduced it to a school group. She wanted to start the Lismore branch so here we are. We are underneath a big umbrella group which was started by two ladies on the Gold Coast. They started small and it has grown exponentially. Boomerang Bags are now everywhere. We have chapters starting overseas as well, Arizona to Scotland. There are now over 500 groups. People are sick of seeing plastic bags littered everywhere. More and more people are becoming aware of single use plastic.
The reason it was called Boomerang Bags is because you could use your bag at a shop and when you were finished with it you could take it back to the shop for someone else to use. It’s morphed a little bit and each group does what works for their community, their number of volunteers and the types of fabric they are being donated. What works for us here in Lismore with our numbers is instead of having them boomerang back to the shop, people are given them for free. It comes with a strong message of please reuse it. In that respect we don’t have to manage them coming back, washing, etc. People just take them, share them, reuse them. We can then concentrate on sewing and trying to pump them out. They are time consuming to make as we are focussed on quality and durability so they last.
Each bag replaces about 700 plastic bags. We’ve just gone over 1,000 bags so we have literally replaced over 700,000 plastic bags. We have businesses in town who ask if we can continuously provide them with bags but we can’t. We are out there to make it visible so that businesses can provide some form other than plastic to their customers. We are hoping to be a catalyst in that but we can’t physically provide enough bags for the whole town. We have some volunteers who come work day after workday and are really committed to pumping them out.
You don’t have to be able to sew. Everyone here shares their skills. My first few workshops I just did the ironing. We have people on board like Cheryl who taught production sewing. Coralie is very crafty and we were just seeing her amazing crosstitch, Jan is a quilter. To make it work fast we have a waiting list of feature businesses. Whatever we can make that month go to that shop. We share the venue. If only we could make thousands and thousands. The good thing about this is it’s very constructive and positive. You are doing something that changes behaviours. It’s not just me taking my bags, we are causing that ripple effect.
We have a list of about 30 volunteers and we have 3 work days a month. Some can only come once a month, some every 3 months. It just depends. We normally have 6 – 12 turn up. Everyone who comes and does a day sewing gets a bag of their choice to take home. We’ve had great support from Lismore Council. They have provided this wonderful venue so we have air-con and kitchen facilities. People still bring their own machines along but we have a core of group machines here now. People have donated lots of fabric to us. We are still taking fabric donations but we do need sewers. You don’t need to be able to sew. Guys are welcome too. We’ve had a couple of men volunteer and they did some great work. I couldn’t use an overlocker when I joined but I can confidently use one now. There’s a lot of different jobs and we have snacks and a chat. Someone donated some old mesh curtains and we will make some veggie bags out of those. Sometimes environmental problems seem overwhelming but this is something where you feel like you are contributing. The more volunteers we can get, the more bags we can make and the more they are out there.
Not one bit of fabric goes in the bin, not a thread. We keep every single scrap and we fill Ottomans we are making. They are solid as rocks by the time we finish them. Sometimes we are given stained fabric so that goes in rather than waste it. We aren’t sure what we will do with them yet, maybe an auction or the markets.
Cheryl – This bag here was originally a 70 year old tent. These little bits were the fly ties. A guy called Geoff Walker gave it to us. He’s 92. I really struggled to cut the tent. We gave his kids some of the bags. When I found out how old he was I thought I better hurry to sew these bags but he’ll probably out live me. The story about the tent is on our Facebook page.
We also donated 40 bags to the Food Bank. We are keeping them free but some other communities sell them. We use everything, lounge covers, doona covers, tablecloths, everything. Some of the fabrics are amazing and it’s the love of giving things another life. I think so far we have made 15 bags from that tent which sat unused in a cupboard for so many years. Now it is used and loved every day.”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/380779788951733/?
The reason it was called Boomerang Bags is because you could use your bag at a shop and when you were finished with it you could take it back to the shop for someone else to use. It’s morphed a little bit and each group does what works for their community, their number of volunteers and the types of fabric they are being donated. What works for us here in Lismore with our numbers is instead of having them boomerang back to the shop, people are given them for free. It comes with a strong message of please reuse it. In that respect we don’t have to manage them coming back, washing, etc. People just take them, share them, reuse them. We can then concentrate on sewing and trying to pump them out. They are time consuming to make as we are focussed on quality and durability so they last.
Each bag replaces about 700 plastic bags. We’ve just gone over 1,000 bags so we have literally replaced over 700,000 plastic bags. We have businesses in town who ask if we can continuously provide them with bags but we can’t. We are out there to make it visible so that businesses can provide some form other than plastic to their customers. We are hoping to be a catalyst in that but we can’t physically provide enough bags for the whole town. We have some volunteers who come work day after workday and are really committed to pumping them out.
You don’t have to be able to sew. Everyone here shares their skills. My first few workshops I just did the ironing. We have people on board like Cheryl who taught production sewing. Coralie is very crafty and we were just seeing her amazing crosstitch, Jan is a quilter. To make it work fast we have a waiting list of feature businesses. Whatever we can make that month go to that shop. We share the venue. If only we could make thousands and thousands. The good thing about this is it’s very constructive and positive. You are doing something that changes behaviours. It’s not just me taking my bags, we are causing that ripple effect.
We have a list of about 30 volunteers and we have 3 work days a month. Some can only come once a month, some every 3 months. It just depends. We normally have 6 – 12 turn up. Everyone who comes and does a day sewing gets a bag of their choice to take home. We’ve had great support from Lismore Council. They have provided this wonderful venue so we have air-con and kitchen facilities. People still bring their own machines along but we have a core of group machines here now. People have donated lots of fabric to us. We are still taking fabric donations but we do need sewers. You don’t need to be able to sew. Guys are welcome too. We’ve had a couple of men volunteer and they did some great work. I couldn’t use an overlocker when I joined but I can confidently use one now. There’s a lot of different jobs and we have snacks and a chat. Someone donated some old mesh curtains and we will make some veggie bags out of those. Sometimes environmental problems seem overwhelming but this is something where you feel like you are contributing. The more volunteers we can get, the more bags we can make and the more they are out there.
Not one bit of fabric goes in the bin, not a thread. We keep every single scrap and we fill Ottomans we are making. They are solid as rocks by the time we finish them. Sometimes we are given stained fabric so that goes in rather than waste it. We aren’t sure what we will do with them yet, maybe an auction or the markets.
Cheryl – This bag here was originally a 70 year old tent. These little bits were the fly ties. A guy called Geoff Walker gave it to us. He’s 92. I really struggled to cut the tent. We gave his kids some of the bags. When I found out how old he was I thought I better hurry to sew these bags but he’ll probably out live me. The story about the tent is on our Facebook page.
We also donated 40 bags to the Food Bank. We are keeping them free but some other communities sell them. We use everything, lounge covers, doona covers, tablecloths, everything. Some of the fabrics are amazing and it’s the love of giving things another life. I think so far we have made 15 bags from that tent which sat unused in a cupboard for so many years. Now it is used and loved every day.”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/380779788951733/?