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When manufacturers made the switch from paper bread bags to plastic, many years ago, it came with plastic tags – while paper bags simply rolled closed, plastic does not.
Most of those little plastic tags end up in landfill, but there is an alternative that recycles the tags while helping fund a good cause.
A voluntary organisation Bread Tags for Wheelchairs started in Cape Town, South Africa in 2006 collecting plastic tags and selling them to a recycling company. The money is used to purchase basic wheelchairs for South Africans who cannot afford them. The recycler turns the tags into seedling trays and other items.
The scheme was introduced to New Zealand a year ago, and Julie Herbert of Dairy Flat was among the first to get involved.
Julie is raising her disabled grandson Ryan, which she says has shown her how hard it can be to get wheelchairs – one reason she decided to take part.
In a year, she estimates she has collected a couple of kilos of the tags – it takes 200kg to fund a single wheelchair, so the more people that get involved the better.
“Every little bit helps,” Julie says. “It is all stuff that is not going to landfill.”
Julie provides a collection point for the tags, her 10-year-old twin granddaughters sort them into colours, and when she has a large quantity, she drops them at a joinery shop on the North Shore. From there they go on to be stored in one of three NZ locations.
The NZ arm of Bread Tags for Wheelchairs is run by Kelly Vollenhoven. Initially the tags were sorted, then sent to South Africa, but Kelly made it her mission to find local recyclers, and a jewellery designer/manufacturer in Christchurch called ODF, Recycled Plastic Design is the first.
ODF turns the tags into earrings and 50 percent of the proceeds go to the Cape Town wheelchair charity.
Julie is happy for anyone to drop bags of bread tags into her blue and silver letterbox at 132 Top Road, Dairy Flat, or post them to her.
Red Beach School collecting tags
The six and seven-year-old students of Room 10 at Red Beach School recently began collecting bread tags for the wheelchairs in South Africa charity – there are several students from South Africa in Room 10. They are also collecting aluminium cans and wine bottle tops for the Kidney Kids of NZ to fund dialysis treatment. The students started collecting because they have joined an initiative called the Volunteer Student Army, which gets children involved in helping their community. “Your junk is our treasure and we are saving the environment,” is the catchcry. Anyone is welcome to drop off bread tags at Red Beach School reception, during school hours, labelled ‘bread tags for Room 10’. Pictured, from left, are Brady Smith and Mila White.
