1 minute read
Nothing goes to waste!
John Singano, local upholsterer in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay, is the talent behind covering footstools being repurposed from old VHS video tapes as part of the Re.Bag. Re.UseTM initiative.
While the The Re.Bag.Re.UseTM team crochets beautiful multifunctional items from the waste magnetic tape, they also go a step further to use the entire VHS tape by finding a way to use the empty video cassettes as well. VHS and cassette tapes are in most cases non-recyclable or not accepted by recyclers, therefore repurposing this material is the next best sustainable option.
More products are being added
“It’s such a thrill to make something so beautiful out of ‘nothing’,” adds le Roux.
Re.Bag.Re.Use is an initiative that was born in Hout Bay. It started off as a hobby during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The flagship product is a multifunctional bag, crocheted and repurposed from empty bread bags. As the project is growing and building momentum, additional products are being added to the product range.
Avoiding landfill - 2 waste streams
“For quite some time I have been worrying about all the empty VHS video cassettes that were generated,” shares the organisation's founder, Regine le Roux. “The main reason being, it's one of those difficult plastics that can't be recycled and will potentially end up in landfill. Hence, footstools are one of the solutions that we have come up with to repurpose these empty cassettes” she adds.
“When Regine first asked me for a quote to upholster the footstools made from VHS cassettes I was so excited,” says Singano.
“Instead of throwing something away, we can turn it into something that people can love. As an upholsterer, we are often left with a lot of material offcuts that are too small for other projects and the material gets thrown away. But now we can use these offcuts to cover the VHS footstools. Nothing goes to waste!”