Teen has fight against plastic in the bag
A Knysna teenager has reducing plastic pollution in the bag – her own, handmade bags.
The 17-year-old Sahara Thagunna is the brain behind the recently launched campaign What the Bag? which aims to reduce the reliance on plastic shopping bags by providing an environmentally friendly alternative.
The youngster was a winner during the BioWise WasteNothing Knysna schools’ challenge with her idea of creating and distributing cloth shopping and produce bags.
She went on to make this idea a reality and on 10 May this year launched her campaign at Oaks on Main in Knysna.
“Globally we use 500-trillion plastic bags per year. Millions of us just grab these bags from the shelves or rolls in the supermarkets and don’t even think twice about it. I was tired of seeing the amount of plastic in people’s trolleys and I felt I needed to do something to create a change,” Sahara explained.
The What the Bag idea was then born to spread awareness and education, as well as to provide a reasonable and smart alternative to plastic bags. The youngster uses “waste” fabrics donated to her to sew cloth shopping and produce bags. “The produce bags are my favourite. They’re just like those little plastic bags that you weigh stuff in, except they’re stronger, don’t break and, best of all, they’re nature-friendly.”
She believes that making more “earth-savvy choices and living a more conscious lifestyle” should not be exclusive or trendy. “You shouldn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for a simple cloth bag, something that we use every day, whether it be for grocery shopping or carrying books, notebooks or any other items. And so that is why I choose to hand out the shopping and produce bags for free. It should be accessible and available to the whole of society.”
In return, however, Sahara asks recipients to “pay it forward”. “So tell one other person about the campaign and the message around plastic. Then they can come and get their free set of bags and continue to pass on the message and spread the awareness to create connected change within our community.”
Sahara said she has always been passionate about the planet and creating positive change in the ways in which people interact with nature.
“From a very early age, I used to dream about standing on the White Bridge on the way to Knysna and calling out on a megaphone to the whole town telling them to start changing their ways. And now at 17 years old, I am so happy to have launched my campaign, What the Bag? and to be sharing knowledge and awareness in my community.”
Find out more
For more information, contact Sahara at infowhatthebag@gmail.com or visit her website www.sourcesahara.wixsite.com/whatthebag.
Sahara Thagunna working hard on making cloth shopping bags. Photo: Supplied
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News