Since single-use plastic bags were banned in Aotearoa, the dreaded phenomenon of forgotten shopping bags has snuck its way into weekly grocery shopping routines.
First-year students in catered halls don’t need to do large grocery shops, but a quick trip for snacks and other essentials can end with a game of Tetris—students juggling everything on the way home. Independent-living residents cook for themselves, and shop far more often.
The Sustainability Office has been working with halls of residence to see how they might support sustainable initiatives in the halls. One of their recent ideas was to start a ‘boomerang bag’ system—so they reached out to VUW Crafters, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s staff craft group. The call-out came soon after their staff crafting day in April—which saw staff use their volunteer leave day to create peggy squares for blankets and reuseable bags for charity.
“When we made them, the bags were destined for Crafting Threads of Aroha, who had supplied the materials,” says Micky Vale, founding member of VUW crafters and database manager for the Deaf Studies Research Unit. “We discussed this with them, and they agreed we should divert the bags to this closer-to-home initiative.”
Crafting Threads of Aroha keep old materials out of landfill and give handmade clothes, toys, bags, and other crafted goods to charities in the Wellington region.
The bags created that day quickly became part of a broader effort, with volunteer sewers continuing work through May, creating bags for halls of residence.
“We had a keen pool of sewers ready to spring into action, using their own fabric stashes, as well as material and patterns donated by Crafting Threads of Aroha.”
Around 30 bags have been created by volunteer sewers, and alongside other bags donated to the sustainability office for this drive, the reusable bags are now on display on the ground floors and common spaces of halls, available for residents to borrow and return after use.
“The sewing volunteers have really enjoyed getting stuck into this project and they have produced some stunning bags,” says Micky.
“It has been awesome to see the bags being put to good use, and the students making the most of this great initiative,” says Zay Tiuka, deputy head of hall at Cumberland House.
While the reusable bags now support students directly, the peggy squares from the volunteer day will continue to their original destination.
Staff volunteers left their volunteer day armed with wool and needles, and their knitted contributions are still flooding in, with complete squares being assembled into blankets. Once complete, Crafting Threads of Aroha distribute the blankets to a range of local charities, including Women’s Refuge, and the Nest Collective.
The group has been running since 2018 after a Yammer discussion revealed the University’s staff community had a surprising number of avid crafters. Since then, members have met weekly at lunchtime to knit, crochet, and sew, and run an annual craft fair around Christmas shopping time.
The initial crafting day in April arose from an existing connection that Micky had with Crafting Threads of Aroha.
“I started wondering if there was a way to use our staff volunteer leave in this way,” she says. “I hadn’t used mine in previous years because most projects required a team signup and were either quite physical or outdoors.”
“The group already brings together people from different parts of the University—a day of coming together to craft all while benefitting a charity at the same time just made sense.”
With bags now in use and blankets still being assembled, this grassroots initiative continues to grow—shaped by staff contributions, student needs, and local organisations.