Oct 13, 2009
Bagging a novel idea
Star
By DERRICK VINESH
EVER considered owning Penang-made shopping bags which are made from re-cycled advertisement banners?
The bags might even bear the pictures of local models, actors, singers or even politicians wishing their constituents “Selamat Hari Raya”.
All this is the effort of the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Committee which has started a pilot project to make shopping bags from recycled banners and streamers.
The move has also helped a few individuals to earn extra income.
Housewife Ee Beng Choo from Kampung Telaga Air in Raja Uda, Butterworth, said she could earn up to RM40 a day from sewing 40 bags in eight hours.
The 21-year-old gets her supply from banner agent Chiam Seng Leong who drops off a few bundles of banners every week.
“I will clean them with water and soap and then hang them to dry before cutting them up into standard sizes for the bags and handles,” she said in a recent interview.
Ee, who occasionally sews children’s clothes for sale in pasar malam, said she uses her regu- lar clothes sewing machine to sew the bags.
“But, I would switch to a thic-ker needle and use high-speed bonded thread to sew these bags as their materials are very thick,” she said, adding that her mother-in-law Khor Siew Moy, 57, would assist her in her tasks.
Contractor Ang Lee Seng, 61, who is from the same village, said he could earn 40 sen for preparing each set of five pieces of cut banner material to be sewn into shopping bags.
“I can prepare 80 sets of cut material per day and earn up to RM300 a month from this business,” he said.
MPSP LA 21 Committee co-ordinator Chew Eng Seng said the shopping bags, measuring 45cm by 35cm (18 inch by 14 inch), make ideal grocery bags, document holders and gift bags.
He said the banners that cost between RM80 and RM100 each, were made from good quality canvas-like synthetic plastic that prevented water seepage.
“When the month-long permit on the banners expire, most of the advertisers do not want them back.
“They either leave them han-ging at different locations or dump them into the rubbish bins,” he said.
Chew said the council had stored a few thousand banners collected over the past years at its store in Permatang Tengah, Bagan Ajam.
State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Com-mittee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the state had allocated RM6,000 for the recycling pro-ject.
He said an agent had been appointed to collect the banners from the council and distribute them to five seamstresses in Seberang Prai to be turned into bags.
“The idea of recycling the bags came from the Friends of the Penang Botanic Gardens Society,” he said.
He said the state would give away the bags free-of-charge to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that were keen on selling them to raise funds for charity.
“The average price of the bag is RM10 each but it is up to the NGOs to charge whatever amount,” he said. About 600 bags have been given away since the effort started early last month.
Those keen on donating used banners, streamers and posters, can drop them off at the LA 21 secretariat at MPSP Central Seberang Prai district office at Jalan Betek in Bukit Mertajam.
For details, contact Chew at 012-4779330.
Bagging a novel idea
Star
By DERRICK VINESH
EVER considered owning Penang-made shopping bags which are made from re-cycled advertisement banners?
The bags might even bear the pictures of local models, actors, singers or even politicians wishing their constituents “Selamat Hari Raya”.
All this is the effort of the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Committee which has started a pilot project to make shopping bags from recycled banners and streamers.
The move has also helped a few individuals to earn extra income.
Housewife Ee Beng Choo from Kampung Telaga Air in Raja Uda, Butterworth, said she could earn up to RM40 a day from sewing 40 bags in eight hours.
The 21-year-old gets her supply from banner agent Chiam Seng Leong who drops off a few bundles of banners every week.
“I will clean them with water and soap and then hang them to dry before cutting them up into standard sizes for the bags and handles,” she said in a recent interview.
Ee, who occasionally sews children’s clothes for sale in pasar malam, said she uses her regu- lar clothes sewing machine to sew the bags.
“But, I would switch to a thic-ker needle and use high-speed bonded thread to sew these bags as their materials are very thick,” she said, adding that her mother-in-law Khor Siew Moy, 57, would assist her in her tasks.
Contractor Ang Lee Seng, 61, who is from the same village, said he could earn 40 sen for preparing each set of five pieces of cut banner material to be sewn into shopping bags.
“I can prepare 80 sets of cut material per day and earn up to RM300 a month from this business,” he said.
MPSP LA 21 Committee co-ordinator Chew Eng Seng said the shopping bags, measuring 45cm by 35cm (18 inch by 14 inch), make ideal grocery bags, document holders and gift bags.
He said the banners that cost between RM80 and RM100 each, were made from good quality canvas-like synthetic plastic that prevented water seepage.
“When the month-long permit on the banners expire, most of the advertisers do not want them back.
“They either leave them han-ging at different locations or dump them into the rubbish bins,” he said.
Chew said the council had stored a few thousand banners collected over the past years at its store in Permatang Tengah, Bagan Ajam.
State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Com-mittee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the state had allocated RM6,000 for the recycling pro-ject.
He said an agent had been appointed to collect the banners from the council and distribute them to five seamstresses in Seberang Prai to be turned into bags.
“The idea of recycling the bags came from the Friends of the Penang Botanic Gardens Society,” he said.
He said the state would give away the bags free-of-charge to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that were keen on selling them to raise funds for charity.
“The average price of the bag is RM10 each but it is up to the NGOs to charge whatever amount,” he said. About 600 bags have been given away since the effort started early last month.
Those keen on donating used banners, streamers and posters, can drop them off at the LA 21 secretariat at MPSP Central Seberang Prai district office at Jalan Betek in Bukit Mertajam.
For details, contact Chew at 012-4779330.
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