Worldwide, around 1 million plastic bags are used every minute, contributing roughly 3.5 million tons of waste per year. That’s just plastic bags alone. This plastic isn’t going away in your lifetime, probably not even in your children’s, children’s, children’s lifetimes – plastic will last for thousands of years.

Boomerang Bags communities aim to reduce the use of plastic bags by getting together to volunteer to make fabric bags for the wider community to use. The bags are placed in participating shops for people to use when they have forgotten their own reusable bags, and are returned when they have finished with them.

Boomerang Bags kicked off in 2013 when Co-founders, Tania Potts and Jordyn de Boer met up with the dream of reducing plastic bags within their community of Burleigh Heads. Thanks to dozens of amazing supporters and hundreds of dedicated volunteers, Boomerang Bags is now spreading into communities Australia-wide and it is time to start up in Perth!

Boomerang Bags are printed with a logo so people recognise what they are, and as a reminder that they need to be returned. Funds raised will cover the cost of having a custom silk screen locally made with the logo. The funds will also purchase a Boomerang Bags stamp kit for smaller scale logo printing and supplies for a Perth community sewing bee.

Funds breakdown:

$110 (approximate) will fund a custom silk screen featuring the Boomerang Bags logo for Perth volunteers to share to print pockets for community Boomerang Bags.

$117.50 will fund a rubber stamp kit set featuring the Boomerang Bags logo for Perth volunteers to share.

$50 (approximate) will cover the cost of ink for printing the Boomerang Bags logo onto pockets.

$12 will cover the cost of thread for sewing the bags.

$10 will cover the cost of tea, coffee and biscuits for volunteers at the first sewing bee!

Challenges the Boomerang Bag community face are finding businesses to participate. There are businesses out there seeking to reduce their impact on the environment so this challenge will be dealt with sheer determination to not stop reaching out until a significant number of businesses are on board. There are local governments in the wider Perth area advocating for the reduction in plastic bags so I'm confident we can get businesses to participate.

Another challenge is getting people to use the bags, instead of choosing plastic. This is going to be through education, having volunteers available on launch days at participating businesses, to explain what the bags are for, how the community works and why we need to reduce our use of single use plastic.

What if people don't return the bags? It could definitely get frustrating however my personal belief is, if someone decides to keep their Boomerang Bag, it probably means they love it so much they are going to use it, hopefully instead of a plastic bag which in the end, is the goal. So although having the bags returned means there are more available, with the help of dedicated volunteers more bags will be made and we'll achieve the overall goal of reducing the use of plastic bags in our community.