Giving plastic bags the flick

Robin Williamson, left, and Sandie Roach with some of the Morsbags that have been made recently. Ms Williamson is holding a bag she's knitting out of plastic bags. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

A workshop will be held on Saturday to teach people how to make Morsbags.

Morsbags are re-useable bags made out of recycled materials - usually fabric - AND are an alternative to one-use plastic bags.

Morsbags are gaining in popularity in Whanganui, thanks to the establishment of a group called the Te Awa Pod. Over the past year the group has given away more than 300 Morsbags at the Whanganui River Traders Market and the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre.

Sandie Roach and Robin Williamson are the driving force behind Morsbags in Whanganui, and they will be running the workshop.

Ms Williamson in particular has been getting creative with her Morsbags - she's made them out of pillowcases, old t-shirts and even knitted them from plastic bags.

Morsbags are named after the movement's British founder, Claire Morsman, who began making and distributing the bags in 2007. They are always free, and made of recycled materials. The aim is to keep plastic bags out of the environment, where they can cause harm to ecosystems and wildlife, particularly in marine environments.

Ms Williamson said a group had been set up in Whanganui called Plastic Free Whanganui. It planned to apply to Whanganui District Council's waste minimisation fund to "really launch alternatives to plastic in Whanganui".

Saturday's workshop is part of the Winter Wonderfest, organised by the Women's Network Whanganui.

The workshop begins at 10am Saturday at the Education Room in the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre in Maria Pl.