Trashy Bags Products. Eco-friendly recycled plastic bags and gifts made in Africa.

Webmaster & Design: Stuart Gold

All Trashy Bags products are made from plastic waste that has been collected in Ghana. The waste that we recycle is in the form of plastic sachets that contained drinking water or other liquid or frozen products for personal consumption.

Drinking water for Ghanaians comes in sealed plastic sacks called water sachets that are are sold everywhere in West Africa. This is because the untreated water supply is not safe to drink and bottled water is just too expensive for most people.

Trashy Bags Employees Unfortunately there are inadequate waste management resources or recycling facilities in West Africa so much of the plastic waste ends up in the streets where it blocks the drains and is extremely dirty and unsightly. More importantly, it damages the environment causing injury to wildlife and causes flooding which results in more mosquitos and a higher incidence of malaria.

Trashy Bags obtains used sachets from people who collect them from the streets and who bring them to the Trashy Bags workshop. They are then sorted, opened and thoroughly cleaned. Collectors are paid by the kilo and each type of sachet has a different value which is determined by its availability.

Trashy Bags employs over 60 people to make the bags. It is a truly grassroots initiative that gives ordinary Africans a sense of pride in their ability to innovate and to turn the serious problem of plastic trash into an opportunity.

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