Friday 24 January 2014

Birdhouses from Plastic Bags

Any bird would be happy to call this building home, providing they fit through the hole, of course. And we're happy that two bird families on our colony will get a new home come spring. (Don't think anybody would want to put up a birdhouse in -40 and blustery weather. Not to mention, birds don't usually look for new homes in winter.)

Take Pride Winnipeg gave two of these to each school that took part in their Bag Up Manitoba Project this year. We received ours just a few days ago.  Like last year, when we got two as well, we thought the only fair way to decide who will get them, is to have a draw. Daria and Doreen were the delighted winners this time around, and will get to put up their beautiful birdhouses in their yard.

This was the fourth year that we took part in Bag Up Manitoba. We managed to keep more than 27,000 bags from going to the nuisance ground this year. Instead they will be recycled along with millions of other bags collected through this program. They're all shipped to Trex, a company in the United States that builds beautiful and sturdy decks, benches, chairs, birdhouses and more from recycled plastic.


10 comments:

  1. How did you keep more than 27,000 bags from going to the nuisance ground?

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  2. Loretta, as the article states, they'll be recycled. It's a program that has schools collect bags, which are then shipped to a company that uses them to build things like decks, park benches, planters and bird feeders.

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  3. Your school collected 27,000 bags?

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  4. Yes, with the help of all the families on our colony and relatives and friends.

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  5. You see, I read that Hutterites produce a lot of their own food, and what they can't produce they buy in bulk because a few people do the cooking for everyone. So I didn't think that Hutterites would have that many plastic bags.

    Do individual families shop and have goods handed to them in plastic bags?

    Here in Seattle grocery stores are helping with the plastic bag problem by not handing them out any more. If you want a bag, you pay a nickel and get a paper one. Some people actually manage to remember to bring their re-usable bags to the store, and if there are not very many items, we juggle them in our arms out to the car to save the bag.

    Good job in keeping all those plastic bags out of the landfill!

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  6. Yes, individual Hutterites shop quite a bit. But by plastic bags it not only means shopping bags, but any plastic wrapper: for food item, toys....
    Here too, you have to pay for a bag if you need in many stores. And more and more people bring reusable shopping bags.

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  7. Is each individual family given an allowance perhaps, or do they sometimes earn extra money by working outside the colony?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they're given an allowance. Rarely do they work outside the colony, at least not around here.

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  8. Danke! Das ist sehr interessant.

    Fabric is getting really expensive, at least around here. If it became more expensive to make their own clothing, would they switch to store-bought?

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    Replies
    1. I don't think so. Most of our fabric is bought at wholesalers.

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