Tulle twist on plastic bag problem

Grafton woman Leah Stevenson from Lasting Impressions Bridal and Formal Wear decided to create her own re-usable produce bags and share them with the community

Leah Stevenson from Lasting Impressions Bridal and Formal Wear and her daughter, Amity handing out her Tule's.

A WOMAN in a wedding dress and armed with 200 re-usable produce bags made out of tulle isn't a sight you would usually see in a shopping centre.

Leah Stevenson from Lasting Impressions Bridal and Formal Wear and her daughter, Amity, showed up at Grafton Shoppingworld with 200 Tulle bags last Saturday.

She was inspired by one of the War on Waste ads which got her thinking on what she could do to help so she decided to do something.

The bags are made from tulle left over from her business that she has accumulated over time.

"When I make a veil there is a bit left over down the side that is too big to throw away but too small to do anything with."

"Also sometimes people give me Tulle to embellish dresses and we may not use it all or the customer might change their mind," she said.

They gave out about 180 bags at no charge in less than one hour.

The bags can be used as a reusable alternative to the plastic bags in the supermarkets.

Leah says she realizes that 200 bags isn't a lot in the scheme of things but it will get people thinking about alternatives to use in that area and could inspire people to make their own.

She said the bags are 'just a rectangle with overlocked edges' and quite easy to make.

She said the reaction from the public was pretty good.

"Some people liked the idea, some people avoided me because they thought I was trying to sell something," she said.

"In general people liked the idea couple of people got two or three and got more. That was nice when people came back for more," she said.

Originally published as Tulle twist on plastic bag problem