Non-profit Repurpose Provides Backpacks with Solar Panels to Children in South Africa

A lot of this blog contains re-postings of articles that are negative or a little “dooms day-ish” so I’m really happy to talk about this particular article that I read.

There’s an organization called Repurpose in South Africa that has developed a program to provide backpacks (made from plastic shopping bags) to children at “no-fee” schools that lack a lot of basic school materials.

Oh, did I mention that there’s also a mini-solar panel attached to them? From being outside during a child’s walk to and from school, the panel absorbs enough sunlight to provide students with electricity for up to 12 hours. 12 HOURS! This is an incredibly valuable gift to give to children who come home to homes without electricity. Can you imagine?

You can register to be a “purpose textile bank” – so you collect plastic shopping bags and then they’re picked up from you. I signed up to do it. I figure I work in a big office so hopefully there will be a number of bags to turn in. You can also just donate to the organization. I want to know how I can get a backpack made for me. These things are amazing!