Cape Town – John Singano, a local upholsterer in Imizamo Yetho, Hout Bay, is the talent behind covering footstools being repurposed from old VHS video tapes as part of the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative.
The Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative started off as a hobby during the Covid-19 lockdown, where empty bread bags were being repurposed and crocheted into beautiful shopping bags.
It has been building momentum in Hout Bay and is now extending its footprint to Koedoespoort, Pretoria, with additional products being added to the product range.
The Re.Bag.Re.Use team crochets beautiful multifunctional items from the VHS tape itself. Going a step further to use the entire VHS tape, they have found a way to use the empty video tapes.
VHS and cassette tapes are in most cases non-recyclable or not accepted by recyclers, therefore repurposing this material is the next best sustainable option, Re.Bag.Re.Use founder, Regine le Roux said.
“For quite some time I have been worrying about all the empty VHS video cases that we are generating. The main reason being, it's one of those awful plastics that can't be recycled and will potentially end up in landfill when they are not repurposed,” she said.
“Footstools is one of the solutions that we have come up with to repurpose empty VHS boxes.
“It’s such a thrill to make something so beautiful out of ‘nothing’,” she added.
Singano is the talent behind covering the footstools.
“When Regine first asked me for a quote to upholster the footstools made from VHS tapes I was so excited. Instead of throwing something away, we can turn it into something that people can love.
“As an upholsterer, we are often left with a lot of material offcuts that are too small for other projects and the material gets thrown away. But now, we can use these offcuts to cover the VHS footstools. Nothing goes to waste,” Singano said.
For more information visit www.rebagreuse.com
Cape Times