South Africa’s Thato Kgathanye has won this year’s Anzisha Prize for Repurpose Schoolbags – plastic bags that integrate solar technology that charges during the day to provide lighting at night.
Kgathanye used discarded plastic shopping bags turning them into a retro-reflective textile. Each bag is embedded with a small solar panel that later transforms into a solar lantern that can provide up to 12 hours of light when fully charged.
The organization currently has eight full-time employees in addition to numerous plastic bag collectors. The backpacks are then sent to be outfitted with solar panels in Rustenburg. So far 120 students have received the bags with over 10,000 plastic bags being repurposed.
Rethaka (Pty) Ltd., parent company of Repurpose Schoolbags, said: “We are not a charity, but a purpose-driven business that does what is right, not what is easy.” However, children and families do not pay for the bags, but rather supporters purchase or donate on behalf of the students.
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