Publisher summary: Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred.
The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change.
Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person’s actions really can make a difference in our world.
Gambia is one of the countries the students need to learn for Passport Club in April. It is also the home of Isatou Ceesay and the cool recycling idea she came up with. In this new book by Miranda Paul, One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambi, we see how Ceesay took plastic bags, shredded them and crocheted the strands into purses. The book has wonderful collage illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon. Here is an illustration from the book
and a photo of the actual purses the women make.
I love the practicality of the idea and the fact that they’ve used a handicraft to solve a problem and generate income. It is a brilliant idea.
As Earth Day approaches, consider sharing this ooh with your students. Who knows what it might inspire in them.
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