Attention sewers and crocheters - Meals on Wheels NSW is on a mission to save the environment, and wants your help.
The organisation has partnered with the NSW Environmental Protection Authority to promote the state government's recent ban of single use plastics.
It is asking volunteers to use their crafting skills to make shopping bags which can be donated to the charity. The bags will then be distributed to clients and volunteers to be used as alternatives to plastic bags and help spread awareness of the ban.
Like to help but aren't sure exactly how to get started? The organisation has compiled a detailed guide on how to go about it on its website.
Meals on Wheels chief executive Les MacDonald said when the organisation previously called on volunteers to help make face masks, members of the community came out in force.
He expected volunteers to one again come forward to share their skills.
"The response last time ... was absolutely fantastic. There's still that tremendous sense of community out there," he said.
"People identify with organisations like Meals on Wheels, and are always really keen to hop in and help.
"It's volunteers that sustain communities."
Les said he was thrilled with the decision to ban single use plastics as it would significantly reduce the number of plastics that ended up in landfill and the ocean.
"It's also good because it will allow us to mobilise volunteers. It's another way of asking volunteers to contribute to their community in a practical way.
"Together we can achieve far more than if we're doing things individually."
The project is part of a broader initiative by Meals on Wheels NSW, which has joined forces with the state government and Environmental Protection Authority to help community organisations and councils reach emissions targets.
"We decided it was absolutely vital that we provide support to our network to help get them [organisations] to carbon neutrality by 2050," Les said.
"A lot of them - community based organisations in particular - are going to struggle to do anything about carbon neutrality [without help]."
"It is crucial that we not all simply rely on governments to do the heavy lifting. As communities we have a responsibility."
Lightweight single-use plastic bags were banned in NSW from June 1.
From November, the ban will be extended to include additional single use items, including plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene foodware and cups, and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
An exemption has been granted for people who need to use plastic straws for medical or disability reasons to maintain their quality of life, and the suppliers who provide them.
Meals on Wheels is one of 17 organisations that will receive a combined total of almost $900,000 from the state government to help educate communities about the plastic ban.
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