26 Aug FRIDAY FILES – Sustainability At Boyac – Interview With Our Upcycling Partner, Thuy Le-Butt
TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO, AND THE BENEFITS OF RECYCLING.
I have been distributing fabric for over 13 years to various organizations and charities. Through established relationships with the textile community and the distribution volunteers and crafters, we are able to give new life to material destined for landfill – and provide assistance to people in need.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
As a child, I accompanied my mother to various textile companies to pick up fabric remnants and distribute them to local craft groups. These groups made pillow cases which were then filled with food and distributed to new migrant families.
HOW AND WHEN DID YOU & BOYAC START WORKING TOGETHER?
Many years ago. At the time I was working at Bates Smart, and BOYAC reached out.
We were both thinking of ways to keep textiles out of the landfill. Susanna and I were on the same wavelength of giving beautiful discontinued fabric and samples a second life by distributing them to people and groups who could reuse and repurpose them.
This started with distributing to my son’s primary school and out-of-school hours care program. Within a few months, it expanded to a few other schools and afterschool care programs nearby.
WHAT DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS DO YOU WORK WITH, AND HOW DO YOU ASSIST?
Over the 13 years, I have worked with Royal Children’s Hospital Quilting Auxiliary, The VCCC Alliance cancer patient bags, Boomerang Bags making totes to replace plastic bags, West Welcome Wagon making big tote bags filled with food, toys, blankets and bed linen for asylum seekers, various primary schools distributing fabric for craft, local community centres supplying fabric for community craft groups, and Kensington Stockyard Gardens where craft is made to fundraise so that the food garden can continue to feed the community for free with organically grown food harvested for local food pantries.
Some of the organisations supported:
https://boomerangbags.org/about-us/
https://www.westwelcomewagon.org.au/
https://communitygarden.org.au/listing/kensington-stockyard-food-garden/
Contact us at: www.boyac.com.au