Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution for two of our county’s longstanding problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers: Rather than throw your empty Chip bags in the trash, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.
Chip eaters drop off their empty bags from Doritos, Lay’s, and other favorites at two locations in Detroit: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they clean the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice then open, lay them fat, and iron them together.
It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag, and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags, depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof, lightweight, and easy to carry around,” Oleita told the Detroil News.
Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 80,000 chip bags and, as of last December, created 110 sleeping bags.
Sure, it would be simpler to raise the money to buy new seeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for Oleita — whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life — and her fellow volunteers. “We are committed to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally,” she says.
And, of course, there’s the symbolism of salvaging bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental injustice and poverty often go hand in hand. As Oleita told hourdetroit com: “I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues.”
4. What is the purpose of the Chip Bag Project?
A.To make donations for the homeless. |
B.To deal with garbage and sleeping bags. |
C.To stop pollution caused by snack lovers. |
D.To protect the environment and reduce poverty. |
5. How did Oleita get materials for sleeping bags?
A.By turning to chip eaters. |
B.By producing chip bags. |
C.By purchasing snacks. |
D.By cooperating with the poor. |
6. Which of the flowing can best explain the underlined word “salvaging” in the last paragraph?
A.Sewing. | B.Designing. |
C.Emptying. | D.Recycling. |
7. Which of he following best describes Eradajere Oleita?
A.Devoted and creative. | B.Determined and honest. |
C.Ambitious and humorous. | D.Caring and independent. |