IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion feed and seed sacks into reusable shopping bags to help reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
ONE DOWN — Lori Stephens celebrates the completion of a bag, being turned right side out after the final stitches, during a volunteer workday.
BYOB — Eileen Schlagenhaft (left) and Pam Geiger partake in the assembly-line workday to make reusable shopping bags in hopes of reducing the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County.
BYOB — Volunteers partake in the assembly-line workday to make reusable bags in hopes of reducing the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County. Pictured are Eileen Schlagenhaft, Lori Stephens, Beth Causey, and Pam Geiger.
SEWING FOR A CAUSE — Dwayne Odvody and Lori Stephens wrestle with turning feed and seed bags into reusable shopping bags during a BYOB volunteer workday.
SAVING THE EARTH — Beth Causey was among a dozen volunteers during a recent workday to churn out reusable shopping bags.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — Eileen Schlagenhaft (left) and Pam Geiger work to create reusable bags. The bags not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment. Pictured is Christa Malone and Alice Herring in the background.
IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion reusable shopping bags hope to reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion reusable shopping bags hope to reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
BYOB — Beth Causey (left) and Jan Jacobson partake in the assembly line to make reusable bags to help reduce the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
TOILING AWAY — Kathy Odvody mans a sewing machine station during a volunteer workday to turn colorful feed and seed bags into reusable shopping bags.
IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion feed and seed sacks into reusable shopping bags to help reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
ONE DOWN — Lori Stephens celebrates the completion of a bag, being turned right side out after the final stitches, during a volunteer workday.
BYOB — Eileen Schlagenhaft (left) and Pam Geiger partake in the assembly-line workday to make reusable shopping bags in hopes of reducing the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County.
BYOB — Volunteers partake in the assembly-line workday to make reusable bags in hopes of reducing the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County. Pictured are Eileen Schlagenhaft, Lori Stephens, Beth Causey, and Pam Geiger.
SEWING FOR A CAUSE — Dwayne Odvody and Lori Stephens wrestle with turning feed and seed bags into reusable shopping bags during a BYOB volunteer workday.
SAVING THE EARTH — Beth Causey was among a dozen volunteers during a recent workday to churn out reusable shopping bags.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — Eileen Schlagenhaft (left) and Pam Geiger work to create reusable bags. The bags not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment. Pictured is Christa Malone and Alice Herring in the background.
IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion reusable shopping bags hope to reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
IN THE BAG — Volunteers gathered for a recent workday to fashion reusable shopping bags hope to reduce the use of plastic bags in stores across Haywood County.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
BYOB — Beth Causey (left) and Jan Jacobson partake in the assembly line to make reusable bags to help reduce the reliance on plastic bags in Haywood County.
FUNCTIONAL AND FUN — The reuseable bags being created by the BYOB initiative not only make a colorful statement, but are a sturdy way to carry groceries and help save the environment.
TOILING AWAY — Kathy Odvody mans a sewing machine station during a volunteer workday to turn colorful feed and seed bags into reusable shopping bags.
“Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!” Kathy Odvody shouted over the din of sewing machines. With enthusiasm rivaling the opening bell on Wall Street, a round of whoops and applause ricocheted through the room as Odvody triumphantly hoisted a bird seed bag into the air.
The oohs-and-ahs soon subsided, and the workers tucked back in to their stations, wrestling mounds of feed and seed sacks into submission.
“We each have a task. It’s sort of an assembly line,” said Lori Stephens. “We have the people doing the prep work of folding and creasing, cutting the handles and marking the seams — so the sewers can keep sewing.”
This coalition of eco-minded volunteers gathers monthly to transform the feed sacks into grocery totes. Their goal is lofty but noble.
“To eliminate plastic bags in Haywood County,” Odvody said. “That’s why we’re doing this.”
The totes are then handed out for free to the public at stores across the county as a gentle nudge to move away from single-use plastic bags that are a scourge on the planet.
“There are lagoons of plastic swimming in the Pacific and we need to get rid of it, so this is my small way of helping,” said Christa Malone.
Coined BYOB Haywood for “bring your own bag,” the initiative is being spearheaded by Outdoor Mission Community in partnership with WNC Climate Action Coalition — two grassroots groups both based in Haywood County. They passed out 1,400 bags at their first give-away on Earth Day.
The bag distribution not only placed hundreds of reusable bags into the hands of shoppers, but also educated shoppers on embracing the BYOB movement.
“I tell people to put their bags under the car keys so they don’t forget them, and then put the bags in the passenger seat where you will see them when you get out,” Stephens said.
With a little practice, it soon becomes habit, Stephens assured.
“Some of us take extra bags into the store and when we see someone without a bag we say, ‘Would you like a bag?’” said Dwayne Odvody, while hunched over a sewing machine.
U.S. consumers burn through an average of 365 bags per person a year — totaling 100 billion plastic bags annually. Laid end-to-end, they would circle the equator 1,330 times.
Dwayne Odvody hopes BYOB Haywood can change hearts and minds, one bag at a time, eventually reaching a critical mass.
“I would hope that someday if you’re standing in Ingles and didn’t have a bag, you would say ‘Am I the only person in line that doesn’t have a bag?’” he said. “That’s where we pass the tipping point, when you’re embarrassed if you didn’t bring your own bag.”
The idea for BYOB Haywood took root during a camping trip last fall.
“We were talking about plastics and started brainstorming things we could do to combat plastic. We came up with the idea of making bags and handing them out,” Stephens said.
They put out a call for fabric donations — tablecloths, curtains, old pillow cases, you name it. Eventually, their bag-making operation transitioned from cloth bags to the feed-and-seed sacks.
“It can be bird feed, duck feed, chicken feed, horse feed,” Kathy Odvody said. “These would go to the landfill, so why not make something that would be reused?”
The bags are not only bright and colorful — sporting cardinals or bunnies or cows — but sturdy and tough. They can do the heavy-lifting when it comes to milk and canned goods, retain their shape when plopped down on the back seat or floor board, and are waterproof to boot.
The coalition is constantly in need of bag donations.
“Don’t throw them away, bring them to us,” said Odvody, who tackles the laborious job of washing them and hanging them up to dry in preparation for the sewing days.
The group is always looking for volunteers for their sewing days, as well. There are plenty of jobs for those who don’t know their way around a sewing machine.
A recent bag-making session held at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville was a flurry of activity as the feed sacks made their way down the assembly line.
“I’ve been making handles and folding bags to get them ready for the sewers, so they can just zoop, sew right along,” said Eileen Schlagenhaft, as she measured out handle lengths.
Pam Geiger, one of the volunteer recruits, was inspired by the cause, but also enjoys the camaraderie.
“It’s great to visit with friends and meet new people,” said Geiger, who was manning the folding station.
Geiger bared down on a bag sporting a bird menagerie to make creases before running the prepped sacks over to the sewing table.
“Are we doing OK so far? Are they sewable?” she asked. The sewers bobbed their heads in affirmation.
Every few minutes, another cry of “ding, ding, ding” sounded through the room, signifying a finished bag.
“It’s a team effort,” Stephens said.
Much like saving the planet.
Pitch in for the Bring Your Own Bag movement by donating your bird seed and animal feed sacks. Or, volunteer for a bag-making session or bag distribution and public outreach day.
Contact Outdoor Mission Community koodvody@yahoo.com or 828-316-5810.
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