Help Clean Our Motherland

In South Africa, the start-up Rethaka turns discarded plastic bottles and shopping bags into “Repurpose Schoolbags”. About twenty bottles’ worth of polymer are fused into a tough, waterproof fabric, then stitched into backpacks fitted with a palm-sized solar panel and retro-reflective strips. As children walk to and from class, the panel harvests sunlight and charges a removable LED lamp stored in a side pocket, giving up to twelve hours of steady light at night. 

The innovation tackles multiple problems at once. Up-cycling plastic keeps waste out of landfills, while the lamp replaces smoky kerosene or candles, letting pupils study safely after dark. Reflective strips increase visibility on rural roads, cutting accident risks, and the local assembly line creates green jobs—many filled by women. Schools that act as collection hubs can earn free bags, embedding recycling habits across entire communities and proving that a humble backpack can fast-track progress in education, safety, and sustainability.