St Marys Repurposing and Upcycling (SMRU) was initiated by Diana van Meel in 2020.
Diana has long been passionate about reducing unwanted clothing going to landfill. While volunteering at the St Marys Op Shop, Diana saw many donated items that were unfit for sale (e.g., stained or damaged), or excess to the shop’s capacity going to landfill. Diana asked for these items to be retained and called for local volunteers to come along and share ideas for how they could be upcycled or repurposed. SMRU is now a growing group of regular volunteers (age range 7 - 60+ years).
They are currently working to repurpose about 350kg of clothing (already received from the Op Shop) that would otherwise be in landfill. Items are made to order or sold at the St Marys Market, and include:
- Dog beds, toys, and snuffle mats.
- Cushions, pillows, bolsters and pouffes.
- Woven/braided mats.
- Hats and hair ties.
- Potholders and washcloths.
- Shopping bags. and more.
Your welcome to bring your old items along to make them into new items, or upcycle and repurpose items provided by SMRU - be part of a solution!
