Family help children in the Philippines with crisp packet initiative

A family of recyclers have managed to save thousands of crisp packets from clogging up landfill sites and instead, get them to help get children out of poverty.

The Strauss family, Richard, Rachelle and nine year old Verona, persuaded their local Tesco store to set up a crisp recycling point.

Within three months, more than 12,000 crisps packets were collected and sent to the Philippines which will help keep children as young as four years off of sweltering rubbish dumps and help them into an education.

Rachelle Strauss said: “This is a fantastic result which will make a difference to the lives of families in the Philippines. The crisp packets are sent to the Philippines where they are sanitised and woven into handbags and pencil cases. Once these crisp bags are made into products, the profits will keep 12 children out of poverty for a year and enable them to get an education. Alternatively we could build eight 2 roomed and four 1 roomed houses to replace the shanties these families are living in.”

Last year, the family only filled one dustbin full of waste, managing to recycle and reuse everything else around the house or garden.

The family would now love to see other stores around the country setting up collection points to recycle crisp packets, to help change the lives of young children in the Philippines.