Each year, Dunedin sends 4 thousand tonnes of textile waste to the Green Island landfill!
These textiles makes up 5% of the total waste, and 8% of the carbon emission produced by the landfill.
With awareness growing about the need for us to re-think how we produce and manage waste, and reduce our carbon emissions to slow global warming, we have created a project that takes these heavy issues, and makes them... a little lighter!
These textiles makes up 5% of the total waste, and 8% of the carbon emission produced by the landfill.
With awareness growing about the need for us to re-think how we produce and manage waste, and reduce our carbon emissions to slow global warming, we have created a project that takes these heavy issues, and makes them... a little lighter!
Our Elephant Family taking a stroll through the Octagon, with the Dunedin Railway station in the background
Download our unique pattern and make your own!
Making a donation helps us keep our projects going! You can find us on Give A Little :)
With special thanks to the Dunedin City Council for their support through Te Ao Tūroa – The Natural World, Dunedin's Environment Strategy,
and Dunedin Dream Brokerage, we are launching the 4KT Elephants Project!
Over the coming months, we will be holding workshops to help people upcycle old clothes and textiles, into cute soft toy elephant companions, which you can keep, or donate through local charity Tedz4Kidz.
Workshops will be open to everyone, and provide skills in working with fabrics, cutting, sewing by machine and by hand, stuffing, and much more. Plus we will provide lots of additional tips on how we can all reduce our textile footprint.
We started the project with a pop-up workshop in George Street from the 31st May - 16th June, 2019. Opportunities to drop in and keep making elephants with family and friends will continue... keep your eye open for our email updates, and on our Facebook Page for more info coming out soon.
and Dunedin Dream Brokerage, we are launching the 4KT Elephants Project!
Over the coming months, we will be holding workshops to help people upcycle old clothes and textiles, into cute soft toy elephant companions, which you can keep, or donate through local charity Tedz4Kidz.
Workshops will be open to everyone, and provide skills in working with fabrics, cutting, sewing by machine and by hand, stuffing, and much more. Plus we will provide lots of additional tips on how we can all reduce our textile footprint.
We started the project with a pop-up workshop in George Street from the 31st May - 16th June, 2019. Opportunities to drop in and keep making elephants with family and friends will continue... keep your eye open for our email updates, and on our Facebook Page for more info coming out soon.
You can get involved in a number of ways!
- Download pattern and instructions here and sew your own elephant from fabric scraps and old items you have at home: for Small Elephant Pattern; for Medium Elephant Pattern; for Large Elephant Pattern
- Volunteer to help us prepare 'elephant making kits' by sorting, cutting out and putting kits together. Learn More
- Share the love (click to download our poster to print or email, or simply share our event on facebook)
- Take an elephant on a local safari! We're keen to showcase all the things we love about our city and surrounding natural environments, by collecting and sharing photos of our elephants and the environment they help us to protect. (Tag and follow us with #4KTelephants on Instagram)
- Help us fund this continuing project with a small donation via our page on Give-A-Little
Ultimately we hope to make 4 thousand elephants, 1 for each tonne of textile waste. It would be fabulous if we could achieve this goal in 12 months (June 2020).
