MAKING A DIFFERENCE

SAMANTHA MARNELL IS TRANSFORMING HESSIAN COFFEE SACKS DESTINED FOR LANDFILL INTO FASHIONABLE TOTE BAGS. SHE SHARES HER DRIVE FOR THE PROJECT WITH TESSA HAYWARD  

There is so much more to Samantha Marnell’s tote bags than just how they look. The story behind them is what makes them so special. Passionate about reducing waste, Sam sources and re-purposes hessian coffee bags in an effort to leave a softer footprint on the world. She grew up in Geelong but has lived in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Chicago, Hong Kong and New York before returning to Geelong. The entrepreneur founded War On Waste Cartel four to five years ago. “It was just an idea that came to me. I like nice things but they don’t have to cost the earth,” Sam says, no pun intended.  

“We have valuable resources already in our lifestyles, we don’t need to throw things away.” With this idea in her head, Sam reached out to coffee roasters and Geelong Coffee Roasters was the founding business to say yes. “I was just a crazy person, ‘Can I buy some of your bags?’,” she laughs.  

With a history of repurposing items, like leather jackets into a cushion or purse, Sam saw potential in hessian coffee bags. She now receives these coffee bags from 12 suppliers in Geelong, Queensland, Melbourne and Germany. Some she has to pay for, others are gladly donated.  

These piles of bags, located in her Herne Hill garage, are then cut to size by Sam before she sends them off to local Geelong sewers to transform them into her range of tote bags, cross body bags and clutches. They are then returned to Sam and she puts the finishing touches on them including the handles and labels. “People love that the bags are so versatile and unique. They can carry all of your stuff from here to there and everywhere,” Sam says. The prints on the bags come from the coffee roasters, making each one a limited edition. One of the first bags Sam made had a toucan on it and was so popular that people were reaching out and asking for one. Once it was sold it was gone forever. “I work with what comes in, sometimes there is only one print of something,” she says.  

With the business taking over her house and her life, Sam – who works in corporate affairs for GeelongPort – has made the decision to employ people. “I want to earn an income somewhere else so other people can be employed. If I work in the business, I can’t work on the business,” she explains. “My skills aren’t valuable doing that sort of stuff, so we’ve got people coming on board. “I looked at my weaknesses and strengths and there is no point in me trying to do it when someone else can do it better.” Sam says having others involved in the business has been life changing. “Originally it was just me and it wasn’t sustainable, I couldn’t keep on top of things and I couldn’t grow,” she says. Sam has recently taken on a neurodivergent person to work at War On Waste Cartel, which is affectionately known as WOW. “Her confidence is growing and she’s earning money. It’s like chicken soup for my soul,” Sam beams. “Quite often it’s too hard, not the people themselves but the process of doing the right thing or facilitating in the right way.”  

So far WOW has saved 1264 coffee sacks from landfill, diverted 442kg from landfill and avoided 1548kg greenhouse gases by reducing waste. Sam says working on WOW has brought her a lot of joy.  

Aside from the green part and reducing waste, it is creating opportunities. “I want to show my son that you can think differently and be different,” she says, referring to her son Sebastian, 14. “I want him to understand it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you keep growing and evolving. He sees me working late at night and early in the morning. “I said he can take over the business one day and he asked what he would have to do and I said, ‘You have to work damn hard’.”  

The bags are available to purchase online and also at several cafes and coffee roasters where the hessian bags came from, in a full circle moment.  

Sam also has several exciting projects in the pipeline. Stay tuned. Follow @waronwastecartel on Instagram and visit waronwastecartel.com.au  

War on Waste Cartel features a range of bags made from hessian coffee bags from all over the world.