Three attendees at the last of the four workshops with their dishcloths. They are, from left, Linda Fowler, Kerry Barker and Melanie Heremia.
Dishcloths might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking sustainability, but for Te Awamutu’s Wendy Bellhouse, they’re a clear front-runner.
Mum and daughter ‘crochet artists’, Wendy Bellhouse and Vienna Seabright, led the dishcloth workshops in Te Awamutu. Photo: Viv Posselt
She has just finished steering the fourth of her weekly workshops teaching people to crochet a dishcloth. Forty people from around the area came along, 10 at each one. They left each session with a couple of reuseable dishcloths, a crochet hook and a pattern should they want to make more.
Incongruous as it sounds, the cloths apparently do a great job mopping up spills on the kitchen counter.
“They are fantastic for cleaning and wiping. Because of the texture, they pick up all the little bits, then you just toss them in the wash and reuse them,” Bellhouse said. “I’ve had mine for several years.”
She is a convert to sustainability. Her idea of the workshops struck a chord with Waipā District Council’s waste minimisation crew and she was given funding to pay for the venue – at Burchell Pavilion – and buy supplies.
Bellhouse is a self-described ‘crochet artist’ who always picks a dishcloth when teaching beginners the craft.
“It’s a very easy way to start, and even if a dishcloth contains beginners’ flaws, it is still useful.”
She held the workshop with the help of her 16-year-old daughter Vienna Seabright. The pair recently ran a creative journalling workshop in Te Awamutu; that was another first that secured council funding, that time through the Creative Communities Grant.
Aside from passing on ‘how to crochet’ skills, the dishcloth workshops were centred on sustainability. Bellhouse said if the average household buys a pack of disposable cloths each month, they will end up sending 12 packs to landfill each year.
“If I am able to teach 40 people to crochet their own dishcloths at these workshops, that is a reduction of 480 packs of disposable cloths annually,” she added. “A 100-gram ball of cotton yarn will make four crochet dishcloths that can easily be washed and reused and will last for years. They can then be composted in a home compost.
“Changing to crochet dishcloths is a simple change in behaviour that can be the start of a journey of new habits that will have a positive environmental impact.”
She said those coming along varied in their skill level, with some brand new to crocheting and others wanting to get back into it after a break.
“The feedback has been great, everybody has been really supportive,” she said. “I might look at doing something similar next year.”
Three attendees at the last of the four workshops with their dishcloths. They are, from left, Linda Fowler, Kerry Barker and Melanie Heremia. Photo: supplied
