Giving waste a second life isn’t just fashionable. Waste can also be turned into fashion. As part of an ongoing initiative called Sheets For Shirts, properties within the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio across South Africa have banded together to repurpose old linen into new children’s clothing – helping over 320 students look and feel their best at the Klipheuwel Primary School in Durbanville, a town in the Western Cape province.

It all began when Marriott International’s South Africa Business Council looked for sustainable solutions to upcycle hotel sheets that were going to be replaced before any normal wear and tear. In comes Danolene Johanessen, the founder of a local charity, Royal Kidz. She, too, was on a mission to create a sustainable vehicle for her organization, which aims to restore dignity to underprivileged children who often turn up to school without uniforms – or shoes. Company meets nonprofit and the rest was history.

The two parties have been working together over the past 18 months. To date, 3,000 similar donations have been gifted to schools in underserved communities. One king-sized bed sheet – after being fully cleaned – can be fashioned into five shirts. During these COVID-19 times, the donated sheets have also been used to make masks for the most vulnerable.

What’s more, the Business Council contributed approximately $80,000 (R1.2 million). The money enabled Johanessen to launch Restore SA, a social enterprise that employs local seamstresses, who turn local sheets into school shirts and create other products for sale. 40% of the enterprise’s profits go back toward the Sheets For Shirts initiative.

This is an example of Marriott International’s commitment to Nurture Our World, an integral part of Serve 360, the company’s sustainability and social impact platform. The partnership between Marriott International’s South Africa Business Council and Royal Kidz has proven to be an environmental win-win but above all, it’s an investment in the future: our children.