Grant #253
Dirty Girls
July 17, 2017
Turning trash into treasure for refugees
Dirty Girls are rolling up their sleeves and turning trash into treasure where it is needed most. The scrappy team collects and washes discarded blankets, sleeping bags, and other materials so that they can be reused by refugees in Greece.
The idea was born after founder Alison Terry-Evans witnessed incredible amounts of clothing being thrown out, rather than saved and reused, as refugees arrived by sea on the island of Lesvos.
The Dirty Girls team has partnered with commercial laundries in Lesvos, Athens, and Thessaloniki to have an even greater impact. Everyone wins, including the environment. So far, they have saved over 500 tons of material from landfill.
The Awesome Without Borders grant will allow Dirty Girls to wash 400 blankets to hospital standards. Join the Dirty Girls by following them on Facebook and Twitter.