Bags to Beds addresses societal problem of homelessness 

He recalls, “While camping a few years ago, I wasn’t using a sleeping mat and just lay on the ground. I realized how cold and hard it was, and how mats could provide insulation and protection, and make a big difference for people on the streets.”

In summer 2024, he began researching ways to make mats for the unhoused, seeing how discarded plastic bags were used to hand-knit items such as purses. After consulting with a carpenter and Paul Miskew, UCC’s faculty chair of design and innovation, they found weaving together the bags within a frame to be more efficient. 

“We cut the bags into a loop format and then connect them into a chain, which allows for the weaving to occur,” Tong explains. “The wooden frame is designed to hold our plastics in place as we weave between our connections. The first mat took me eight to 10 hours to make.” 

Then there was the matter of sourcing the plastic. Tong got an idea when shopping at clothing retailer Uniqlo. “I was paying at the counter, when I noticed a bunch of clean, clear shipping bags that looked like they were going to the trash, and I asked if I could use them,” he says. 

The store agreed, and so UCC student volunteers have been picking up bags from Uniqlo and bringing them back to the College, saving them from landfill. Weaving began last December, with 10 to 15 students attending each session. Tong has drummed up support by presenting at assembly and promoting on the hallway TVs. 

The initiative, dubbed Bags to Beds, got a major boost when Tong — a Bremner’s House service steward this year — successfully pitched a Weave-a-thon as part of February’s Rivalry Week.  

“Two houses would compete to create the most weaves in a set amount of time. We had referees making sure participants were making meaningful progress, and not making mistakes. We got a good turnout.” 

He has since assembled an executive of student volunteers for the enterprise, which now has a website and Instagram account. Operations and graphics duties are divided among Year 10s James Reeve, Alex Lewis, Winston Chan and Ryan She, along with Justin Tan in Year 12. 

Tong paid for the production of the first couple of frames (which incur materials and labour costs) with money earned from a summer job. Then, in June, Bags to Beds won a $3,400 grant from the IB Global Youth Action Fund that has been put towards more frames, maintaining and developing the website, and creating banners and other marketing materials. 

It’s also being used for supplies for other schools to which Tong wants to expand the initiative. St. Andrew’s College is furthest along with its efforts, while others are going through the approval process. Tong is thinking big — even internationally — and says Bags to Beds will investigate further grant opportunities and possibly corporate sponsorships.    
  

As of early November, 124 students had dedicated 1,025 service hours towards repurposing 17,500 bags into 23 mats. (It takes 750 bags to make one mat.) Youth shelter Covenant House Toronto will distribute them this winter.  

“They’re about to start a street outreach initiative outside of their shelter work,” Tong says. “They’ll go out into the streets and give these mats to people experiencing homelessness.” 

Bags to Beds also partnered with Covenant House on a UCC Sleep Out fundraiser on October 3 that saw 30-plus students spend the night on the Oval’s field. Some tested the mats that had been produced, while others went without. The event raised more than $11,000 for the shelter.