Staff Stories

Textiles Students Turn Rice Bags into Sustainable Solutions for Everyday Challenges

By Maggie Luckadoo on September 13, 2019

During one of our favorite annual events, NC State University seniors studying Textile Technology and Textile Engineering set out to repurpose the rice bags into sustainable products that could be of practical use for people residing in the countries Rise Against Hunger serves around the globe.

As always, we were so impressed by the innovative ideas and creativity shown during the sixth annual Rice Bag Challenge! The students split into small teams and were each given two empty 50-lb. rice bags, made of polypropylene, along with an additional $10 for supplies. Teams came up with a wide range of products to assist in overcoming daily life challenges including apparel, water filtration systems and agricultural tools. This year’s winning designs included a reusable menstrual pad, a fishing net and a solar lantern. Check out the photos below to see what the students created!

The winning design was a reusable menstrual pad.

Inspiring, right? To see even more of the students’ creativity, check out photos from last year’s Rice Bag Challenge or read more from NC State.

About the Author

Maggie is Rise Against Hunger's Director of Marketing and Communications and has been a team member since 2016. Maggie works to spread the word about the mission to end hunger and to engage people globally to take action.