Boomerang Bags, found in the town’s FoodWorks, is part of an international movement to create shopping bags from scrap material in a bid for businesses to eliminate plastic bags.

Once you have finished with a bag, the spirit is to take them back to where you found them.

FoodWorks department manager Sam Blanchard said her boss asked her to find a way to involve the community, she found Boomerang Bags on social media, gave it a try and the concept took off.

“I thought that’s a neat idea, because I don’t particularly giving out plastic bags to customers for little things,” Ms Blanchard said.

“You borrow them, free of charge, reuse and bring them back when done. It also saves us getting heaps of woven supermarket bags piling up in your car boot.

“We have a Facebook group and it's started conversations on a zero-waste lifestyle.”

All-age volunteers have been joining in bag construction bees at Buninyong Community House, which in turn has allowed people to teach others how to sew and socialise.

Ms Blanchard said people had generously donated materials scraps and whole material rolls. Even the local sewing shop had offered discounts on materials.

There are about 90 bags in circulation about Buninyong. Each hold the same amount as a woven reusable bag.

Ms Blanchard said there had been a noticeable change at the check-out with shoppers opting more for reusable bags to carry their groceries.

Plastic Bag Free Ballarat advocate Sandra Hawkins said the reusable trend was becoming increasingly evident in shops along Sturt Street in central Ballarat, too.

Ms Hawkins said plastic bags were an expense for shop owners, but often an expectation from shoppers.

But, Ms Hawkins had also noticed the plastic bag and wrapper recycling bins at major supermarket chains had been piled so high with so many people getting into the recycle movement.

CITY of Ballarat’s focus on reducing, reusing and recycling stretches from big civic projects, right down to coffee cups.

Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh said this was both a personal passion and long-time council focus to being smarter in all operations and setting the tone for the city.

Cr McIntosh said Ballarat residents were already on the ball when it came to recycling household waste and there was always room to improve and having fun with it.

“It’s important we have these conversations with sense, calmness and achievable goals,” Cr McIntosh said. “It’s about looking at what we’ve got and doing the best with what we’ve got.”

Ballarat household recycling increased from 10,549 tonnes in 2014/15 to 10,627 in 2015/16.

Since the two-bin kerbside collection was introduced in 1996, about 95 per cent of residents are using the yellow bins each fortnight. About 16 per cent of recycling collected by the City is contaminated, which had costly effect.

Cr McIntosh said there were also great examples of city assets re-purposed across Ballarat.

This includes the historic Gatekeepers’ Cottage relocated back to the gardens where it first stood and where now, Friends of Ballarat Botanical Gardens were modifying it into a children’s educational centre.

There are also the street light fittings that flank Ballarat Town Halls’ grand front doors – these were repaired and relocated from the Bridge Mall.

Cr McIntosh was a key driver in the formation of an assets list for the City to keep close track on its $1.6 billion in infrastructure in a bid to maximise asset lifespan.

Personally, Cr McIntosh and City chief Justine Linley also enjoy a morning coffee from their reusable cups.

For help: http://www.getitrightbinnight.vic.gov.au/what-can-i-recycle