Environmental activist Eradajere Oleita is making a difference in Detroit. Helping the homeless stay warm during the winter, she’s turning old potato chip bags into sleeping bags. 

The 25-year old activist was inspired by a video she saw online of a French woman creating sleeping bags out of vacant snack pouches. After that, she started collecting potato chip bags and built a website to collect more. 

Oleita told CNN how she makes the sleeping bags, “The process is simple: collect bags, cut them open, iron them and then line with plastic,” she said.

She revealed that the bag’s foil lining mirrors body heat. In addition, the sleeping bags are waterproof and very lightweight. To create a single sleeping bag, it takes about 150 old potato chip bags.

Oleita was born in Nigeria and moved to Michigan as a high school sophomore. She has always had a passion for public service work. For the past four years, she worked as a land and waterworks ambassador at Americorps. 

The sleeping bag project is just one of many efforts that align with Oleita’s other aspirations. “I want people to think about these things and for our products to come full circle. I have never been shy of humanitarian work because firstly I am … a human,” she said. 

To find out more information about the project, visit: https://www.eradaoleita.com/