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Thato Kgatlhanye and her school friend pioneered a schoolbag made from plastic shopping bags with built-in solar technology that charges up during the day and transforms into a light at night.[/caption] When South African childhood friends and later entrepreneurs Thato Kgatlhanye and Rea Ngwane finished high school, they knew they wanted to start something that impacted young people and underprivileged communities. At age 18, they founded Rethaka, a social enterprise they hoped would do just that, although it would be two years before they figured out how. "Yes, it is a bit funny that you would register a business without a business idea," notes Kgatlhanye. "But at the heart of it we actually wanted to do great things. And when the idea of the Repurpose Schoolbags came to us, we worked on it tirelessly." Repurpose Schoolbags is an environmentally-friendly innovation made from 'upcycled' plastic shopping bags with built-in solar technology that charges up during the day and transforms into a light at night. The initiative targets school children in underprivileged communities and looks at addressing a number of problems. Firstly, the bags allow them to study after dark in homes without electricity. Secondly, the bags are designed with reflective material, so that children are visible to traffic during their walk to and from school. The production of Repurpose Schoolbags also involves the collection and recycling of plastic bags that typically litter the South African landscape. Introducing a sustainable solution The first eight months of last year were spent piloting the schoolbags, followed by producing 1,000 bags from August to December. The company currently has eight full-time employees in their factory in Rustenburg, but Kgatlhanye says they will employ an additional 12 people this year in order to meet their production target of 10,000 bags for 2015. One of the ways the initiative gets its schoolbags to these children is through targeting corporate social investment budgets where companies can sponsor the production of bags. Each bag costs R250 (US$20), and covers the cost of employee wages and production, so the initiative can remain sustainable and continue to grow. Another model is to produce bags for delegate packs at corporate events where delegates can then choose to give the bag to underprivileged children after events. The company has already gained some major clients, including the likes of Standard Bank and PwC. According to Kgatlhanye, there is room to develop additional products along the same idea, such as raincoats. However, she added this is something the team will think about at a later stage, as they are still trying to ramp-up production of the schoolbags and expand to other communities. More 'social' than 'entrepreneur' While the co-founders (now both 22) have to think like entrepreneurs to ensure the business remains sustainable, Kgatlhanye says becoming an entrepreneur was almost a by-product of Repurpose Schoolbags. She admits that as a kid she never dreamed of owning her own business. "That is not my story." However, from a young age she did realise she wanted to have a positive impact on the society that surrounded her, a trait she owes to her upbringing and particularly her mother. "My mom cares about people like you wouldn't imagine... so I grew up in an environment where I was always conscious of actually caring for other people and having a sense of empathy," she says. "And thank God I had that upbringing - where I could understand there are people out there that don't have as much as I do. And that if I find creative ideas on how to give them what it is they need, then we could both be fine... and brave the world [together]."