But then Emma Rowley got her hands on them and now they are fashionable handbags.
The Otago Polytechnic Te Pūkenga design (fashion) student said she was rummaging through the Red Cross Op Shop’s shelves as part of an upcycling project for her second-year course, and found several boxes of the gowns.
"The Red Cross Op Shop had been given four boxes of CPE gowns, but who’s going to buy them?
"I chopped the gowns into strips, then rolled the strips into a ball, similar to a ball of wool."
She then taught herself to knit and spent more than 40 hours with needles in hand, upcycling the gowns into fashionable bags.
"I would have liked to make more bags, but it’s quite time-consuming.
"The smaller handbag took more time because the stitches are smaller.
"I think that took a solid week to complete. My hands were so sore from that one.
"Still, it’s been worth it, knowing that I’m re-using this plastic and preventing it going to landfill — giving it a new life."
She was one of many polytechnic design students who collaborated with the New Zealand Red Cross Dunedin Op Shop as part of a four-week course elective called Retooled, which required them to upcycle, remake and add value to unwanted items.
This week, the items were auctioned to raise funds for the New Zealand Red Cross.
Other items auctioned included vintage preschool dresses and matching hats made from old fabric like curtains; and a "funky occasional table" made out of an old wooden sewing table, complete with a top tier fitted with small succulent plants.
Otago Polytechnic School of Design principal lecturer Tracy Kennedy said old clothing, accessories, furniture, homewares and other objects, were retooled, redesigned, recycled and remade into a range of existing products, focusing on design for social good, while incorporating the values of sustainable practice and collaboration.
The event raised more than $1900 for the Red Cross.
