For the past decade, Esther has also been quietly building One Planet Bags from her home in Perth, a purpose-driven business creating handmade bags from recycled plastic bottles while providing sustainable income for women in her village in Indonesia.
What started in 2015 as a way to support her sister and extended family during difficult financial times has since grown into a small but meaningful enterprise employing 20 women.
“I started One Planet Bags because my sister and family in our village were struggling to provide food every day and were finding it hard to send their children to school,” Esther said.
The bags are crafted using an innovative process where discarded plastic bottles are melted down into strips before being handwoven into durable bags by local women working from home.
Before joining the business, many of the women relied on seasonal farm work, often earning as little as $10 a day.
“Now they are able to earn enough income while still taking care of their children at home,” Esther said.
“At the moment we have 20 ladies crafting bags for One Planet Bags, which is such a blessing for me to see.”
The photo above is Esther’s sister and the youngest of her four children. “This is exactly why I am so committed to One Planet Bags; my family and many others in the village depend on this business for their livelihood.”
“To give you a better idea of our operations, our crafters produce approximately 500 bags every month. We currently supply two distributors in Australia and one in New Zealand.”
“We have actually produced personalised bags for real estate networks including Ray White New Zealand and Harcourts New Zealand for their client gift hampers”
For Esther, the business has always represented something much bigger than fashion or sustainability.
“This is not only about helping my family and people in my village, but also about empowering women to become more independent while still being present for their families,” she said.
“That is one of the main reasons why I will never stop making these bags.”
Esther said balancing motherhood, a real estate career and a growing side business would not have been possible without the support of her workplace.
“Working with Ray White has also been such a blessing for me,” she said.
“Ray White is very family-oriented, understanding, flexible and supportive. As a single mum from a different country, the support from my team has meant so much to me.”
“The flexibility allows me to still do school drop-offs and pick-ups for my children while continuing to work on my side hustle after work hours.”
Today, One Planet Bags continues to grow through a simple but powerful mission, creating opportunities for women while helping reduce environmental waste.
“For me, One Planet Bags is not only about creating something better for our environment and for our children’s future,” Esther said.
“It’s also about women empowering women in my village.”
