Pennybag, 2019

60% of 1p and 2p coins are only used once, being lost to piggy banks, sock drawers, the sofa and even the bin. Nowadays, with the rise of inflation, it is merely impossible to actually buy anything outright with a 1p or 2p coin. It seems that these coins are now so worthless, people are resorting to putting them in the bin. 8% of pennies are actually thrown away per year.

As of 2019, there are approximately 16.8 billion pennies in use across the UK, not to mention those that are lost. With a 1p coin weighing 3.56g and a 2p coin weighing 7.12g, this would amount to an enormous weight.

I propose that these pennies are repurposed into sandbags for Britain’s flood control, running under the UK Pennybag Scheme.

Each household will receive a Pennybag pack in the post, including an official letter from the government, detailing the scheme, an A1 poster, explaining how the scheme works, as well as envelopes for sending the coins to the Pennybag Manufacturing Facility, where they will be repurposed into sandbags.