Would you like to do something useful with the stash of plastic bags you carry home from the grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target and many other places besides stuffing them into drawers or putting them in the trash and filling up landfills? I have a very useful and creative idea for you.
Several of the ladies at our church are crocheting plastic mats for the homeless to use as a moisture/warmth /comfort barrier between the ground and their sleeping bags. It can make the difference between life and death for these folks. And yes, it is made out of plastic bags. It is amazing how soft and durable they are, plus they are washable. Each mat takes approximately 375 bags-depending on the size of bags.
You can use any lightweight plastic bags including the yellow bag they stuff your newspaper in on rainy days. The short video clip below shows how to cut the bags and join them together into a long yarn. Our ladies use size “N” to “P” crochet hooks. With the “P” hook you start with a chain of 40 stitches across and make it 6′ long.
A completed mat, ready to be delivered.
https://youtu.be/BwYTF07GDP0
If you are interested in crocheting mats, you can google “plastic bag crochet” and find numerous websites that tell you how. Here is one:
http://ext.wvu.edu/r/download/63086
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