by Lara Neel, Trade Marketing Manager
Earth Day was, of course, April 22, but this year’s message really translates into something you can do every day: reduce plastic waste. The best way to deal with plastic waste is to use less plastic in your daily life. However, for plastic bags that have already entered your home, there are some ways to put it to good use. Many of those ways use plarn.
From plastic bags to plarn
One Plastic Bag inspired me to look for crafty projects that reuse plastic bags. In short, “plarn” is yarn made from plastic (usually, plastic bags). There are plenty of projects for it, once you start looking! Here’s a short list, but I’m sure you can find more, if you look around online, too.
Plarn jump ropes (no crafting experience needed!)
Plastic Bag to Jump Rope: All you need is plastic bags, duct tape, scissors and a little time!
Crochet projects
Recycle Plastic Bags into Purses (video): This step-by-step video shows how the women of Njau, Gambia recycle plastic bags into beautiful purses.
Toy Plarn Ball: This would be a nice project to start out getting used to crochet. If it ends up bigger or smaller than you wanted, no one will know!
Recycled Plastic Bag Sandals: I love these sandals! They’re basically wearable crochet art. Once you’ve mastered the pattern, you should be able to change the size to fit anyone.
Knit or crochet a mat
The Savvy Age: Discover how to make a mat as a community service project to support the homeless population, using either crochet or knitting.
Read more
One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
This picture book features a true story that will inspire young readers to try plarn crafts. In Njau, Gambia, discarded plastic bags littered the roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. But Isatou Ceesay found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. Her story shows how one person’s actions can make a difference.
rochellegwrites
thanks for this post! we are planning on making plarn sit-upons with our girl scout troop next month, so this is a perfect resource :).
humi romb
One solution that I would like to highlight is the use of recycled plastics. Companies like Raw tech trade are doing their part by providing a marketplace for buying and selling recycled plastic materials. By supporting this marketplace, we can help promote the use of recycled plastics and reduce our reliance on virgin plastics.
carolhinz
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with recycled plastics!