I first heard of this several years ago when I was working on the Navajo rez. There were a group of ladies who would get together one Saturday every month and knit bags made from plastic grocery bags. (Bags from Walmart were especially valued and collected from the neighborhood because they were a nice blue color.)
They were great bags to use for shopping or swimming since they were waterproof and could be thrown away (or recycled, if your town allows it; there were no such amenities there, unfortunately) once they were used up.
Since then, making crafts out of recycled bags has come a long way. I’ve knitted but am not much of a crocheter, but these crafts sure make me motivated to improve my skills. Some links below come with tutorials, some are just pics, but they all put to shame the plain plastic bag I knitted a couple of months ago!
- The easiest way to make a ball of plastic bag “yarn”: The is the basis for all these projects, whether knitted or crocheted, and this method cuts down on cutting and scissor-work, believe me.
- A crocheted grocery clutch
- A knitted grocery clutch
- A very pretty yellow backpack
- Move over Tevas: Crocheted sandals
And finally, here’s someone in India who’s making seriously beautiful loomed bags, and helping out the local community by employing locals and getting rid of those eyesore piles of plastic. They’re so finely made that you’d never be able to tell their original source!
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