What to do with all those bags?

For those of you interested in repurposing all those plastics bags you get when you go grocery shopping rather than just throwing them away and harming the environment and sea life, take a look: (Sorry, it seems I don't know how to upload videos either, but I learned how to include hyperlinks!)

Sewing with plastic - (you can fast forward to 1:40 - 4:44 min. if you don't want to watch the full video.) It basically explains how to cut, iron, and then sew the sheets of plastic into items such as reusable shopping bags. I tried this once but I couldn't get the heat at the right level to properly fuse the plastic together.

Making plarn - (very quick, 52 sec. only) A quick slideshow of pictures that shows you how plastic bags can be turned into plarn (plastic yarn). Plarn can then be used in place of regular yarn and since it is much more durable, you can make nice reusable bags out of them as well as various other items. The user in this video has turned the plastic into a very durable twine like material. There are also other methods for making plarn, some may be easier than others.

Example of Bags made from Plarn - Skip to around 2:50 min for a very beautifully crocheted example of bags that can be made out of plarn.

Just wanted to share a few ideas for all those plastics bags. Another simple way is to recycle them at locations that accept bags with the recyclable logo on them. Or use them as trash bags rather than buying them.

Sad Fact: "Over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute globally."

Gut Wrenching Fact: "Marine wildlife mistakes plastic bags for food and dies."

Frustrating Fact: "Supermarkets and politicians will take years to sort it out."

- Taken from morsbags.com, a site whose message is to: "make your own cotton morsbags and distribute - each one has the potential to eliminate 100's of plastic bags over its' lifetime." They encourage volunteers to make bags in pods, sort of like a tupperware party with sewing machines and fabric.