bio: plastic bags

Paper or plastic?

"Cloth, please!" Better than traditional paper or plastic bags, there are now countless wonderful totebags out there. Check out Chico Bags and reusablebags.com to see my personal favorites.

Still you may have hundreds of plastic grocery bags in a drawer somewhere that you want to do something with.

Recycling

Most cities have facilities to recycle plastic bags. In Seattle, plastic bags must be bagged together for recycling. If your curbside service doesn't accept plastic bags, check if your grocery store will. Also you might be able to donate them to thrift stores, food banks, or libraries. (Need plastic bags? Email me)

Plastic bags are normally plastic #2 or #4, and in the absence of a number, bags with similar 'weight' can be recycled together. It's a good idea to shake out bags before recycling, because foreign particles cause problems during the recycling process. Here's a good explanation of the technical recycling plastic details, including what is done with the recycled material

The recycling process itself is unfortunately less than ideal. According to the bag monster blog, "Recycling involves essentially re-melting the bags and re-casting the plastic... according to the U.S. EPA, manufacturing new plastic from recycled plastic requires two-thirds of the energy used in virgin plastic manufacturing. But... the quality isn't quite as good the second time around; the polymer chains often separate, leading to a lower-quality product."

Essentially, plastic bags must be "downcycled" and cannot be used to make new bags.

Sadly plastic bags are not only difficult to recycle, but expensive. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold for $32, according to Jared Blumenfeld (director of San Fran's Department of the Environment).

And, not to be a conspiracy nut, but I've also seen rumors that not all of what we put into the recycling bin is recycled.

Uses

Now to the fun part of the post. I've categorized plastic bag projects based on how they are used. Please send me pictures of your plastic bag projects!

reuse

I've always reused grocery bags as garage bags, but now that I'm phasing them out of my life I use biodegradable bags (which is a whole other can of worms). Rustic Girls has some good simple reuses for plastic bags, including food storage, using in place of packing peanuts, and as a liner for messy jobs.

I saw someone in the park fill a plastic bag with water as a impromptu water bowl for their dogs.

yarn

Plastic yarn is actually quite quick to make and easy to use in crochet or knitting projects (or wherever you might use yarn). Gooseflesh has a clear tutorial.

Personally, I don't like the look of knitted/crocheted plastic yarn because it is stiff and obviously plastic. But t would be good for heavy duty and/or outdoor projects, such as a reusable grocery bag or doormat.


However you can make some really interesting art pieces from plastic yarn, such as this blue sea anemone made by Gooseflesh. There are several other such art pieces by Gooseflesh.

I would encourage crafters to make projects that aren't obviously "trash art." It might be vogue right now, but down the line "trash art" is going to look trashy :-p

Here's another fun project: weaving the plastic yarn into a rug. The final product here is messy, but that doesn't mean that weaving can't be done well.

Using the same cardboard loom technique from the above tutorial, you could make belts, bookmarks, table runners, place mats, or even something more ambitious like window shades.

fused fabric

Some very clever people figured out how to make a fabric like substance by fusing plastic bags together with the iron. Here is a tutorial from jamiewatchthestars. Plastic fabric can be used like normal fabric (in the sewing machine even), but there are some unclear health/environmental risks from the fumes.

There are several cute projects you can make from plastic fabric, such as this rain coat and bag shown on Craftzine. However, the original pigments will be clear in the final product, so you're essentially carrying around a bill board, which would bother me at least :-)


stuffing

One of Rustic Girls ideas was to make a draft stopper by filling a cloth tube with plastic bags to place at the foot of your door. The small cat club used plastic bags to stuff her mice dolls, which are also made from plastic bags (although I can't tell if it's fused or not).

Avoid stuffing toys/pillows intended for small children or pets with plastic bags because they could be a choking hazard.

Last Thoughts

Originally I believed plastic bags were better off being recycled. But after the research I did for this post, I think it's best to reuse plastic bags any way possible and recycle them as a last resort.

I think Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle said it well, when commenting on the recent bag tax/styrofoam ban:

"No other city has done what we're suggesting here. These actions will take tons of plastic and foam out of our waste stream. ... The best way to handle a ton of waste is not to create it in the first place."