I admit it, I used to be a user… of plastic bags, that is! As a result, I’ve accumulated what feels like hundreds of bags over the years. And I’ve dutifully moved my huge stash with me from apartment to apartment within NYC and now all the way to FL. 

When we first got to Orlando, we didn’t know where we had packed our reusable totes, so we had to resort back to getting bags at the grocery store, but now we’ve got several totes that we use. Sometimes if I forget, I insist on juggling it all in my arms to the car. It’s a pretty funny sight! 

What’s not funny is that only 1 to 3% of plastic bags end up getting recycled. And in fact, many of the bags that are collected for recycling never actually get recycled! They get shipped to countries like India and China, where they get cheaply incinerated under more lax environmental laws. Even if the recycling rate does go up, it doesn’t solve the problem of the use of non-renewable energy and toxic chemicals. So make sure you always have some reusable totes tucked in the trunk of your car or in your bag (they fold up and weigh nothing!). 

So, what’s a girl to do when she already has a whole mountain of bags?! Well, while I was following up on the millions of blogs I subscribe to each day, I stumbled upon the genius idea of crocheting them into plastic bag totes! Being a total newbie hooker (ahem, that’s a crocheter!), I didn’t think I’d have to the skills to get past the part where you cut the bags up, but at my Happy Hooker meetup tonight, two of my friends had made them and they’re newbies too! I was delightfully inspired and will be starting that project soon!

If you’d like to try it too, here are the best instructions I’ve seen for a simple tote: http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/Plastic%20Bag%20tote.html

If you’re more advanced and adventurous, here are some more options:
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/