reduce, reuse, and recycle

Now, isn’t this just the most unique crocheted bag ever? I crocheted it from plastic grocery bags!  It’s intended to be a lunch bag and it’s actually pretty sturdy!! It will be great for the smaller items at the farmers market this summer, or beachy fun. You cut the plastic grocery bags into strips to make “plarn” and crochet away!  I found the project in AwareKnits: Knit and Crochet Projects for the Eco-Conscious stitcher, {thank you library!} which is bursting with great ideas for creative, environmentally sound projects.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the kids and I are making an effort to be more conscious of what we CAN do to make a difference in our environment this summer. Remembering to bring in our reusable totes for groceries, taking the train downtown instead of driving, riding our bikes instead of driving when we can.  I want to make the transition to cloth napkins and even reusable sandwich and snack bags! I made up enough reusable sandwich bags for all of us to use on a picnic … there’s a chance we could do an entire picnic with no waste at all! Who needs to find a garbage can when there’s nothing to throw away! I found a pattern for them here, though I made mine bigger to accommodate sandwiches. These are cute too, though they are not lined so would not be great for pb & j sandwiches or ham with mayo – I think it would seep through the fabric without some sort of lining … but they are cute!

I knew the boys wouldn’t be so into “cute” so I chose a couple of black prints for them that look skater/urban/boy friendly. They like ‘em! All of them are lined with rip-stop nylon so they are food friendly, wipe-able, and washable. The tops are all equipped with a secure strip of velcro to keep all of its contents inside.  I’m hoping by fall I’ll have enough made up to last them the whole week of lunches.  We’ll see … for now, this is a good start.