Upcycling Plastic Bags into Marketable Green Products

Monica McGinnis is doing her part to keep plastic bags out of local landfills; she gives them a new life by crocheting them into purses, place mats and other handcrafted goods. Her craft is reminiscent of the rag rugs our great grandmas made by weaving or crocheting strips of old clothing. Of course past generations didn't call it upcycling, but the idea was the same. They reused instead of discarding, a concept Monica believes in so strongly, she's polished it into a modern green craft.

When I met Monica, like many artisans at the Cincinnati street festival that day she was working her craft, passing time during a lull in customers. Her fingers were steady and her needlework was precise and even. Her craft mastery triggered my curiosity; so I scanned the upcycled items in her booth, and tossed out a few questions: These are upcycled? How do you do this? What's your name? May I write about you? Such attention can disrupt an artisan's creative flow; but Monica kept her fingers moving, answered all of my questions, and didn't drop one stitch.

From Plastic to Plarn to Purses

Monica loves to reuse things; and upcycling plastic bags places her in the midst of a flourishing green arts and crafts trend that relies on that thrifty habit. Her process is simple: cut plastic strips, connect the pieces and you have plastic yarn aka plarn. Monica then rolls her plarn onto spools crafted from other salvaged items. Using ordinary crochets needles she crafts her plarn into finished goods.

Most plastic bags are white or military beige; so Monica blends in threads of traditional yarn for a wide range of color and texture enhancements.

Selling Upcycled

In addition to selling at Cincinnati events, Monica markets her unique green products at a few local stores and on moniquescreations.etsy.com. On Etsy, she stocks several items, takes special orders and also sells rolls of ready made plarn.

Source:

Interviews: May 9, 2010 & July 11, 2010
moniquescreations.etsy.com.
Rug Maker's Homestead: http://www.netw.com/rafter4/history.htm