Many of us have that bag (or bags) filled with other bags that seem to multiply after trips to the grocery store.
But one Michigan woman is taking the ever-growing pile of shopping bags and making something useful out of them: mats to provide insulation for homeless people.
Deborah Hawley was bored a few years ago when winter weather rolled in.
Looking for something to do, she started watching YouTube, but instead of wasting time watching a million funny animal videos, she found one that taught her a skill — weaving mats out of plastic bags.
She started making them with one goal in mind, to help the homeless.
“It’s really helpful not to have to sit directly on snow, or on cold ground,” Hawley told WZZM.
Hawley though didn’t have enough bags to fill the need, so she reached out to neighbors in her mobile home park.
The student then became a teacher, showing others how to make the mats and donating them to City Impact in Cedar Springs, which distributes them to those who need them.
A quick Google search comes up with various tutorials.
One has more than 3 million views.
Hawley and her friend Ginny Beld say it takes anywhere from 10 to 25 hours to make a single mat.
There’s even a Facebook page that has been started documenting their quest to make the mats.
While Hawley and Beld are able to craft, one group in New York was having trouble.
The state put a ban on plastic bags earlier this year, so Mats for a Mission’s founder was worried about getting her group’s raw materials, Buffalo News reported earlier this year.
Gail Potter asked for donations when the bag ban was going into effect. Her group was able to fill three 10 foot by 10 foot storage units.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, they are still collecting plastic shopping bag donations.
For more information on Mats for a Mission, and to find out if you can help, click here.