Upcycling Plastic Bags for Relief, Aid, and Development
The world consumes between 500 billion and 1 trillion polyethylene plastic shopping bags every year [1]. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 per day and often cannot afford even the most basic necessities [2]. What if we could find a way to use the almost limitless resource of plastic bags to provide things like tarps for emergency shelters or shoes to help prevent elephantitis or fishing nets for subsistence fishing?
This project aims to show that plastic bag waste has the potential to provide material resources to people living in poverty throughout the world and in doing so, also eliminate some of the plastic polluting the environment and causing health hazards to humans and animals.
Using only plastic waste and implements available in any setting, you can strengthen plastic bags into a useable textile (either yarn or fabric), and then use knitting and fusing methods to create useful products. Plastic bags are a resource that are both free and abundant in every part of the world. Upcycling is possible even in the most resource poor settings. Fusing requires only heat, something that holds heat, and paper or something else that will not stick to plastic – the simplest form of this is a metal cooking pot heated over fire and a paper bag or other paper trash. Knitting requires two sticks with pointy ends of similar size. Anyone can do it and with a little practice: it is easy to tailor knitting or fusing projects to a specific need.
All information and designs on this website are provided as open source information. Please pass this on and share it!
[1] Clapp, J., & Swanston, L. (2009). Doing away with plastic shopping bags: International patterns of norm emergence and policy implementation. Environmental Politics, 18(3), 315-332.
[2] United Nations. (2010). The Millennium Development Goals report. Geneva.
This project aims to show that plastic bag waste has the potential to provide material resources to people living in poverty throughout the world and in doing so, also eliminate some of the plastic polluting the environment and causing health hazards to humans and animals.
Using only plastic waste and implements available in any setting, you can strengthen plastic bags into a useable textile (either yarn or fabric), and then use knitting and fusing methods to create useful products. Plastic bags are a resource that are both free and abundant in every part of the world. Upcycling is possible even in the most resource poor settings. Fusing requires only heat, something that holds heat, and paper or something else that will not stick to plastic – the simplest form of this is a metal cooking pot heated over fire and a paper bag or other paper trash. Knitting requires two sticks with pointy ends of similar size. Anyone can do it and with a little practice: it is easy to tailor knitting or fusing projects to a specific need.
All information and designs on this website are provided as open source information. Please pass this on and share it!
[1] Clapp, J., & Swanston, L. (2009). Doing away with plastic shopping bags: International patterns of norm emergence and policy implementation. Environmental Politics, 18(3), 315-332.
[2] United Nations. (2010). The Millennium Development Goals report. Geneva.