Plastic bags transformed into sleeping mats

NEWHALL - Mae Kaestner says it amazes her how fast plastic bags accumulate.

But instead of throwing the bags into the trash or recycling bin, Kaestner and her friends are working to transform them into sleeping mats for the homeless.

Kaestner said she first saw the mats at a national Lutheran Missionary Women's League Convention, and asked for directions on how to make them.

'It's kind of addictive,” Kaestner said of making the mats. 'People are very interested in it. It's free and it's a good project to get rid of plastic bags floating around in the water or whatever.”

Kaestner said to make the mats, one flattens the plastic bags and folds them other a couple of times.

'Then you make cross wise cuts and loops and slipknot loops together,” Kaestner said. That makes ‘plarn,' or plastic yarn, that then is rolled into balls.

Kaestner and friend Betty Moeller then work to crochet the plarn into mats.

'We have about three couples at our church who came to cut and roll,” Kaestner said. 'It takes about six people to keep ahead of one person crocheting.”

Kaestner said she had probably made about seven mats herself, and has spent more time teaching others how to crochet them.

'They are very time consuming,” she said. 'The idea is to get more people involved, and get more people making them.”

As for supplies, Kaestner added she doesn't need to go out of her way to get plastic bags.

'They bring them into church and we get piles of them,” she said. 'Some people think we need to go out and gather them, no, they accumulate real fast.”

Kaestner said the mats are very comfortable, and much more weatherproof than, say, a cardboard box.

'They end up being about 1/2 an inch thick,” Kaestner said. 'They're warm and they keep you dry. They might get wet, but they can dry out again real easily.”