Turning Plastic Grocery Bags Into Beds For Homeless

A city worker in Greensboro has found a new way to keep thousands of plastic bags out of the landfill. They're being used to make sleeping mats for some of the community's neediest residents.

Greensboro is launching Operation Bed Roll this week. This is the second year of the program. It teaches people how to turn plastic bags into yarn – or “plarn” – that could be crocheted into sleeping mats.

The idea began with Tori Carle. She's a recycling education specialist with the city. Carle found the technique on social media a couple of years ago and thought she would use it to make portable beds for the homeless.

“I created a design first. I would crochet at local coffee shops and restaurants, even in the waiting room in a doctor's office, if I had an appointment,” says Carle. “Plarn isn't as quiet as yarn is because the plastic bags are crinkly. People would turn around to me and say 'what are you doing?' I would just smile and kind of hope that they would continue talking with me and if they would, I tell them about the program."

Carle says that led to several invitations from local organizations and schools to teach others how to make the beds.

“They're lightweight [and] easy to clean,” Carle says. “They don't attract bed bugs or lice and those are all huge wins for our residents that are experiencing homelessness because those are all struggles that they deal with.”

The process begins with lots of plastic bags. Carle says it takes anywhere from 500 to 700 to make one bed roll. The bags are cut into strips and knotted together, then crafted into a blanket-like sleeping mat with a crochet hook. Her design includes a carrying strap. Overall, the mats weigh around 4.5 to 5 pounds.

Last year, more than 200 sleeping mats were distributed by the Greensboro Police Department and the Interactive Resource Center to homeless residents. The first of several free workshops to teach the public how to make the beds begins Thursday, June 15 at the McGirt-Horton Library in Greensboro.

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