Maybe you were walking down the street, minding your own business and watching your feet to make sure you didn't trespass on one of those highly dangerous 'cracks', when something you least expected - like a large building, or a lamp post - jumped out of its way so that you walked right into it. Maybe you were walking across the lawn, looking to clean up those pesky autumn leaves, when that rake you couldn't find was suddenly caught under foot and snapped up and whacked you in the face. (Yes, I know it's from cartoons, but I've actually done it and I bet others have too! Right?) Or perhaps, unsuspectingly, you approached the cupboard, not knowing the dangers that lay within!
Just moments ago, I came home with a bag of groceries, having forgotten (as always) to bring along the many recyclable fabric bags that I've bought in the past to avoid having to use those little white ones. After putting my groceries away, I went to put the plastic bag up in the cupboard where we kept the others. I should have heard the eerie Hollywood music telling me a disaster was approaching, but as like happens in the movies, I was oblivious. When I opened it, I was rained upon by endless white plastic bags. I bet we have hundreds of them! I was covered with a mountain of bags that made it look like my kitchen was made of white plastic poofy clouds.
Plastic take hundreds - up to a thousand - years to degrade. (Although thanks to this kid, we may speed that up.) So in the meantime, what do we do with them? This endless plastic resource? Did you know that between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed each year? That means we all have a lot of plastic bags shoved in the random corners of our kitchens. Well, how about a few fun and funky suggestions for these nuisances?
HAVE A PARTY! I'm serious, I've done this one! Throw an -anything but clothes, recycle!- party! That means everyone has to show up in costumed made from recycled things they've found around the house. (A tip: if you put a piece of cloth over the bag seams and then iron them, you can bond them together! Below is a picture from our anything but clothes party earlier this year, it was a big hit!)
Need another one? With those bigger, more durable bags, you can make yourself a waterproof coat, which I think is wicked original and surprisingly stylish! This way, you're wearing a unique and sweet piece of gear that's sure to get you noticed.
Want some more? This website has tons of cool ideas - the wallets, for example, are pretty sweet. And we live in Alberta, right? What's better than a kite?
http://artontherun.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/5-things-to-do-with-plastic-bags/
And failing that, they are recycable if you take them to your local depot and toss them in with the plastics. But it's definately way sweeter to make them into something fun! Do it on a rainy day, or maybe as a fun and creative little project for your and your sweetheart. So what do you think? Think you'll give it a shot? Or maybe suggest it to someone you know that has a billion bags hanging around? Do -you- have any ideas that might be fun?
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