Unwanted plastic bags finding new lives as handy, sturdy totes

There is something so satisfying about taking an ordinary, utilitarian and ugly object and creating something useful and beautiful out of it. It satisfies both our need to be creative, and our need to make the world around us more beautiful. And that is exactly what Rachel Schell is doing with plastic bags. Like many of us, even though we may carry our own carryalls to the market, Schell had leftover plastic bags around the house. “I went on the Internet and searched for things I could do with plastic grocery bags,” she says. “I came across somebody who was making yarn out of them. I figured a grocery or market tote would be perfect.” After creating a kind of plastic thread or rope out of the bags, she crochets the material into reusable bags. They are attractive, practical and, best of all, a solution for the litter of plastic bags all around us. Each tote is made from 50 bags crocheted together with extra stitching on the top and the handles. They finished product is strong and durable and attractive. “My daughter is my quality control tester,” Schell says. “She shoved four baby dolls in one tote and carried it around all day. She also threw the tote around the house all day, drove over it with a stroller, stepped on it, pulled on it and just abused it in general.” Schell, a photographer who loves to do other forms of arts and crafts, realized she might have come up with an idea that would appeal to others who are also struggling with a way to use or dispose of the bags. “I figured I couldn’t be the only person that has way too many of them,” she says. “Which brought me to the idea that I could offer to make these totes for other people using their own grocery bags. “ Schell will take your plastic and in a day or two return a greener option: a strong tote that will carry groceries home over and over again and not get stuffed into a drawer or dropped on a city street. She also sells them in her Etsy shop. “It really makes me realize how many plastic grocery bags are being thrown away every day,” Schell says. “I like the idea that I can give them a new life. “