Geneva COMMUNITY Health Center

You may have heard about a great new project we are working on with 1JustCity, turning plastic shopping bags into sleeping mats for Winnipeg's homeless. 

These mats are lightweight, quick drying, great insulators and very soft. They also keep hundreds of plastic bags out of our landfills, water ways and natural spaces! 

If you wish to create your own mats, just follow these instructions!

Step 1: Gather as many plastic shopping bags as you can find

Step 2: Turn them into "plarn".

Step 3: Wind your plarn string into a ball to use during crochet. It takes about 500 bags to make a mat, so make as many balls as you can before you start.

Step 4: Crochet!

Crochet the mat into a 3 foot by 6 foot mat. It is a single crochet with a size P or Q Hook. Our crocheters are using the size Q hook. We found the larger the hook, the quicker the process, and we suggest using a size 10 hook or larger.

·         Make a chain 36 inches long which is about 66 chains. Make the loops loose with a little space       

          between each loop.

·         Make an extra loop at the end to use as your turning point.

·         Start at the 3rd loop to make your second row.

·         Continue until the mat is 6 feet long.

·         Crochet from front to back so that it does not pucker up.

·         Crochet 2 rows of a single crochet to form a tie that is 80 inches long. Connect the tie to the mat                 so the mat can be rolled up and carried like a sleeping bag. 

 Step 5: Donate the mat! You can drop them off with 1JustCity, or here at Geneva Community Ministry at 222 Furby Street. You could also donate them to anyone you meet in your travels who might want or need one.