How to recycle, reuse & crochet with plastic bags

Our modern world is packed with plastic. Everything’s wrapped in the stuff, often unnecessarily so. The problem is of course the rubbish and our very poor management of that, but there are some plastic bags we can recycle and reuse yet many don’t know. We can choose to recycle them or turn them into plarn and reuse them.

Go check your bread bags. Here in the UK they can be recycled with plastic bags. Seriously who knew about this? I don’t think anyone knows. I didn’t until I started thinking about reducing and reusing plastic in my crafts. But here’s what’s on the back of my bread bags.

So we CAN (apparently) recycle if only we know about it and want to of course. There are plenty other plastic bags with the same message on, so do check if you want to keep some plastic out of landfill in the hopes that these big supermarkets really do recycled them of course.

A super alternative is to turn them into Plarn (plastic yarn) and knit, crochet or weave with them to make all kinds of sturdy and useful things. It makes great strong bags and baskets that last for years and years. And the really great thing is you’ll need loads of bags to make anything. So the impact is potentially massive, not just for your own rubbish reduction but you can collect bags from neighbours and friends, even set something up with a local school or cafe to make a bigger community impact. Updated 2025: I did this in my local community before covid attacked and made a number of bags from them. It was really well supported by the community, even if some people probably thought I was crackers!

Making plarn is really easy. You can use thin plastic carrier bags too, not just bread bags. Fancy giving it a go? Read my post how to make plarn.

Crocheting with it is, well I’ll be honest, a bit of a chore. It’s hard on your hands and you need a strong hook too. But bare with me here, while I would not recommend it if you have arthritic hands, it’s easily manageable in small bursts. Please take note of that last part and take it slow and in small bursts to ensure you don’t hurt yourself.

Now don’t be disheartened. It’s ok, because getting a good supply of bags may take time. So it’s ideal to just make more plarn as you get the bags and create a row or two at a time. To give you an idea of the scale of working with plarn, this is a bag project at the early stages of making the base.

Can you guess how many bread bags I’ve used here? Eight … yup it’s going to take ALOT of bags to make a lovely big shopper style bag. But how good will it feel to proudly use this bag knowing it stopped x hundred bread bags going in the bin. Pretty awesome 😀 Update: September 2025 – I should have popped back a looooong time ago to tell you how many bags I used for my bag and to show you the bag!!! Here it is in another post.

What can you make with plarn?

Bags of all kinds and baskets are always going to be perfect for making with plarn, Here’s some ideas for you. Most are free patterns. Update September 2025 – I still haven’t written my bag patterns up sorry but I’ve checked these links are still good. Check out my Pinterest Boards: Plastic Bag Crafts and Eco Friendly & Recycled Crafting for loads more ideas.

This plarn beach bag or shopper is so pretty isn’t it?

These easy Recycled Bags are a free download on Ravelry and the pattern includes 2 sizes.

A yarn bowl, we all need at least one of these!

There’s lots of choice out there, you really can make all manner of things from plarn. You can even just work with your fav patterns with a little adapting.

Have fun and feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

x💖x