Recycling reimagined: Group makes mats for homeless people from plastic bags
Sandy Turner weaves a mat from plastic bags, paying attention to pattern and color. Photo by Ethan Hunt 
From left: Joan Holmes, Susan Tanguay and Sandy Turner work in assembly line fashion. 
The mats require a simple chain stitch with a crochet hook.
Sandy Turner weaves a mat from plastic bags, paying attention to pattern and color. Photo by Ethan Hunt
From left: Joan Holmes, Susan Tanguay and Sandy Turner work in assembly line fashion.
The mats require a simple chain stitch with a crochet hook.
Every Wednesday a group of people gather in the Multi-Service Center to engage in a revolutionary approach to recycling: weaving sleeping mats out of plastic bags.
The group donates the mats to various organizations who distribute them to homeless people.
The process is simple but the product is extremely useful. Each mat begins as a normal plastic bag. The bag is then cut into strips, those strips are tied together and wrapped into balls which are then woven into mats. Each mat is six feet long by three feet wide.
Sandy Turner has been making them for at least five years, ever since the idea was introduced to her church. The service project took hold and soon the mat makers received permission to use a room in the Multi-Service Center.
Turner said she “couldn’t believe” how much cushion the finished mats provide.
Originally the group donated the mats to organizations in Wareham like Turning Point, but as demand slowed they moved on to Mobile Ministries in New Bedford.
Making mats from plastic bags is not unique to Wareham, organizations across the country have latched onto the idea.
Tuner said the time to make a mat varies.
“It really depends on how long you want to work,” Turner said.
Anyone who would like to join the group can meet them every Wednesday at 1 p.m. in room 208 of the Multi-Service Center.
“When new volunteers come in and they don’t know how to do this yet they might just cut bags,” Turner said.
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