Great idea!

A few weeks ago I was at dinner with an artist friend who told me that she is ironing plastic bags.

The next day I went shopping and found a beautiful round storage container made from old magazine pages that had been folded into strips and glued together. Even though such trifles usually don’t entice me, it was irresistible.

All this was happening while my husband and I were dealing with a broken washing machine. Seven years old, it sprung a leak. Investigation led him to the conclusion, confirmed by a plumber, that a hose connection could not be replaced and we needed to buy a new machine. The mystery question remains: Why couldn’t a simple hose connection be replaced? Since no one seemed to be able to provide an answer, either of a mechanical or philosophical nature, off to the junk heap or landfill went the washing machine.

The very next day my husband took inventory of his winter shoes. After numerous phone calls and research he discovered that his favorite old hiking boots could not be resoled.

We live in a throw-away culture. Not many people darn socks or replace lost buttons or even think “fix it” when something is broken. Instead it’s “Toss it and buy a new one.”

So I thought, “Let’s start a movement here in the river valley and beyond to find new, innovative ways to use old things.” I knew that many people have innovative ways to avoid filling up the landfills. I asked around and found I was right.

M. suggests that “unwanted silver CDs can be used on garden fences or in trees to scare off birds and wildlife—they should be able to move a bit and glint in the sun.”

L. says, “Old maple syrup collection containers, the galvanized kind, can be re-fashioned into birdhouses.” She weaves old newspapers into tablemats and floor coverings.

Those noxious plastic bags find new, useful life rewoven or crocheted into permanent tote bags. H. has one that his significant other made and he says he uses it every day. I googled using the words “crochet plastic bags” which resulted in numerous sites with fabulous designs for plastic bags as well as patterns for things like hats, purses, backpacks, doormat rugs and pot scrubbers. Who knew?

K. and her daughter are making interesting bags from fused supermarket bags. The process that my artist friend D. is also experimenting with “involves ironing the bags together until they form a thicker ‘skin’ which can then be sewn or fused into something else.” D. reports that the ironing does “not seem to off-gas when heated.” The resulting material “shrinks down to a small size, and can be very colorful and strong. I made JT a wallet for his metro card.”

B. takes “little chips of soap, too tiny to use in a soap dish and puts them in an old nylon stocking or sock. I knot it and hang it in my shower till every drop of soap is gone. Good to the last soapy drop!” she reports.

Other interesting ideas:

Make scratch pads and phone-message pads out of used office paper.

Line the bottom of cupboards with carpet remnants to prevent scraping of pots and pans and to deaden sound.

And here’s one I thought of while writing this column. Instead of throwing away my chipped dishes, I will break them into shards to line the bottom of planters to aid in drainage.

I didn’t have space to include all of the great ideas you shared with me, so look for more in a future column.

Marcia Nehemiah