Popular on Patch: Bethlehem Woods Residents Weave Plastic Bags into Mats for Homeless Vets

The "plarn" mats are actually quite soft and in high demand; some residents have taken to the weaving as a permanent hobby.

Bethlehem Woods Residents Weave Plastic Bags into Mats for Homeless Vets

The "plarn" mats are actually quite soft and in high demand; some residents have taken to the weaving as a permanent hobby.

Plastic grocery bags can serve a variety of inventive purposes—small trash-can liners, dog clean-up, quick storage solution—but one that might not immediately occur is soft, portable bedding. That’s how residents at Bethlehem Woods Retirement Community in La Grange Park have been using them this fall, though—not for themselves, but for homeless veterans. The bags are sliced and twisted into “plarn” (plastic yarn,) then woven together to make a surprisingly comfortable sleeping mat. Not only does the project make good recycling of those plastic bags, and for a good cause, but the finished cushiony mats are impervious to weather and bugs; they are extremely popular among those who have received them, organizers said. “This is a project that …

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