The green gift that keeps on giving

OK, a bit of Eco talk before I start, plastic bags are really evil, they kill turtles, birds, fish, you name it.. Plastic bags do not recycle very well, they do not disappear, they take hundreds of years to biodegrade and even then the trace amounts of plastic left over can kill.

That is why a fabric or canvas bag keeps on giving, you can make them out of anything and they are really simple to make. They also lasts years upon years, I have a few that I have made that are quite a few years old and still do not show signs of proper wear and tear. They can also be repaired, have you ever heard of anyone repairing plastic bags?

This brings me to this post, I have been invited round for dinner a few places this week and I hope to meet my grandmother this Tuesday as well. That would mean that I can potentially deliver an eco message 4 times this week without even opening my mouth.

Yes, I have decided to give away fabric carrier bags to my friends and family, so that they might be encouraged to get away from the horror of plastic bags. A normal household probably needs about 10 bags and a single person about 5ish, so it is only a start, but I can then get my message across without having to shout at how evil they are for not choosing a green lifestyle.

I must mention now that I am having a hard time catching up with demand, a lot of my family and friends have been asking me if they could possibly have a bag, so here is my first one this week.

It has a single wide handle (2 pieces of fabric sewn together) , and is sewn to be extra sturdy (it has parallel 2 lines of straight stitch and one over sewn line of zig-zagging) on the sides. The pattern is kilt like and the fabric itself is a sling-shot away from being a thin canvas material.

If you want instructions on making one, just look at my rough guide to making one on my green blog.....it is basically the same pattern as a pillow case with the addition of a handle or two.

http://alexsgreenblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/sew-your-own-shopping-bags.html