Making Plarn to Help the Homeless

With living in Ohio you know that we get all 4 seasons and for the homeless that can be tricky with sleeping outdoors. They lay on the grounds in the rain and snow which leaves their bodies pron to getting sick easily. Some of the ladies from my church has started making sleeping mats for the local homeless out of Plarn. Since these mats are made out of re-purposed plastic store bags it gets the homeless off the ground. The mats are more comfortable then sleeping on the ground for the homeless as well. The mats also create a barrier between the ground and the body, to help retain body heat while sleeping. Which will also help the homeless from getting sick as easily.

Finished Mat

How to Create the Plarn (plastic yarn)

Take 4 grocery bags and flatten them

Fold in half long ways twice

Cut off handles and seam

Fold in half and cut

Fold in half again and cut

You should have 4 pieces per bag

Open each piece and tie to the next bag with a loop tie

Roll into ball

There are many different projects you can use Plarn for but our main focus right now is helping the needy in our community by creating the sleeping mats. These mats make a great service project and you can find the patterns online by doing a simple search for "Plarn Sleeping Mat".  I do not know how to crochet so I have been helping by making the Plarn for the ladies to use. 

If you are looking for a service project to do I would highly recommend looking into making the sleeping mats!