20150902 - Bag Ladies (MA)

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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com Betty Reckwerdt holds a mat crocheted out of plastic bags on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 at her home in Island Lake. Reckwerdt and others retrieve plastic bags from Heinans and Island Foods which have collection bins in their stores then sort the bags by color and thickness. The bags are flattened then cut into strips and rolled into a ball of "plarn", or plastic yarn, to be crocheted on the 4th Tuesday of each month at Transfiguration Church. Approximately 200-300 bags are needed to make just one 2' by 3' mat, which is then donated to PADS to be distributed to area homeless.

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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com Betty Reckwerdt sits on her porch, flattening and folding plastic bags on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 at her home in Island Lake. Reckwerdt and others retrieve plastic bags from Heinans and Island Foods which have collection bins in their stores then sort the bags by color and thickness. The bags are flattened then cut into strips and rolled into a ball of "plarn", or plastic yarn, to be crocheted on the 4th Tuesday of each month at Transfiguration Church. Approximately 200-300 bags are needed to make just one 2' by 3' mat, which is then donated to PADS to be distributed to area homeless.

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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com Betty Reckwerdt inventories a mountain of plastic bags filling up her garage on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 at her home in Island Lake. Though about half of her garage is full and space overflows onto her porch, the quantity of bags will only create about 20 mats. Reckwerdt and others retrieve plastic bags from Heinans and Island Foods which have collection bins in their stores then sort the bags by color and thickness. The bags are flattened then cut into strips and rolled into a ball of "plarn", or plastic yarn, to be crocheted on the 4th Tuesday of each month at Transfiguration Church. Approximately 200-300 bags are needed to make just one 2' by 3' mat, which is then donated to PADS to be distributed to area homeless.

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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com Sherri Burn crochets a 2 foot by 3 foot mat out of plastic bags on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 in Island Lake. Burn, her aunt Betty Reckwerdt and others retrieve plastic bags from Heinans and Island Foods which have collection bins in their stores then sort the bags by color and thickness. The bags are flattened then cut into strips and rolled into a ball of "plarn", or plastic yarn, to be crocheted on the 4th Tuesday of each month at Transfiguration Church. Approximately 200-300 bags are needed to make just one 2' by 3' mat, which is then donated to PADS to be distributed to area homeless.

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Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com Sherri Burn, left, crochets a mat out of plastic bags on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 while her aunt Betty Reckwerdt becomes emotional thinking about her mother, Justyna Davis, who passed away and was the start of their bag recycling hobby. Reckwerdt and others retrieve plastic bags from Heinans and Island Foods which have collection bins in their stores then sort the bags by color and thickness. The bags are flattened then cut into strips and rolled into a ball of "plarn", or plastic yarn, to be crocheted on the 4th Tuesday of each month at Transfiguration Church. Approximately 200-300 bags are needed to make just one 2' by 3' mat, which is then donated to PADS to be distributed to area homeless.