Mats made from milk bags and shipped to Haiti

AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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I think I've mentioned once or twice that I volunteer at the senior centre in my home town. Many of our ladies knit and sew items to be sold in our craft store in order to raise money to keep the centre going.

Last year before the Earthquake in Haiti the ladies were busy crocheting mats made from the other plastic bag which holds three smaller bags of milk. We're told that these mats are shipped to Haiti for children and adults to sleep on and are more sanitary than cloth because they can be easily washed and do not hold bugs and insects.

Since the earthquake there's a bigger push to get these mats made. My grandchildren at school are collecting and cutting strips to be sent out to those that make these mats.

I myself have made a few of these and the whole time I'm crocheting the only thing that comes to mind is, I wonder who the genius was that came up with crocheting our garbage out of this country?

Wouldn't the plastic stick to a person in hot sticky weather and God forbid if the mat ever caught fire.

Ok so after all this hot air what I'm asking is if anyone has actually seen any of these mats in Haiti or knows if they are reaching anyone there.

To give you a better idea here is an article on the subject.

CRAFTIVISM: Crocheting Recycled Plastic for Kids


Your thoughts?
 
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mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
Anna - WHAT a great project!

I would be interested to learn WHAT group in Haiti the mats are being shipped to? Then perhaps we can get the feedback on them....] The shipping route is very important - as the costs of getting anything to Haiti are very high;, and the taxes are high as well unless you are coming through an NGO....

I did a book collection and we were trying to get the books shipped from Miami and it was a nightmare.

So theoretically, the idea that they are packed around other things - is great.

As you may have seen from the Q&A the milk bag is a particularly Canadian thing which we do not have in the US or the DR.... I wonder how it works with plastic bags?

And I think that it is really a very good idea since it is certainly better than the floor - and can dry easily.... if you have a sheet, then you just put it over that..

think Yoga mat

(I confess that I use the yoga mat here as a bedroom rug since the tile floors are sooooo hard)