SOWEGA turning plastic bags into resource for homeless

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Americans throw away 100 billion bags annually, according to Earthday.Org. But with a technique of peg looming, volunteers at the SOWEGA Council on Aging are able to turn them into reusable resources, such as mats for the homeless.

“I come over here two, three times a week to play,” said Hazel Neal, a SOWEGA volunteer.

The program started last year with over 30,000 plastic bags being converted into sustainable mats. Each plastic bag is processed into strips to make plarn balls, which ultimately helps avoid more bags going to the landfill or even worse — the streets.

“It takes a large number of bags to make one mat. And then the time, the process. It takes, you know, anywhere from a week to a month. We’ve produced about ten mats,” said Sarah Bass, SOWEGA Americorps/RSVP coordinator. “We’ve probably been through 20 to 30,000 bags.”

The group is on track to produce 10 more mats this year to give back to someone in need. This may seem like a small number but the plastic mat can mean the difference between someone sleeping on cold concrete or a cushion of material.

“We’re trying to get as many as we can in and recycle them because we’ve gone through a lot of bags in the last year,” Neal said.

The mats are not only a way for those that are homeless to get off the ground when they sleep. The plastic material attracts fewer bugs, is easier to clean and is lighter to carry around. Making life on the streets a little bit easier.

“I’m actually looking forward to being able to see someone walking down the street with one of these mats because then I’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, we made that for them.’ and you know that gives you a wonderful feeling,” Neal said.

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