Reduce, Reuse, Crochet!

One of the great positives to crocheting is that you can make things to help recycle items around your house! In this post I'll show you some projects I've been working on to help reduce, reuse, and recycle, and I'll be linking some free patterns along the way!

The first project I was really excited about was my "plarn" shopping bag. This is SUPER easy to make! And its practically free! Start saving your plastic bags when you go shopping. Any plastic bag will do as long as its clean! (Who wants to crochet with sticky plastic bags? Yuck! Cut em up, using this tutorial for instructions, and make a giant ball of plarn.

Then check out this tutorial on how to make the bag. You can use any pattern you like really. You could make market bags, a rug, coasters. The possibilities are endless!

Another great thing you can do to reduce waste is to use a water bottle instead of plastic bottled water. Don't feel like lugging around a water bottle every where you go? Then this pattern is for you. This water bottle cozy is made using cotton yarn, so it doesn't stretch and absorbs and moisture that might be accumulated from your cool drink. 

Dish cloths are a great easy option for beginners who want to replace their paper towels. Each ball of Lily Sugar n Cream yarn is $1.99 (although sometimes you can find them on sale/clearance for less!) and one of those will make 2 hand sized dish cloths. These are the ultimate multi purpose cloth!! Use them to wipe down your counters and hang to dry for next use. Use dry to do some dusting. Use as a pot holder or trivet! I even use them to wipe my sons face and hands/whole body off after he's done eating. They're THAT soft! (;

Super easy to make as well! Just chain however wide you'd like it to be. You can use many different stitches, but even simple ones like single and double crochets work great. Finish off with a round of single crochet around the edges, doing 3 crochets in each corner, and you're done! Double them up for a nice pot holder or trivet as well (;

Have any more ideas for some recyclable projects? Post your link below!