Trash to Treasure Project - Turn a Mesh Produce Bag into a Longlasting Dish Scrubber

Today I'll show you how to make your own durable, long lasting scrub pads from mesh produce bags. 

For those of you who know me from Living Green in a Colorful World- a FatBottomBLOG, you are familiar with my recycling efforts and my mission of cutting back on plastic waste.  If you're not familiar with my blog or my recycling project FatBottomBags.com, I started recycling plastic bags several years ago, first for myself, and then on to include 23 families.  Together we've been keeping plastic bags out of the wastestream. 

I became concerned about plastic debris in our eco-system after learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and reading news accounts of marine mammals like these 7 sperm whales that were killed by eating plastic that litters our planet.

So today I try to avoid plastic as much as possible in my daily life, but some times your only options at the grocery store come pre-packaged in some kind of plastic, like these onions in a plastic mesh bag.

Why do they need to package produce in plastic?

I don't know any facilities for recycling for this type of plastic packaging so I found a new use for this trash.  This type of mesh makes a wonderfully useful scrub pad for dishwashing (not recommended for nonstick cookware!) and general cleaning.  The bonus is your finished scrubber lasts longer than those you buy at the store! 

So following the principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recyle.  We're going to reuse these "throw aways".  Here's how you can make your own:

First you will need a plastic mesh bag rescued from the trash, scissors and a G crochet hook.

Cut off the end of the mesh bag.  This will leave you with a wide loop of mesh material.

Starting on 1 end of the mesh loop, cut in a spiral manner to form a mesh "yarn" about 1/2 inch wide.  Continue cutting until you have formed the mesh into one continuous strip of approximately 1/2 inch.

Form a slip knot/loop in one end and insert your G crochet hook. 

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  Row 1:  Chain 4 and connect the first stitch to the 4th stitch with a slip stitch to form a small ring. 
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  Row 2:  Now double crochet in this center ring for 10 stitches.  Connect the first stitch of the row to the 10th stitch with a slip stitch.
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  Row 3:  Chain 2.  In the first stitch from the previous row stitch 2 double crochets.  Repeat around row.  Finish row with a slip stitch connecting the first stitch to the last.
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  Row 4 (and beyond):  Repeat steps from Row 3.  At the end, tie off your work with a secure knot and cut off any tails.

Vioala!  You now have a nifty recyled scrubby pad.  You can toss this in the wash to clean or just hand wash it clean after each use.  I have one that I've been using for pans and another that I use for washing veggies that's lasted for over a year.

Way to go recyclers!