Pillow // Claire Mckenna
PLARN. About 500 plastic bags are required to make a mat (this one is unfinished). Pillows can be made with about 300 bags and stuffed with scrap plastic. This pillow was crocheted.
By: Claire McKenna
Staff-Writer
From Feb. 19 to 26, the Criminal Justice Student Organization collected plastic grocery bags to be cut and woven into pillows and mats for homeless individuals. Criminal Justice Professor and Department Chair Stacie Merken heard about the project from the Tangled Threads Group of New Carlisle United Methodist Church and offered to help by collecting bags on campus through the CJSO.
Ella Martin, the CJSO secretary, wrote in a statement to The Preface that the club received about 300 plastic bags during the drive. On Feb. 26, Tangled Threads member and former IU South Bend administrator Karen Christopher visited a CJSO meeting to demonstrate how the church would use the bags to make “plarn” – plastic yarn.
The bags are cut down in order to be woven or crocheted into mats and pillows. At the New Carlisle UMC, Tangled Threads even has a loom to help weave the plarn.
This project was not a novel idea. The Tangled Threads group is dedicated to crafting for charitable causes and has been a part of this project since January. Plastic-bag mats and pillows have been around for much longer – around the late 2000s – as they are a great way to recycle plastic grocery bags and provide hygienic, waterproof and lightweight items.
Unfinished mat // Claire McKenna
When talking to the CJSO club about these mats, Christopher admitted that this was a temporary solution for a very pressing issue.
According to the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority, South Bend’s homeless population last year was 4,584 people, 1,138 of whom were unsheltered. That number has risen significantly since 2023, where 804 people were unsheltered, with a total of 4,398 homeless people in total.
The Tangled Threads group is still accepting plastic bags, volunteers and members to help with weaving. To join, you can find them on Facebook at The New Carlisle United Methodist Church Tangled Threads Group.