Plastic Bags = Cute Purses?

The plastic bag conundrum is still hovering over Seattle. Should they be banned? Should consumers have to pay for them? Should it be put to a vote?

Many of us try to avoid them altogether, but I still seem to generate a massive amount of plastic bags - from the newspaper, the bagels, the phone book I just received... (Do people still use phone books?!?)
And, of course, there are all those pesky grocery store bags. My talented friend Marelu crochets hers into fun purses. They are so cute, she's even getting requests from her granddaughters for their own! The picture shows what she's made out of her QFC, Fred Meyer, and Safeway bags. Here's a link if you're interested in trying it. Not a bad way to reuse all those bags hanging out in your pantry! For me, I think I'll just keep returning the ones I can't avoid to my grocery store. If you need to find somewhere to recycle plastic bags (or anything else) in your area, try Earth 911.

I've also recently seen an example of this type of reused plastic bag from another country. The SEE turtles conservation project had examples of these same purses that had been hand-made by the women of Changuinola, Panama. The benefits were two-fold: the women were able to generate an income, while the sea turtles were saved from the plastic bags that can ensnare them in the ocean. Stephen had fun just checking out how big sea turtles really are with the life-size example they had on display!