Recyle craft: Fat Bottom Bags

Guest post generously contributed by Recycle crafter Christi Spangler of FatBottomBags.com (Facebook, Twitter).

Hi everyone!  First off, I’m so honored to be guest posting today on Watchful Eyes Thoughtful Mind. Thanks for the invite Radiance! 

My name is Christi Spangler and I’m an evironmentally concious recycle crafter and founder of FatBottomBags.com a plastic bag recycling project.

FatBottomBags.com was born from my dream of a better world and my desire to find a way to repurpose those problematic plastic carrier bags. My goal was to find some way to utilize this wasted resource while raising awareness about the importance of recycling and the harm that these bags and other plastic debris is doing to our environment. 

A few years ago I began making these reusable bags from “disposables” and selling them locally.  After talking with many other concerned people in my area, I was encouraged to bring the message and these great bags to the internet in order to reach out globally.  So here I am!

I quickly recycled through all of the bags I had collected on my own, so I put the call out to friends, family and other locals to gather up and recycle the plastic bags they might have stashed in drawers and closets.  Now I’m up to 23 families for whom I recycle on a regular basis.  In addition to the locals, I’ve started a couple of recycling exchanges online.  Through the website, I’m collecting colored plastic bags and mesh produce bags for recycling too! 

So far at FatBottomBags.com our efforts have kept over 5000 (and counting) plastic bags from becoming part of the problem in our wastestream.  And that’s just what I’ve recycled from my kitchen table!  In addition, I’m encouraging others to take an active role in recycling too!  I’ve shared my secret with a  DIY video to make your own mesh sided FatBottomBag and I’m blogging about other ways you can make a difference too!  

I love recycling and I love to make a difference in the world.  What I started as a simple closet cleaning has grown into a recycling phenomenon!  Proving my favorite quote, “When we all do our small part, we can (and do) change the BIG picture!”

***Learn more about plastic bags harming the marine environment through these sources:

Disturbing video of whale dying from ingesting plastic bags:

Read about the 7 sperm whales that died in Foggia, Italy from
ingesting plastic bags.

Turtle eating plastic debris: