Plarn is an upcycle process that starts as a plastic grocery shopping bag and ends-up as a practical material with imaginative uses.

Hannah Gray remembers, as a 6-year-old Girl Scout, watching videos of sea turtles getting stuck in plastic. It was an image that has remained with her, even now as a first-year art teacher at The Cornerstone School in Ocala.

When Gray began researching a STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, art and math) project for the nonprofit school’s 260 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, she considered earth-friendly projects that would teach local and global conscientiousness. She recalled the environmentally-conscious videos of her youth, but wanted a project where students of all ages could contribute.

That was when she discovered plarn.


"Upcycle" is defined by Merriam-Webster as to recycle something in a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item; to create an object of greater value from a discarded object of lesser value.

In the case of plarn, the handles and bottoms of the plastic bags are cut off and each bag is cut up the middle. The plarn, or plastic yarn, can be cut into strips and be crocheted or looped, stretched and molded into reusable objects such as market bags, floor mats and even outdoor structures.

Gray and her students decided to create enough plarn to make three sleeping mats that would be donated to charity and a teepee that would remain on the school grounds. Thousands of used grocery bags were collected through Publix Super Markets and Cornerstone families and staff members.

“We have a community circle here where we all get together as an entire school,” Gray said.

“The kids were realizing that they could take something that would normally be thrown away and actually build something that they could use and play with,” she added.

The group determined that crocheting the items would be time consuming so the eighth grade classes built wooden looms to use during the plarn-making process.

Once the plarn was created, it took five hours to craft one mat, with all three mats made at one time.

The teepee took approximately 2,500 bags and 40 hours of work to build.

“It’s been an undertaking, but the kids have loved being able to play in it now. Every day, they would ask, ‘Is it finished? Can we get inside of it yet?’ It’s been fun,” Gray said.

According to National Geographic Society calculations, “a trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year, with an average ‘working life’ of just 15 minutes.”

The Center for Biological Diversity estimates the average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year.

Hannah Glore is an eighth-grade student at The Cornerstone School.

“I feel like this experience helped us a lot because we can reuse and recycle so many things and making something out of it,” she said. “It also helped with teamwork.”

Madie Siemer, also in eighth grade, is eager to give the mats to someone in need.

“They’re actually really strong and comfortable,” she said.

“I was surprised how long it took to make because when we were learning about it you think it’s going to be really easy, but it does take a lot of detail and focus,” she added.

Gray views this project not only as one with environmental ingenuity, but also as a community outreach. The students will tour the Dignity Center and then the three mats will be donated to a local assistance organization.

The Dignity Center, which operates as Wear Gloves Inc., assists homeless and in-need individuals by providing work opportunities rather than traditional donations.

“Working hard at something that you’re going to be able to give away is hard to do if you’ve just spent hours on something,” Gray said. “They want to hand it somebody because they have put their heart and time and sweat into this. That is what they’re most excited about.”