I like to keep ya’all informed of how to incorporate the 3 R’s {say it with me: Reduce, reuse, recycle} into your daily routine. We have discussed reusable lunch bags and containers. I have even given a little shout out to fun water bottles that are eco friendly. Today I decided to do a little Google search on “how to reuse a plastic bag”. Wow! I found some super cool ideas. The following is a tutorial on how to fuse plastic bags. You can make them into so many cool totes. And guess what? They are ONE OF A KIND people!! You make em your way. I can only imagine the compliments one would get on these bags.

I found this one on Etsy {again, I heart Etsy!!!} The sellers name is RaspberryLatte. You can find this bag by clicking here.

So here is the tutorial if you’d like to make a tote of your own.

What you’ll need
Plastic bags (thin, flimsy ones work best)
Parchment paper, freezer paper or plain old copier paper
Iron (and your favorite ironing surface)

Making it, photos and tutorial courtesy of Etsy Labs Archive.

Flatten out the bag and trim the bottom seam and handles off. This allows the bag to be opened up into a larger rectangle of plastic.

Turn the bag inside-out if it has printing on it. Once the ink heats up, it comes off the bag and makes a huge mess. If the bag has an interesting design that you’d like to preserve, try using a clear plastic bag layered on top of the printed one.
We find that between 6-8 layers of plastic gives the best results. So, you can either fold your bag twice until it is 8 ply thick, or use three or more bags layered on top of one another. Trying to fuse less than 6 layers often results in little holes forming in the finished piece and a generally weaker material.
Sandwich your plastic bags between the parchment paper

Next, run a hot iron (we set ours to “Rayon”, but you will need to experiment a little to see what works for you) and keep the iron moving constantly. Make sure to get the edges, and after about 15 seconds, flip it over and iron the opposite side for a few seconds.

Peel a corner of the paper back to see if the plastic is fused together. It should be fairly smooth and “one sheet” to the touch (watch out, its a little hot). If the layers are not all melted together, iron it some more.


Peel the parchment paper away from the finished plastic sheet. Voila. Now, you can use this stuff to make a million things. We’ve made re-usable grocery totes, wallets, and floor cushions; I think its an inexpensive way to make waterproof linings for beach bags and makeup clutches.

What do you do with your old bags?? Recycle please