How Crochet can Reduce Single Use Plastic Waste.

Bringing Your Own Utensils has Never Looked So GOOD!

Do you remember when you were a kid and you always wanted to be first in line?  We all did because we all thought being first was the most important and no one wanted to be last.  The truth is in grade school it didn’t matter who was first as we were all important.   However, when it comes to the three R’s; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, while they are all important, REDUCE is probably the most important.  While all three are necessary in helping our planet, recycle should be your last resort as recycling requires energy.  If we reduce our consumption of items, there’s less to recycle.  And if we reuse what we have, there’s less to recycle.   Less to recycle means less energy used.  While recycling is good, it would be best of we all had less to recycle. Make sense?

So, what’s that got to do with a crochet blog?  Well, I’m passionate about two things, crochet and the Earth.  And when I can combine the two, I’m a real happy camper.  So I’m super excited to share with you how I have figured out how to reduce my use of disposable, single use plastic.

One day I was eating lunch out at one of my favorite casual dining restaurants (Moe’s) and as I was picking up a use once and toss fork, it hit me how wasteful it was.  We all know there’s too much single use plastic trash in this world and I knew I needed to come up with a way to bring my own utensils for this type of dining.  When I got home I pulled out my eyeglass case pattern sample and voila! it was the perfect size.  I placed a variety of forks, spoons and knives in a ziploc bag and placed them in the eyeglass case. The eyeglass case, now a utensil case, went right into my purse.  The plastic bag keeps the utensils clean while the soft cushioning of the crocheted fabric keeps the plastic from breaking.  Going forward, I will always have clean utensils with me and do not have to use the restaurant’s wasteful, disposal utensils. And when I use one of the utensils, I just wrap the dirty part in a napkin and bring it home to wash.  My choice is to use plastic ware in my utensil case, however, you could easily use your regular flatware.  You just may need to make your case a little longer to accommodate the longer knives.

You can find out more about the Eyeglass Case crochet pattern here: Pretty in Pink

Happy Crocheting!
Darleen