Did you know that about half of the plastic produced each year is for single-use products? It’s estimated that four trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually, yet only 1% of these bags are recycled. Even worse, many areas lack the facilities to recycle single-use plastic bags, even if they wanted to. Grocery stores are starting to promote the use of reusable bags for groceries, but they still offer single-use plastic bags in the produce section.

Instead of using single-use plastic at the grocery store, you can make your own reusable produce bags. Here’s how:

Supplies Needed:
– Cotton Fabric
– Ribbon or String
– Safety Pin
– Sewing Machine and Thread
– Sewing Ruler
– Iron

A Note on Fabric:
Use cotton or any breathable, natural fiber. Recycled fabric works well too. You can repurpose old t-shirts, pants, sheets, pillowcases, or any all-cotton items.

Cutting the Fabric:
These bags are easy to customize. Start with two equal-sized rectangles or squares of fabric. Alternatively, you can use one long rectangle piece to save on sewing time. Fold the fabric in half or place the two pieces together with the printed sides facing each other.

Sewing the Bag:
1. Sew up the left and right sides of the bag along the fold with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stopping 2 inches from the top on each side.
2. Fold and iron a 1/4-inch hem around the sides and top of the bag on both sides.
3. Fold down the top seam another 3/4 inch and iron to create the drawstring channel. Sew along the bottom edge of the drawstring channel with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Repeat on the other side.

Threading the Ribbon:
1. Attach a large safety pin to the end of one of your ribbons.
2. Thread the ribbon through the channel on both sides of the bag. Tie knots at the ends of the ribbon.

Your bags are now ready to use! Make extra bags and store them with your reusable grocery bags so you never forget to take them grocery shopping.