I stared at my stash of plastic bags with dismay. Obviously, my effort in being green was not enough. Little did I realise that I had accumulated so many plastic bags.

As I went through them, I could not help but notice that many were in pretty colours. There were lime green bags from Marks & Spencer; deep purple ones from a pharmacy while those from a store were in deep turquoise. To reuse them for trash or throw them into the recycling bin seemed like such a waste. As I stared at them, my dismay was replaced by excitement.

My mind was fast at work, thinking of the many ways I could recycle them. The texture and give of the plastic felt good enough to be turned into yarn.

I quickly sorted them by colour and cut them into strips. Before long, I was happily crocheting with my plastic yarn. If things go as planned, I could turn these used plastic bags into something pretty and useful.

A few days later, I have a new beach bag; recycled and up-cycled from plastic bags. My new plastic bag bag looks great with the purple flower accent and a furoshiki scarf strap. Best of all, it is pretty enough to carry on my trip to the Maldives in June.

I’m so in love with my new bag and could not help but start carrying it straight away. I’m now at a cafe having a great cup of coffee and my new bag is sitting next to me. This has been a project of great satisfaction.