One plastic bag is all it takes to help others in need. The students in Mrs. Binion’s Crochet For a Cause Club have created one of the most community friendly, yet environmentally friendly service projects Broomfield High School has ever seen. They call it: plarn.

While in Chicago visiting her grandmother, junior Anna Stenger, noticed her grandmother had adopted a new and interesting hobby: she learned how to crochet mats with recycled plastic grocery bags. The crocheters call it plarn, short for “plastic yarn.” Being an active member of Crochet for A Cause, Anna had the perfect opportunity to introduce the idea to the club. After brainstorming together, the club came up with the idea of crocheting plarn mats to donate to the homeless. It was a hit. As word got out, within days, Mrs. Binion’s room began to fill with piles upon piles of plastic bags. Crocheters put aside their yarn and broke out their bags and scissors to begin plarning.

Mrs. Binion and Anna anticipated that each individual mat would take up to 700 plastic bags to make; meaning if every student in crochet club was to make a single mat, they would need over 20,000 bags. In addition, before crocheters could actually start making the mats, they would need to turn all of the plastic bags into yarn (called plarning). The club, which is on average no larger than 35 kids, was faced with a task too daunting for them to handle on their own.

The club has reached out to all students of Broomfield High School and their families to help collect bags and even help plarn for the crocheters. Mrs. Binion says many small businesses, middle schools, and old folks homes in the Broomfield area have held “plarning parties” and donated their plarn to the club. “My mom has dementia so I got her involved in making the plastic balls because it helps her brain … and eye hand coordination,” said Mrs. Tanigawa. National Honors Society students have even created a plarning committee to help the cause.

“The plan is to do it again next year with the plarn that has already been made so that our crocheters don’t have to start from scratch,” says Mrs. Binion. And though Crochet for a Cause has stopped collecting bags, there is still much more work to be done; the crocheters need all the help they can get whether it’s plarning, mat-making, or simply just becoming a crocheter. So, stop by Mrs. Binion’s room during Wednesday’s common lunch sometime and get crocheting.
Students in Crochet For a Cause meet every Wednesday during lunch in room 922 to not only learn how to master the art of crocheting but to also give back to the community. All items the crocheters make are donated to people in need. The crocheters have crafted all kinds of things from blankets to sweaters to stuffed animals and donated them to hospitals, retirement homes, and community centers all over Broomfield. The club gives students the perfect opportunity to become involved.