Bags to Bedrolls Project

Black and white photo a dirty plastic bag with a smiley face and "Have a Nice Day Thank You!" on it.
Americans alone use an average of 100 billion single-use plastic bags per year (Earth Policy Institute), which, with plastic from other countries, end up in landfills and oceans and eventually in our food and water.
Black and white photo of a cardboard sign that says "Weather Sucks? Be homeless in it and hungry and broke and ignored"
With 13,368 unhoused people (KCRHA), King County has the third largest homeless population in the country (KOMO News December 17, 2018) despite being only the 12th most populous (U.S. Census).
Photo of someone sleeping on wet pavement.
Regularly sleeping on a wet ground can perpetuate the cycle of homelessness.

Bags to Bedrolls, a project of the RISE Learning Institute and Bellevue College Office of Sustainability, repurposes single-use plastic bags into bed mats for locals experiencing homelessness. They create a lightweight water-barrier to help keep sleeping bags and blankets drier. Once completed, the mats are distributed to unhoused locals through the project’s community partner, Congregations for the Homeless.

Email both the Office of the Sustainability and the RISE Learning Institute to learn more about how to get involved with this project. And scroll down to learn more!

Photo of bedroll rolled up with strap laid out
Photo of mat open and hanging down

Since Winter 2018, the Bags to Bedrolls Project has engaged over 1000 Bellevue College students. Through events during Homecoming and Earth Week, the open “plarn” period, and class visits, students have learned about both sustainability and homelessness while contributing to the project.

Students working on project in a class
Students working on creating plastic yarn in their class.

Participating students have been in: Sociology, Biology, English, Career Education Options, Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language, Environmental Science, Occupational & Life Skills, and the English Learning Institute.

Students:
Visit the RISE MakerSpace (B237) for Open “Plarning.” The schedule will be released in early Fall 2023.

Faculty:
Invite us to your class! We can discuss homelessness and/or sustainability along with “plarning.”

People holding up a mat made of plastic
Students and instructor with a finished plastic bedroll.

Last Updated July 26, 2023