Urban Basketry

[Sadoldhippy]

I recently had the good fortune to attend a basketry workshop by the fantastic Lois Walpole. She is an inernationally exhibited basketmaker, who makes baskets and basketry type things from waste materials like tetra-pak, cardboard, paper, plastic strapping tape, wire, bottle caps and many other materials. She has had a few books published of her work and her book Crafty Containers (or Weave, Coil Plait Crafty Containers from Recycled Materials) gives instruction on how to do it. It is a fun and possibly even profitable (via Etsy and the like) way of re-using some of the waste which comes into the house and well worth a go.

[diggernotdreamer]

I have seen shopping bags made from plastic strapping, I thought it was a great ide. I have loads of polypropylene bags that I get the barley for the animals in, I have quite a few of them now and I use them for putting under paths and putting stones on chips on top, bagging up compost, plant cosies etc etc, but...... I get four of them a month, and now have a large collection of them, I was just looking at them today wondering if anything else could be made from them, do you think there is a weaving use for them, they fray if you cut them ..... most people here burn them in the range seems very wasteful

[GeorgeSalt]

Polyprop is reclyclable, if you can get it to the processor.

[diggernotdreamer]

Polyprop is reclyclable, if you can get it to the processor.

where is the processor?

[GeorgeSalt]

Polyprop is reclyclable, if you can get it to the processor.

where is the processor?

There are several, the BPF has a list of their members that recycle - link

They're generally interested in lorry loads volumes as there isn't a lot of margin in melt recycling plastic and haulage eats a huge chunk of it, but perhaps your feed supplier can arrange to take bags back. If you're in the UK (not sure about Eire), I'd ask the feed supplier what arrangements they had in place for taking back the packaging under the The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations. As the regulations implemented an EU Directive there should be something similar in Eire.

[Sadoldhippy]

I would be very concerned about dioxins if burning plastic on a domestic stove!
But yes bags et al can be cut into strips and woven into rope and coiled, her blog is http://loiswalpole.blogspot.co.uk/

[diggernotdreamer]

[quote="Sadoldhippy"]I would be very concerned about dioxins if burning plastic on a domestic stove!

I don't burn them, but plenty of people do, the trouble we have here is there is no easy way of disposal for any waste, if you go to the tip, you get charged, you have to buy either a bag or tag for waste and recycling, so a lot of people either burn or bury as we have found to our cost two skiploads of buried rubbish later. I have now stopped buying the feed in the poly bag and am paying a few extra euro to get feed in paper sacks, which I can use in the garden and the hen house, I can't deal with the amount of crap you get with stuff you buy