Tinsley finds new use for pesky plastic bags

Linda Tinsley of Stanardsville refers to herself as the bag lady – not a bag lady, but the bag lady.

That’s because she’s making it her business to collect plastic bags and make them into useful objects.

“I make shopping bags, beach bags – each with a cell phone pocket and a key clip – and hats,” said Tinsley.

She’s making good use out of a product that does damage to the environment and marketing a product that is dishwasher safe, as long as the dry cycle is not used.

According to the Wall Street Journal, consumers in the United States go through 100 billion plastic bags each year. They are re-used: they are balled up and stuffed into another kept close at hand to be dispensed as book and lunch bags for schoolchildren, to carry clothes to the gym, to line trash cans, and to pick up dog droppings off lawns.

But millions and millions end up as litter: they float in the breeze, flap from trees, clog roadside drains and clutter landfills.

Once in the environment, it takes months to hundreds of years for plastic bags to breakdown into the tiny toxic bits that seep into soils, lakes, rivers and oceans, killing an about 100,000 animals a year. In some parts of the ocean and other water ways, it is estimated there are six pounds of plastic bags for every one pound of fish.

Some of the 5.2 percent of plastic bags a 2005 Environmental Protection Agency estimated to be recycled have been melted down and reformed into plastic lumber used on decks, fence material, park benches and other industrial and residential goods.

Now, they’re finding new life through crafters.

“I make bowls, cup cozies and paper plate holders,” said Tinsley.  “Last year I made Christmas decorations. The snowflakes and bells were really pretty and held their shape.”

An Albemarle County native, Tinsley has been a Greene County resident since 2008.

She was living in South Carolina, gutting and redoing the interiors of pleasure boats when the recession hit and calls for her services came to a virtual standstill.

And then, one day: “My kids were putting away groceries when I took note of all those plastic bags and wondered if I could do something with them.”
Most plastic bags are made from polyethylene, which can be manipulated into any shape, size, or form. It’s watertight and can be reused.
“I am a knitter, and a crotchetier, so I started experimenting,” Tinsley said. “I crocheted a crude bag, then a basket.”

Tinsley kept on experimenting, and when she started showing her work to friends they wanted some of their own. When the demand for her products increased, she began to sell them, and to teach her craft at her local recreation center.

“When I moved here, I showed a bag and a basket to a friend at Wintergreen. She bought them, as did others, and I started teaching at Wintergreen.”

At a local craft show, Tinsley sold all of her stock the first day, and spent the second day taking orders.

Starting _________, she will be selling her wares at _______________.

But that doesn’t mean she is finished experimenting.

“My dog loves sleeping on what I intended to be a beach mat, so I might make some dog beds. I’m also considering making flip flops, backpacks for kids and knitting long strips to braid into rugs.”