Kaplan, La. - After grocery shopping, most people would throw their plastic bags away. However, Rita Keating from Kaplan uses them for a greater purpose.
“When I started out, it was just my husband and it took about a month to get anywhere close to making one mat. I started asking around the bags and said ‘hey, if you’re going to throw them away throw them my way,” she said.
Rita is known in the community for transforming plastic bags into sleeping mats for the homeless.
“People really don’t want to sleep on the ground. If it’s grass, it’s a little softer but it’s still grass. So, it’s somewhat a little bit of a barrier,” she said.
A passion project that started nearly two-years-ago has helped more than 15 people. Rita says it takes approximately 700 plastic bags to make one sing-sitch mat.
Despite the countless hours it takes to make one mat, for Rita, it goes beyond helping the environment, it’s an opportunity to make sure someone sleeps a little better at night.
“I just want people to know that times are hard for a lot of people but they are not alone, they can get through it and if I can just do a little bit to offer some type of comfort then I’ll spend my nights working on them,” she said.
If you’re interested in donating plastic bags to Rita, you can email her at Ritaplasticbags@gmail.com
