Blog post by Reed Sandridge of Washington, DC.
Plastic bags liter the banks of a river in Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia. Photo: CJETTE
Today’s post is a microblog post. I feel that’s only appropriate since today’s post is about a microvolunteering experience. I logged on to Sparked.com and helped a UK nonprofit called Funky Junk Recycled. In developing countries where plastic bags collect and choke drains and even animals, Funky Junk takes an innovative approach to turning this trash into beautiful, long-lasting items while providing fair trade income and training for local producers.
Here's a bag made from recycled plastic bags turned into yarn, or "plarn."
They needed help on how to recruit a British expat volunteer in Cambodia. Click here to see my advice. Oh, and while you’re there, why not try to do a project yourself. I promise it doesn’t take long.
Year of Giving 
This year San Francisco and Oakland outlawed the use of plastic bags in large grocery stores and pharmacies permitting only paper bags with at least 40 percent recycled content or otherwise compostable bags. But this citys vaunted recycling program which is so advanced that it can collect coffee grounds and banana peels from urbanites apartment kitchens and transform them into compost used to grow grapes in Napa Valley vineyards simply cannot master the plastic bag.