Greely volunteers weave milk bags into mats for people experiencing homelessness

CTV’s Katelyn Wilson has more on how volunteers at a church in Greely are weaving milk bags into sleeping mats for those experiencing homelessness.

Every Tuesday night in Greely, a group of volunteers gets together at All Saints Anglican Church, transforming something many throw away into something those experiencing homelessness need.

“It really is just providing a little bit of comfort, one bag at a time,” said Grace Jones, an organizer at All Saints Anglican Church.

Together, about 15 volunteers turn plastic milk bags into sleeping mats, a lifeline for those without a bed to call their own.

In total, it takes about 450 milk bags to make a large single mat. Since the project started three years ago, volunteers have made 436 sleeping mats and 399 “sit-upons”—portable pads that add a layer of insulation and comfort on cold or damp ground.

For frontline workers, the impact is immediate.

“We have a lot of people in the city sleeping rough, especially with it being summer. The shelters are over capacity so people will be outside, and they’ll receive mats instead of sleeping just on the ground,” said Kim Sheldrick, an intensive case management worker and senior support worker.

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Beyond helping people, the project is also helping the planet. The group partners with Earthub, a local environmental organization that collects the milk bags. Since 2019, Earthub has diverted more than 466,000 bags from the landfill.

“Milk bags actually have the recycling symbol on them, but they’re not accepted in the blue bins in Ottawa. So, we’re trying to reuse them first before they end up as waste,” explained Earthub founder Brittanny Belanger.

“But then when I’m driving around Ottawa and I actually see the sleeping mats in use, it really just means a lot as a community that we can all do this together.”

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For volunteers like Nicholas Legere, the project is about more than weaving plastic strips together, it’s about weaving purpose into the community.

“It’s the fact that we’re helping people and it’s also helping the environment,” he said. “It’s multifaceted.”

For those looking to donate milk bags, Belanger says to email Earthub at [e-mail].

Jones says there is also a bin outside the church at 7103 Parkway Rd. in Greely for those in the area who want to drop them off.