• ~30+ plastic grocery bags.
  You know that entire drawer you've shoved full of used plastic grocery bags that seem to keep accumulating no matter how many times you try to remember to bring reusable bags to the store? BRING THOSE. If you aren't a fellow plastic bag hoarder (first of all, good job! lol) — see if you can scrounge up at least 30 plastic bags for this activity. If you don't have that many, no worries! Lo (one of your hosts) has a TON, but the more bags we all bring, the bigger the baskets we can potentially make. Plus, if someone else is short on bags, we'll be able to share (and hopefully clear out that drawer so you can use it for something else!)
• A heavy-duty sewing needle
  The kind that has a bigger eyelet, so big enough to thread piece of a plastic bag through. There are 2 ways we can to try weaving, and they both involve using a heavy duty needle (the kind with the larger eyelet) to either use thread, or the plastic bags themselves to sew the basket together.  
• A thimble
   You don't necessarily NEED a thimble, but it'll be nice to have, so you don't poke your fingers. Lo has some felt "feet" for the bottom of furniture that can be used for this purpose, if you don't have a thimble!
• Thread
  (optional - required only if you want to use the "braided" method for your basket) If you want the thread to be less visible, choose a color closer to your plastic bags. Any kind of thread will work, but you can use polyester for added strength.
• Scissors
  For cutting the plastic bags (& thread, if you choose to use that method)
• Tape
  We'll be using tape to parts of the cut-up plastic bags to create a "cord", to then weave a basket with. Masking tape will work, or the clear kind. Up to you!

Don't trip! When you RSVP, let us know what materials you still need, and we'll pick up (or crowd source from other participants) those materials for you before the event, in exchange for a donation of $5-$10 when you arrive (: 

OR you can volunteer to help with documentation, clean up, or note-taking as your energetic investment in co-creating the evening! (Let us know what you decide, when you RSVP.)

No. It's a gathering of folks who have an excess of plastic grocery bags, coming together to try to make better use of them, lol. We are not claiming to be experts at anything here. While there will be instructions and loose guidelines, and at least one, perhaps some of us might have some idea, part of the purpose of these sessions is to get used to the idea of figuring things out *together*. It's also been proven that doing things with our hands activates more areas of our brain than using most other parts of our body, so making things with our hands while we brainstorm/discuss, will ideally help us come up with better ideas! (:

Snacks and drinks will be done potluck style. Feel free to bring anything you'd like to share!

Keep in mind, we're capping it at 10 people. We're asking that people try to RSVP at least 48 hours before the event, so folks who volunteered to bring snacks can be notified know how many people are coming, along with any dietary requirements. 

Yes! Please do! If you have supplies you want to share, please let us know when you RSVP so we can update the group's collective inventory for the evening. If you bring things like scissors, thimbles, or needles to share, you can of course take those back home with you at the end of the night!

Great idea! We're working on setting this up, so if you're interested in tuning in via live stream, still RSVP so we can send you the link to join once its ready!

LO here, speaking for myself— first and foremost, as a nonbinary, neuro-spicy, uterus-having, queer 3rd-culture kid, for me it is and has been, a longstanding desire and intention to create, nourish, and protect spaces where people who identify as Queer —and who's very existence as who they are is made to be seen as 'other' and therefore often less safe, less taken seriously, and given less value by the constrictive projections of heteronormative society— can feel and affirm that they are indeed valued, made a priority, and comfortable to be fully themselves. But that said, even some queer spaces can be very binary in their thinking and treatment of people within their own supposed community. Queer life, as all life, is layered.

That said— what is queer? Who is queer?

You're considered queer if…

• you are not heterosexual or cisgender
• you identify as queer
• you are neurodivergent
• you are prioritize and/or strive towards liberation
• youʻve had the lived experience of being systemically “othered” — due to circumstances or traits not limited to gender or sexual preference
• you do not subscribe to heteronormativity
• your lived experience challenges restrictive binary thinking

This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point to get our gears turning.

Wikipedia says that “Historically, queer was a word that is referred to something as odd or strange. As the verb form of queer, queering can refer to the act of taking something and looking at it through a lens that makes it strange or troubles it in some way.” That is the effect queerness on society. That’s the energy we are hoping to tap into with these meetups. If we’re trying to dream up a new world, there is a desire to do things different. Perhaps that makes us all a little queer. Perhaps to be “queer” means to think, even live, expansively. So, if you resonate, maybe you are just a lil bit queer. Or maybe a lot. Or maybe not at all. It’s up to you!