I use plastic bags as garbage bags. If they're going to be thrown out anyway, might as well make them hold some other garbage that is getting thrown out.
The Plastic Bag Dilemma: Seven Strategies for Coping
Photo: Polandeze
Doing your best to remember cloth totes, but forgetting them from time to time? Is your storage container for those plastic grocery bags overflowing? Your secret is safe with me. Let’s see what we can do to put them to use.
1. Make a kite.
This is way easier than you might think. A little string, a couple of BBQ sticks, some tape, a twig or pencil, scissors and a plastic bag. That’s about it. Here’s a link that’s very similar to a design I used to use in the classroom. To save pennies though, I’d use just a pencil or a stick for the string holder. No need for the technical little gadget. The string can unroll through your fingers as the wind is taking up the kite. Bonus? No more paying for expensive store kits that break right away, leaving the kids frustrated and you even more so. Kite blew away or got stuck in a tree? No problem. You can avert toddler trauma on the cheap and easy with things you already have around the house. Woohoo!
2. Stuff some accent pillows.
I picked this little tip up from a fellow expat teacher in the Gulf. She loved, as I do, to pick up colorful pillow cases as a way to textile shop on the cheap when she traveled. She also, as I always did, had a strict shipping allowance whenever she moved. Rather than spend money on foam filled pillow inserts, she always took her extra plastic bags, crumpled them up, and used them to stuff the accent pillows on the sofa and other pieces of furniture. Not exactly comfortable for sleeping pillows, but for the ones you only use for “show” this is a really money saver. Other plastic toting items can work as well. Bonus? Whenever she moved, she already had a fair sized supply of packing medium.
3. Fill out your curtain valances.
Obviously, this only works if you like the look of a fuller valance or window topper. But if you do, again this will ensure you’ll have some packing medium for your glassware when you move.
4. Dealing with on the road pet issues.
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On our cross country trip with the dogs, we had to develop our share of tricks. This was one of them. Put the bag on your hand, grab the goods, turn it inside out, and tie it off. Then hunt for your friendly neighborhood trash can.
5. Faux painting tool.
Doesn’t get much cheaper than this. Here’s a link.
6. Use the small trash can plan.
You have to admit, it’s affordable. No more buying the small size.
7. Take them down for the count.
Actually, this idea was contributed by a reader who commented on my ten ways to go green and save post. The basic idea is to keep a tally chart on the bag each time you re-use them. It was also recommended to keep a stash of the plastic ones inside one or two of your larger, sturdier cloth totes. This keeps space to a minimum, supplements the up front cost of the cloth bags, and keeps them all together for when you actually do remember to bring the bags with you into the store.
I know with several suggestions on this list that the bags will eventually end up in a landfill. However, if I can at least put them to some use before they get there, I personally feel a little bit better about the times I forget the cloth bags and end up bringing home a few plastic ones. These are my favorite picks. Of course I would love to hear from you as usual. Pop me a note, post-related or otherwise.
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Garbage, if itś bio, then youŕe doing a mistake by mixing up the waste. Many times, bio garbage is safe, as it get degraded. The moment you fill it in a plastic bag, the plastic makes it a mixed waste, difficult to manage.
I give them to someone who works for a daycare - they use them for icky clothes going home. I take them to the food co-op, they reuse them for people who need a bag. We use them for small garbage.
I try desperately to reuse mine. However, where I live (Louisiana), whenever I bring in a bag full of bags to the grocery store, they just look at me like I'm a crazy lady (and I'm only 23 and "normal" looking!). And then proceed to use new bags when I'm not looking. I bring in my 2 reusable bags and they put a single loaf of bread in one and some veggies in the other and use plastic for the rest (they're fairly large bags, too).
Frustrating, eh? I'd bag my own groceries gladly, but whenever I try the cashier bags them on their end before I can.
It's been an ongoing battle with the grocery store cashiers, as you can tell. I'm sure they all think I'm bonkers, but I'm okay with it, and will keep trying until I succeed in getting my point across, and new bags unused.
I like your ideas, except for the first one. Using plastic bags for making a kite runs the risk of the plastic blowing into a waterway and causing havoc with the environment. Even if it gets stuck in a tree it could cause trouble for wildlife.
I mainly reuse mine for shopping and as produce bags, and sort my recyclables into them each week for collection. I have big cloth totes but I also take plastic bags every time I shop. Once you get in the habit it's easy to remember. I keep some in the car and most of them by the door.
Here's a fantastic use for a bunch of old plastic bags, if you're feeling crafty -
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/06/make_a_messenger_bag_out_1.html
Here's a fantastic use for a bunch of old plastic bags, if you're feeling crafty -
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/06/make_a_messenger_bag_out_1.html
I do try NOT to accumulate too many of them, but I also use them sometimes as packing material for boxes with fragile items, including a lot of the other uses you mention.
I was hoping to get some cool additional ideas (LOVE the fused bag sewing medium from the messenger bag link!) and that yes, someone would find the dog poop sign as hilarious as I did.
Thanks, you two.
Grocery stores around here pay us 5 cents every time we re-use our plastic bags . Other than grocery shopping I use them as garbage bags .
I am all for the recycling of plastic of all kinds. One thought though, if you use the plastic bags as "kites" and they blow away (which they will) aren't you putting the plastic back into the same environment you were trying to protect?
Another thought, many grocery stores and even Wally World (Walmart) have plastic bag collection bins for people to return their used bags.
Well, technically yes. But so would any kite, was my thought. If someone has a major issue with it, then I guess you could bypass kites altogether on matter of principal. But if you like them and your kids like them, I figure better recycled plastic than new plastic from an al cheapo kite kit.
Just a thought . . .
To Lauren:
I had the same problems, after telling the cashier I had my own bags, only to watch them start bagging in plastic, I just started insisting they rebag every thing. It doesn't take them long to learn to listen. Be Strong! Down with Plastic Bags!
I know my local thrift shop and independently owned bookstore always appreciate bag donations for their use. I really enjoy articles like this that highlight ways to reduce, reuse and recycle!! Thanks!
Myscha,
There was a time in my not-so-distant past (before my reusable bags) when I would go to my local grocery store, ask for as few bags to be used as possible, and then watch the bagger double-bag everything. I've NEVER had a plastic bag rip on me.
Luckily, that same grocery store (NOT an upscale one by any stretch) started offering recycled and reusable bags for $1. I bought two, and now I insist they load my entire week's grocery loot into those two bags. They're super-strong, and it saves me the impulse of wanting to shoot someone for using so many plastic bags.
Like someone in a comment before me, I'm not above letting the cashier or bagger re-bag everything if they reach for the plastic bags or don't put the cans in first.
Before the cloth bags, I was shoving all my plastic ones into this handy little thing I got at Ikea - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80010222. I've got probably a year's worth of plastic bags crammed down that thing. Luckily, I also have cats.
Great article!
You know, I too have had people not use the bags I brought. Because I have a hard time remembering, it's a double p*sser when I do remember and then my efforts are for nothing. Interestingly enough though, I have had bags rip. Particularly at Walmart. They have apparently started buying (at least at the Presque Isle store) from some source that produces particularly lousy recycled bags. But in general, no. I agree with you. I'm anxious to check out the Ikea link you provided because I LOVE that store. Thanks for posting.
As it makes it easier to clean up.I just posted today since I processed a bunch of carrots (actually linked up to Wise Bread for their informative piece on baby carrots not being a frugal choice).
Great ideas!
Now that I've pretty much gone plastic free, I don't have many plastic bags left, but the ones I do have I use as lunch bags or to bag up items from the bulk bins at my local grocery store. They're very handy for that.
As for stuffing pillows with plastic bags, I can't help at marvel at the idea that we have so many plastic bags in our lives that we are now making pillows out of them. There's just something totally absurd about that...
Anyways, thanks for the list!
There are plastic bags dispensers in many a dog park/ dog run. Even a well-stocked dog owner can sometimes be caught short of a bag to pick up a dog's poop, so why not take your spare plastic bags there?
(BTW, I second the cushion stuffing tip: our dog's poop is picked up with biodegradable bags and even though we're good about using canvas bags for shopping, we still had dozens of plastic bags. Now they are packed nicely in a leather footstool, so even my feet have benefited!)
It wasn't until I was all grown up and grocery shopping on my own that I even realized they SOLD little bags just for bathroom/desk wastebaskets. We've always used plastic grocery store bags growing up and looking at the price of those little "special" garbage bags, I think I'll stick to that plan.
So I usually use cloth bags while grocery shopping, but I forget or run out of cloth bags space every once in a while so I have a few plastic grocery bags on hand for garbage purposes.
We use extra plastic bags to stuff our daughter's bean bag, as small trash bags hanging from the lower kitchen cabinet, as small trash bags to line our small trash cans, as trash bags in the car (hang 'em from the gear shaft), as holders for wet umbrellas on rainy days, as shower caps when we don't want wet hair, to wrap fragile items when shipping out or relocating, and more.
I crochet and I've seen purses and rugs crocheted from plastic bags. Haven't tried that one yet. lol
All these uses and we STILL have more than we can use!
I use reusable grocery bags, and I try to keep and reuse plastic bags to wrap anything that might leak on the other groceries, such as meats, frozen items, or items in tubs like olives.
