17 Ways to Purge Those Plastic Bags
Part of this month’s BYOB challenge is to put the plastic bags you already have to good use. No sense in waisting them. Here are some ideas…
- Dog poop holders (yuck, but hey, you’re using them up).
- Grocery Sacks household helpers
- Painting something - a house, a chair, your kid’s treehouse? Need a painting break? Wrap your still wet with paint, paint brush in a plastic bag, stick it in the freezer, take it out about an hour before you start painting.
- Keep one in your bag during the rainy season (in Oregon & Washington - that means all year). When you arrive where you’re going, wrap your umbrella in the bag to avoid wet drips everywhere.
- Makeshift peeling board in the kitchen - lay in the sink, bag catches peels, no mess.
- Fair Trade Recycled Chicken Art
- Obvious choices: Garbage bags and carrying things. Use at the library.
- Makeshift rain gear - ever worn a plastic bag as boots? A hat?
- Use in the bottom of a too big flower pot - not so heavy as rocks, still allows drainage. Bunch them up and put them in the pot before adding soil.
- Reusable Bags as Gift Wrap
- Make kid size balls (a bunch bound up with two rubber bands - or simply knot all the plastic bags together.
- Julie F makes kites with hers. She says, “Make easy-fly kites for the little ones. We use the reusable cloth bags now, but my in-laws still bring plastic ones in. So they are re purposed and this one is the kids favorite re-use. Old string (i do not knit so i use yarn a lot for this) to tie the handles together, put a loop at the other end so you’re not putting another bag in the eco system, slip it on the little one’s wrist, then let’em fly it on a breezy day. My disabled daughter loves it and it’s pretty much free.”
- Make some flowers
- Make-shift floor mats for the kids after muddy play.
- Spread them out and use them as a surface cover when your kids are painting on paper.
- Use them (doubled) to wrap foods you’d like to save in the freezer.
- Use them as stuffing (instead of cotton) for items like homemade baby doll and Barbie furniture. Think mod chair.
We know you have some more ideas… Share!
Tags: bags, Bring Your Own Bag Challenge, cloth bags, collect plastic bags, plastic bags, reusable bags, Reusable Bags for Him, Reuse, reuse plastic bags, Shop Green, Take Your Own Bag
6 opinions for 17 Ways to Purge Those Plastic Bags
Rebecca
Jun 2, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I think there should be a special biodegradable bag for dog-doo, which should go in some sort of special community composter. Instead of incasing something that’s perfectly biodegradalbe in plastic, where it will rot in a landfill, we could be making fertilizer! (I don’t even have a dog, but I have thought about this topic!)
So, if the plastic bag I got at the store is still clean, I put it in my canvas shopping bag so I can use it again. If it is dirty (spinach, for example, will make a bag wet and muddy), I use that bag to line my compost can so I can get one more use out of it before tossing it. I am really trying to cut down on the ones I take in the first place, though.
If a plastic bag is clean, isn’t it better to recycle it than to dirty it and then have to throw it away? Some of the tips above would render the bags unrecyclable.
Peggy
Jun 2, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Rebecca, the Skooperbox, which we’re giving away here, is biodegradable and for dog poo.
http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/recycled-skooperbox-for-nicer-doggie-walks-win-yours/
Jennifer
Jun 3, 2008 at 12:19 am
Rebecca, in Portland you can recycle plastic bags, but in some other places you can’t; or more to the point the area could, but the area won’t set up bag recycling. In one town I lived in I saw just one store that accepted plastic bags and they were sending them somewhere else (another town).
I wish all places had good recycling programs but seriously, living in places like Portland and Humboldt spoil you - when you leave you notice that not many places are so into recycling. I figure it’s better to reuse to death if you can’t recycle. Later on we’ll be doing a bag recycling post though.
Jennifer
Jun 3, 2008 at 12:21 am
PS Rebecca, we’re also doing a post on reusable produce bags later - I got some (finally) and I love them. If they get muddy you just wash them.
Julie F
Jun 3, 2008 at 7:32 am
I just saw this, I read the post to my husband and felt pretty special that you put my idea in. :-)
Yesterday I made 3 of these, it was really breezy and the kids had a blast!
Jennifer
Jun 3, 2008 at 11:11 am
Well Julie you are pretty special :) It’s a good idea too. It fits with Rebecca’s comment too - because it’s unlikely to get so dirty that you can’t still recycle it. So it’s a double useful option.
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