All those shopping bags
When we lived in the city we had curbside recycling. You simply placed your recyclables in a blue bag and set it out with your trash. Conveniently, many of the stores used blue plastic bags. So, I recycled my shopping bags for my recycling.
Then we moved. There is no curbside recycling. I actually haven't figured out how to recycle here, but for some reason I couldn't stop saving those shopping bags. Without using them for recycling, I soon had a huge pile of bags. I needed to find some uses for them or throw them in the trash. Here is what I came up with.
Reuse them at Aldi.
Keep a few in the diaper bag. They are great for stinky diapers if I am using disposable or they serve as a backup if my washable bag for cloth diapers gets full, and with two in diapers that happens frequently.
Use them as trash can liners in smaller trash cans.
I keep a few in my baby carrier backpack. These are for unexpected foraging finds.
I know none of these tips are earth shattering. They really don't save me much money, but I like the idea of reusing them. It works for me. Now if I could figure out where to recycle the rest of the stuff!
Keep a few in the diaper bag. They are great for stinky diapers if I am using disposable or they serve as a backup if my washable bag for cloth diapers gets full, and with two in diapers that happens frequently.
Use them as trash can liners in smaller trash cans.
I keep a few in my baby carrier backpack. These are for unexpected foraging finds.
I know none of these tips are earth shattering. They really don't save me much money, but I like the idea of reusing them. It works for me. Now if I could figure out where to recycle the rest of the stuff!
Labels:
recycling
11 comments:
We don't have curbside recycling, either. A high schooler in our area comes by once/week and picks up our recycling to take to the nearest center. It does cost us a bit, but we think it's worth it to not have to go ourselves.
Those plastic grocery bags can really accumulate quickly, can't they?
I'm a huge advocate of bringing your own bag. I use chico bags (www.chicobag.com) because they stuff into their own little stuff sack and I keep one or two in my purse at all times. you can also find a style of bag for any purpose/lifestyle at www.reusablebags.com.
my grocery store even gives me money (not much but hey, every little big, right?) for every bag I bring with me to the store.
We also use them for clean up after the doggy. That uses up a lot of them. : )
I always re-use mine too. Great ideas.
Kilikina
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Your Aldi comment made me laugh because I do Aldi menu planners on my site and am always talking about Aldi. You know one thing you could do is leave a stack of those for the other shoppers. Some people don't even know that they need to bring their own bag and they appreciate it (just make sure there are no receipts or anything in them).
I keep an empty Kleenex box in my car and shove them in there- for diapers, a quick clean in the car (while I am pumping gas), and for my grocery shopping.
We use them to clean out the litter box, line our smaller trash bags, carry library books in, etc..
They have come in handy in our house :)
Great ideas! I also use mine for the bathroom trash, and stinky diapers. Here is a little trick for me... I am snaky and use them for padding in packages. The recipient has to worry about the recycling, LOL! Every year at Christmas my brother is so thrilled with me. :O)
I mostly use those plastic bags to take my lunch to work.
I've also used them to carry wet clothes when we are away from home.
My wife keeps encouraging me to use them as a garbage can in the car.
When we had cats, I used them to scoop the litter into.
I've always wanted to use them to make a parachute man for the kids when they are old enough to be allowed to play with plastic bag.
Recycling takes on a whole new definition in West Virginia...
My mom has a rug in her kitchen made out of Walmart bags. I'm not sure who did it but I found several sites when i searched for "plastic bag rug".
Mandy
We have curbside recycling, but I honestly find enough uses for these bags around our house that we often don't recycle many. Thanks for the tips though!
And thanks for stopping by to leave a comment on my WFMW post. :)
If you are interested in crafting with recycled plastic bags check out http://www.myrecycledbags.com/
It's a website dedicated to recycling and crafting. Lots of ideas and free patterns using recycled plastic grocery bags.
Good luck.
Cindy
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