Friday, October 17, 2008

Reuse Plastic Bags

My parents always get plastic when they grocery shop, so my pantry is full of wads of these plastic bags. I've found lots of good ways to reuse them, so I thought I'd share some with you.

1. Pack your lunch in them. Instead of buying and using those little brown paper bags, it's better to use something you already have. I find that plastic grocery bags work fine when packing a sandwich and a few sides. It doesn't keep the food from being squashed and its not a great insulator, but it works. Of course, an even better container to pack a lunch in is a reusable bag that I blogged about it this post.

2. Use them to line trash cans. Of course, they won't really work in your kitchen (I know my trash can needs those 30 gallon sturdy black bags to work), but they are really handy for those little trash bins in my bedroom and bathroom.

3. Bring them back to the store. Plastic bags take up no space at all and are pretty convenient to stuff in your purse and use again. Of course, too many uses may result in tearing, so you might be better of with one of these reusable bags.

4. Recycle them! Supermarkets in my town now have containers that let you recycle plastic bags, so there might be some where you live as well (Richmond isn't exactly known for being environmentally progressive).

5. Use them as "packing peanuts." I've actually never tried this, but I'm sure it could work! Stuff them in a package to cushion the item.

Anyone else have some great ideas for using plastic blags?
This image is from Captain Pao. Sorry if the "idiots" part offends anyone - I would substitute "silly" in if I could photoshop well.

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