I saw an article by Deborah L. Shelton in the Chicago Tribune about the writer’s love-hate relationship with stuff. She mentioned how in the process of moving, she freaked out when she saw how many shopping bags she had kept, from grocery store bags to department store bags. She called herself a bag lady. She wrote it as more of a shocking statement, along the lines of: “Oh my gosh, I am a bag lady!”
I know what she means! I have more than one roommate and we all do our own shopping, so for a while our apartment filled up with even more bags than average households. I quickly learned that I would have to work at not ending up as a “bag lady” like the writer. I bring my backpack almost everywhere, and carry my new purchases home in there rather than in the store bags whenever I can, both to be environment friendly and to keep my home’s bag collection small.
My roommates have gotten into the act of avoiding new shopping bags and re-using the ones we already have. The grocery store brown paper bags are great as sorters for paper, plastics and glass until it’s time to bring them to our building’s recycling bins. Small plastic bags are useful for keeping jars of homemade salad dressing from leaking when bringing salad to a potluck. When I know I’ll be buying more than my backpack can carry, I bring old brown paper bags along so I don’t have to get new ones from the store. One roommate bought a specialized bike bag to use for shopping, so he can avoid bringing any more bags into the apartment. Sometimes, though, we simply have too many bags in the house.
Most grocery stores now have bins near the entrance where they collect plastic bags for recycling, so I bring our extras to the store when we have an over-abundance. We recycle extra paper bags with our newspapers and magazines.
I have been asked what to do with nice department store bags. Some people hang decorative bags on the wall as art. High-end bags made of plastic-coated paper can be cut into placemats or coasters. They won’t last forever, but they can be a short-term style update for your table at no cost.
What creative ideas do you have for dealing with extra bags, other than recycling?
Thanks for reminding me about bringing them back to the store to recycle! I also bring some to the library, they always need them especially when it’s raining or snowing. And I take the thinner plastic bags that you put produce in with me to the grocery store for more veggies – generally a pretty clean use.
Like Amy, I too re-use my produce bags. Every little bit helps! I generally use my re-usable bags everythwere – not just when I’m food shopping – I bring them into CVS, bookstores, etc. Every once in a while I will forget to grab my bags before food shopping and end up with plastic bags – I just use them for my “poopie” bags. I have 4 dogs and a kennel that needs cleaning, so those bags do the trick! I know many people who buy special bags for that, but this seems much easier!
Kerry and Amy- thanks for sharing your inputs!