Recycling Plastic Bags

You know the ones. You get your toilet paper in them at WalMart and KMart.

I know of two uses. The first wears it out completely.

We use ours as laundry bags. Everyone in the family keeps one or two rolled up in a ball behind his or her bedroom door. Dirty laundry goes in as soon as it comes off. Then it gets carried down two flights of stairs into the laundry room. There is none of the dust or dirt coming off the clothing to dirty the rest of the house the way it would if the clothing were thrown down the stairs.

It's time to throw take it back to WalMart and recycle it when the handle breaks or it rips open.

The second use is probably one you already know. They can be use as kitchen trash bags, which leads us to the next item.

Garment Bags

Suit length plastic garment bags are the perfect size for the kitchen trash basket--almost. You need to use the bags with the four inch gusset. You can recognize them by the pleats in the shoulder area. The ones without the pleats may be too small for your trash basket.

The thinner bags may not be strong enough to hold all your kitchen trash, so double them.

Also, small items may come out of the hole where the hanger goes. Just tape it up and everything will stay inside.

Zippered Drapery Bags

These are the hanging bags that WalMart uses to hold draperies. There is a hook at the top and a zippered opening somewhere in the bag. The plastic is tough vinyl. It is durable.

We store items in them for garage sales; we use them to sort things; they can be used to keep items in suitcases orderly; they can be used as toiletry bags. The list goes on. I'm sure you can think of a way you can reuse them.

And they can be hung on a small hook, like the one on the back of the bathroom door in your hotel room.

And, for you fellow seamstresses, you can reuse the zipper. Just unsew it, taking care not to pull the zipper tab off the end.

Food Bags

Oh, the uses for food bags.

You must remember that food bags can harbor bacteria and mold. So they must be cleaned properly before reuse. It is best not to reuse bags that were used for meat other than to hold garbage or other items destined for the trash.

However, bags used for vegetables can be washed in a mild clorox and dish detergent solution.

Wash and rinse them thoroughly and squeeze the water out of them. Dry them by hanging them on a hook.

These washed bags can be used to double-wrap meat and other items, like butter, for storage in the freezer.

And don't forget to use them one last time for your food garbage before you throw them out one last time.