apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There is a group in Mexico that uses old plastic bags to stuff mattresses for the poor.

you can also recycle your plastic bags, i think they use them to make more plastic bags, so i dunno if its entirely worth it... but i do it anyway.

In the past I've used them when I scoop my cat's litterbox to hold the used litter. Tie it up, throw it in the trash can.

Can't imagine all that rustling every time you roll over in bed.

i also use them for scooping up the litterbox contents. are there "better" plastic bags to use for that activity?

i asked that question before...about the cats. i was told to use disposable cat littler (but that they couldn't in ...sf was it? because it was toxic for ocean life and they said it prob wouldn't be in alabama but we have beaches too! i doubt it's safe anyway)

Definitely cat litter. And to line my small bathroom garbage wastebasket. I do pretty much keep even with intake/output.

Could we please get the grocery baggers to read this or any recycling column. STOP putting only one item per bag! I don't care if my chicken and beef touch!

I use all my old grocery bags when I take my dog out (3 times daily). I also wonder if there is a better solution? Sometimes when I am out of grocery bags to use, I have to go buy the expensive ones at the pet store. The ones I buy are biodegradable; so maybe it is better use my own reusable bags at the grocery store, and buy the biodegradable dog waste bags? what does anyone think?

Yeah, what is up with using a bag for three to four items. When I used to take them my fingers would be in pain by the time I got home after all those bags twisted around themselves. What a waste!

I go through the self-scan and do my own bagging, partly to avoid the baggers.

I shop at Whole Food Columbus Cir. and almost always bring a shopping bag--but the cashiers glare at me and half the time put meat or whatever in plastic bags anyway. Annoying! Also they claim to give you a few cents off your bill if you bring your own bag, but I rarely get it. LL Bean boat bags are great for groceries.

I actually bought these on impulse at the container store, and now use them pretty religiously:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=255&PRODID=74340

They fit about the same amount of stuff as a plastic grocery bag, but fold up into tiny carrying cases. My biggest problem has always been that I tend to go to the store on the way home from work, so I forget the old bags I've got at home. These are so compact that I just leave two of them in my bag at all times, and this way I'm sure to use them. They also make a larger size.

I actually got into the habit of recycling bags when I lived in Italy, where everyone does it - the grocery stores there actually charge you for bags, so unless I needed new ones (I used them as trash bags because they were bigger and sturdier than the ones we get here), I just brought old ones (along with everyone else). And there's no bagger to look at you funny, because you're expected to bag your own groceries.

Just last week, I got into a fight with the bagger at the Food Emporium on the UWS, because he kept insisting that he needed to put my milk in a third plastic bag, even though there was plenty of room in my bags. I stood there and repacked everything so that the heavy stuff was actually on the bottom (and evenly distributed between the two bags), which is what he had neglected to do in the first place. Of course the half gallon of milk isn't going to fit on top of the loaf of bread.

It's best time to buy a canvas tote bag / beach bag. I've seen many great design in stores. I carry one with a few used plastic bags inside just for non-dry foods. I have a small collection of tote bags so that I can pick different design for clothes I wear. Just say "no thank you" to plastic bag. So that we can win plastic bag war.

cat poop

Chico Bags are brilliant for reuseable grocery bags - they fold into a tiny pouch smaller than a baseball. I always keep mine (I have two) in my purse, and use them for just about everything - groceries, bringing lunch to work, other sorts of shopping.

http://www.chicobag.com/

Sometimes I get weird looks from baggers, but sometimes they love it. If they try to put your stuff in plastic bags, don't let them! I still have an accumulation of plastic bags in my apartment - roommates' shopping, my occasional Chico-less days - and, like seemingly everyone else, I fill them with kitty litter. But seriously, Chico Bags. They make me a very happy girl.

for elizabeth in AL: http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/

it's environmentally friendly and flushable. It's made of corn and it really is the best.

I shop with a backpack and put items in it directly. The plastic bags I do manage to accumulate are used as trash bags for my $4.99 grocery bag trash can.

count me in for cat poop as well. sometimes, though, the number of bags i have outweighs the number of bags i use. i might be a bit o.c.d., but whenever i get one, i tie it into a little knot to keep itself contained (if you don't contain them, they actually can take up a lot of space), and keep them in an old clementine oranges crate. when the crate is full of little plastic knots, i start using canvas totebags for my groceries while i deplete my plastic bag fund. my cat poops a lot, though, so i go through the plastic bags pretty fast.

my loftmate is a sculptural fine artist. she cuts them into strips and crochets them into little forms that look a bit like a little strapless party dress, turning something mundane and boring into something beautiful. she says it is her answer to what is essentially garbage taking up a lot of space and what they are doing in our landfills.

had to respond to amirrorcracked's comment about a group in MExico using the plastic bags to stuff mattresses for the poor..

"Can't imagine all that rustling every time you roll over in bed."

um...im guessing these people were sleeping on a dirt floor before, so i doubt the noise is much of a bother...i think thats a great idea!

and as for me, i recycle mine. but i usually ask for paper bags (which i use under the sink for holding my bottles and cans) or no bag at all...

Man, plastic bags are getting hard to come by in the Bay Area, but we re-use them for cat poop, poopy diapers, and tiny trash can liners. Sometimes we take them back to the grocery store and use them again. If we ever have more than we need (which is not often) we recycle them.

Ok, ok... I felt really resourceful two days ago with my plastic bags when I was packing up (I'm about to move). I needed some rope to tie up my 8'x10' rug, but I didn't have *any* string of any sort (no old shoelaces, no twine, none of which would be thick enough anyway). So...I took two grocery bags and did a larks head knot with one bag (closed end into the handles) through the handles of the other, making a tie big enough for the girth of the rolled carpet. It worked like a charm.

I always try to bring my own bags to the supermarket, but I often buy more than I was planning to. (Don't want to waste, and my cotton totes are so much easier to carry onto the bus.) Also, my roommates seem to bring a truckload of bags in all the time.

I reuse my plastic bags- use for trash, storage, bringing lunch. Also I am planning on making a bag out of the old plastic bags that I saw on craftzine. Since I already have a ton under the sink I bought these really cute reusable bags at the delight.com but I think they are on backorder so you may want to go the manufacturer at http://usa.envirosax.com/pages/products.php?icat=1 . These bags are cute with retro design and colors. Plus they are light so I can carry them in my purse. They are much cooler and cheaper than most of the other reusable bags that have been posted here- so check them out. No I dont work for the company but I have been looking for something like these for a while.

Plastic bags are avoided at my house; I always ask for paper at the market which I reuse for recyclables such as newspapers and milk jugs. My newspaper is delivered in plastic sleeves which I wrap up into a knot until the litter box needs scooping. I have a psycho cat who eats plastic - he opens cupboards to get to it - and then leaves unpleasant surprises. My home is plastic bag free. I keep the newspaper sleeves in a drawer which the cat cannot open. :) I will use the random plastic bag to help collect trash from bathrooms etc. but cannot use them to line waste baskets because of the cat.

I like to sew so will try some designs which are light weight and sized for my needs. Having grown up on a farm where we made do I can not imagine paying $$$ for tote bags. So, sew I will.

I have been using re-usable grocery bags that they sell at my grocery store for 99 cents apiece. They also have mesh ones for produce. They seem to be holding up pretty well so far.

When I buy something that might leak or get wet with condensation, like frozen items making the trek from store to home, I put them in plastic, and when I've accumulated a bunch I take them back to the grocery store and put them in their recycling bin.

I like the idea of making grocery totes out of the plastic bags, and may do that when my current bags wear out.

I switched to flushable cat litter a long time ago (made from wheat or corn) as it is biodegradeable, doesn't require a plastic bag to dispose of the scoopings, and is better for my kitties, too.

I ALWAYS have a Walker lightweight mesh bag with me - it weighs only 2 ounces, is very strong, never wears out and lets me avoid plastic bags entirely. Keeping it tied the way the company ships it is the easiest way to tote it around. I have a bunch of them and have bought them as gifts. They're also great when you travel. http://walkerbags.com/ln.html

I refuse plastic bags now and carry my own. I reuse them until they fall apart. I keep 2 or 3 in my purse for all my unexpected purchases and take a large tote for planned shopping trips. I'm so over all those damn bags that I seemed to use only to get a couple of blocks from store to apt. and then throw away. What a waste.

I use all of mine for daily trash/garbage as it goes down a garbage chute into a compactor area where it then ends up in large black plastic bags for the street. What do people use for their daily trash?. I am looking for biodegradable bags but would love to know how other NY'ers handle this trash containment as I go through themthe bags at a prodigious rate (kids and puppy).

I cut them into strings and crochet them into really cool totes and purses. (They also make some neat beach/pool bags)

I use them to stuff my felt monsters, and b4 someone goes nuts over the dangers, I don't give them to kids.

Alice,
My cat Niko eats plastic bags too - ruins his digestive system and he never gets that it's bad for him. The worst is when I have houseguests that come with plastic bags...I have to explain it to them and I know it sound neurotic, but...I have to avoid tempting the little guy!

Serra,
Do you have to tell your plastic-bag-bearing houseguests anything? Seems better to just quietly take the bags from them and put them in a drawer or closed garbage bin that the cat won't get to. Or... I'm curious, is it that you want them to learn to never bring bags over again?

Here in Baltimore, and probably in lots of other cities, there are plastic-bag recycling bins at nearly every grocery store. I just consolidate all my little bags into one giant bag, and haul it down to the store once in a while. Makes me feel a lot better about the hundreds that seem to accumulate.

Here in Ireland plastic bags are taxed at 15c (euro) a bag, so you get very creative about always carrying a bag of some sort on you.

One of the best uses for plastic bags is if you are redecorating. Put the roller tray in a bag, pour on the paint, and when finished bin the bag. One less thing to scrub paint off!

I do feel bad about the huge assortment of plastic bags I accumulate throughout a typical month, but every bag I get is reused for disposing of trash. (It's not like I can just dump my garbage can down my apartment building's trash chute, after all.) So if I end up using a canvas or mesh bag for groceries, then buy bags for disposing of trash, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Also, what do people do when shopping for clothes? Most stores have now created a big ritual around wrapping your purchases in tissue paper, putting on a sticker and placing the whole thing into a big glossy shopping bag. Although I do reuse these as well (typically for recycling newspaper, or transporting bulky objects from point A to point B) these really pile up fast, and I never hear anyone talk about using their own bags for this purpose - or see people doing it either. Any thoughts on this conundrum?

IKEA in the US is now charging customers if they use the IKEA plastic bags to take the shopping home! I just find this whole thing ridiculous -- rather than outlawing plastic shopping bags, why not mandate more eco-friendly-but-still-disposable bags? And really, why stop there? Why not outlaw plastic trash can liners too? If we have to buy more plastic bags/liners in order to take out our trash, what exactly are we saving here?

(I don't have a solution; but I almost wish more stores would revert back to using paper bags a la Trader Joe's -- their brown shopping bags are strong and durable, I can reuse them several more times, and as far as I know, still free.)

I'd like to point out that paper bags have a stronger adverse ecological impact than plastic ones do, to start with. The best thing is to bring your own bags; the second best is to use plastic. Paper is a distant third, with its only real advantage over plastic being that it's less dangerous to marine life.

(We do often get paper shopping bags at Whole Foods, though we're trying to phase them out with cloth, and what we do with those bags is to use them to hold paper recycling. Our area has a massive municipal recycling program.)

We use plastic grocery bags for several things in my house: we throw away a minimal amount of trash (usually a large bag every few weeks, thanks to aforementioned recycling program - most of our trash is recyclable), and the grocery bags are used as can liners in bathrooms and bedrooms. It's stuff that can't be recycled, and it's going into a plastic bag anyway. We also use plastic grocery bags to clean up after our pets. We use them for lunch bags, for packing, and we recycle plenty of them in recycling bins.

I'm really not sure that purchasing biodegradable pet waste bags is the thing to do: it depends on what kind of ecological impact *making* the bags has.

I'm not sure whether this applies for cat waste, but there is a system you can purchase called a Doggie Dooley. It's sold through petsmart.com, in their stores, and presumably plenty of other places. You need to have a small patch of yard - maybe 2'x2'. You place dog waste inside the container, which contains enzymes that break it down. It doesn't work during cold winters, though.

I wrote a lot about this on my blog a couple of weeks ago. http://craftyminx.vox.com. I linked a bunch of patterns for knitted and crocheted shopping bags, particularly those made from plastic bag "yarn," and I explained why I was doing it... that there was a lot of fashion and privilege attached, currently, to certain kinds of cloth shopping bags, and it shouldn't be about that.

i want one of those big woven bags that are shaped like a trapezoid with leather (or leather alternative) handles that are big enough to go on my shoulder, with the bag uner my arm - for groceries. anyone know where to find one?

Check out http://baggy-shirts.com/
Reusable bags made from recycled clothing for a healthier planet
These bags are made from recycled men's shirts. A business driven by commitment to the triple bottom line of profit, people and planet.

i was doing a kind of research work for my homework,needing the information here