How can I reuse or recycle … plastic carrier bags?
I know, we all hate them with a passion. But despite taking cotton bags when we go shopping (most of the time…) and using them as bin liners, we still have about seventy-nine billion plastic bags in the house.
We have two of those bag tidy things full, another load wedged between the freezer and the wall, and then ones from clothes shops and the like in the bedroom (because they’ve yet to walk downstairs yet).
What, oh what, can we do with the accursed things?
You can put plastic bags in the green recycling bin, in Leeds at any rate.
Also I use them when I go on hol, to put my houseplants and outdoor tubs in. Helps retain the moisture while I’m away, but then when I get back, alas they are too mucky to use for anything else. But at least they have been used again!!
fill with good soil and you can grow potatoes in them. hang em around yuor garden
You can take them to Charity Shops or Organic Shops/ Farmers Markets where they will be grateful and the bags will be reused.
Cut into strips and crochet into a rug… you can get patterns/instructions on the internet!
I’m excited to see others crochet strips of bags as well. I thought I made it up. I crochet fat strips into baskets to put outside my door for shoes and wet suits. I even wash them in my washing machine.
Tesco stores have a plastic bag recycling bin – at least the one in Shettleston does! Also to cut down on the number of trendy high store bags you accumulate when on a mad shopping spree,pop into TKMaxx first and buy one (or more) of their “Bags For Life”. They are made from jute and are absolutely huge – perfect for the above mentionned sprees!
There are tons of uses for these plastic bags. Use them to carry your lunch, take yout gym clothes, etc.
First off please stop collecting any more – just say NO in the shops! You’ll be amazed how much more aware many shop staff are when you say this – especially if you add with a smile that you’ve got far too many bags already. If you always carry one of your existing bags with you (takes almost zero room/weight in your bag), then you’ll be far less likely to really need to ever get another one.
However, to actually answer your question, try these people – make sure you have a sort through your mountain first though to avoid the stuff they say they don’t want.
http://www.polyprint.co.uk/recycling.html
Fiona wrote:
Tear the bags into thin strips, then twist them into thread. You can use the thread to tie back plants if the plastic is dark, or for any similar purpose where a waterproof thread is neccessary. You can also knit the thread using fat knitting needles, to make a free draining, tough mesh. This is fab for clothing peg bags, but there are probably other uses for this fabric I have’nt thought up yet, like maybe trainer bags, or beach bags. To make a long thread simply tie the ends as you go.
Your local library always needs plastic bags, try popping down and donating some and they’ll usually be greatly recieved :)
When putting wellies on our kids we often sandwich a plastic bag between two socks as an extra waterproof layer for when they inevitably fill said welly with water.
We reuse plastic bags in the second hand bookshop where I work.
I also always have a couple of smaller plastic bags in my coat pocket to clear up after the dog, when necessary.
I still manage to accumulate plastic bags, even though I usually carry a cotton bag with me.
I have used supermarket plastic bags as mini cloches for plants requiring protection on my allotment. I cut the bottom open, then tension the bag with canes or sticks. You can tie the handles together for more protection, or push the bag down as the plant becomes acclimatised. They last for about a couple of years then start to degrade into flakes. (However, slugs are also grateful for the protection!) They can also be used as weights to hold down netting, etc if they are filled with earth. They usually degrade faster then. I also use them to bring back produce from the allotment – easier than a trug or a wheelbarrow.
We’ve discovered an interesting use which is to use them balled up to stuff boots and shoes to help them keep their shape when packing them away for storage or to take on holiday.
at the food store i use canvas bags and what ever else doesn’t fit i put into paper bags..the paper bags i then use in my kitcheb to collect paper and plastic recycling and then the bags get recycled too. i barely have any plastic bags left and if i do get some by chance my local food store has a bin for them.
i used plastic carriers bags and poke holes in for my hangnig baskets to stop the soil from falling out
In North Kent we can put them in our blue recycling boxes/bags, and I’ve also heard that Tesco will recycle them for you. You can re-use them instore and get Green clubcard points, or you can even give them to the driver of the Tesco.com van, if you get your shopping delivered.
As said above though, there are loads of uses for them. I use a couple of them to keep my clothes waterproof when they’re in my rucksack (When on the motorbike), etc.
Cut them into half inch wide strips, join together, roll into a huge ball then knit or crochet into grocery bags that you will reuse over over again…ang you’ll get lots of compliments.
Here’s one tutorial:
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/04/22/crochet-a-recycled-handbag-from-plastic-grocery-bags/
Hi
more details or a pattern available please – i would love to see a bag made like this thanks anita x
Plastic Bag Crafts!
http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html
…including one oh so haute couture dress!
We have been cutting into 1/2 strips and joining together and making handbags with several pockets, bath mats for when you travel, beach bags, for wet clothes and as a weed block in the garden.
I’ve just remembered something from my (brief) days as a professional painter/decorator – we used to wrap plastic bags around rollers overnight to save washing them out.
We painted using the same colour for days at a time (numerous bedrooms in student houses) – the plastic bags stopped the paint on the rollers from drying out and saved us a lot of time that would have been spent washing them out.
-louisa
I’m making a cloth to cover a communion table for my church out of recycled products.The background is stitched plastic carrier bags. This has produced a lovely soft effect and gives the message of making something beatiful out of something nasty.
Use them as bin bags for your kitchen bins, or use them as dog waste bags, or I take them to my local market stall holders who are glad of them, or you could use them scrunched up as packaging when sending breakable items in boxes.
The problem with doing that is that plastic bags invariably have holes in to prevent suffocation, and rubbish then just gets through the bottom of the bag…
You can take the bags that you get lugged with to your local tesco who will allways recycle them for you, could make crafts out of them like mats, clothin etc…
-Emma
Iam a student doing a visual studies ba at norwich univ collage of the arts and I am knittind hats ,scarve mittens and a jacket out of recycled plastic bags and I am getting some great results
I turn them into pom poms to use as bows for gift wrapping. There are instructions online.
http://ecomonster.com/?p=319
OH OH OH make them into BRAIDED BAG JUMPROPES! these jumpropes are some of the best ive ever used and if you want to make one heres the online instructions:
http://www.highlightskids.com/Express/Crafts/Games/C0894_jumprope.asp
…for someone about my height 5 foot (yes short, but not done growing) i needed 9 bags, oh & remember, however many bags you use they have to be in counts of three (3,6,9,12) since its a three strand braid…
orrr maybe someone could try a thicker braid…