Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle plastic carrier bags?

By: Medeea

Medeea — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:22:13 +0000

You need to wash them before tossing them with the recyclables. Or else you contaminate the recycling stream.

One way to cut down the use of plastic wrap or aluminum foil is to use casseroles with lids. There are even glass containers with lids that can be microwaved.

By: Jaded DreamKing

Jaded DreamKing — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:14:56 +0000

I use them instead of plastic wrap or tin foil to cover my ‘left-overs’. I have saved so much money that way. I just lay the bag sideways and insert the plate of food. I twist the excess and fold it under the plate. It doesn’t sit exactly flat but works. If I really need it to stack flat, I do tie the handles together, but not tightly. I try to examine bags for holes and can sometimes get away with keeping the holes on the bottom of the plate.
I’m a little hesitant to keep the bag on when I reheat the food in the microwave, but usually I don’t have a problem since the plastic is not getting superheated, the food is. The most heat that the bag takes is from the steam. With steam, the bag also inflates and stays off the food until the end of the microwave cooking time.
I usually have a supply that is equal to the amount of food that I buy. Sometimes I do run out of bags since the bags get lots of holes.
After the bags are ‘soiled with food’, I toss them in with the recycling and hope that they get sorted out or mixed in with the other plastics.
This is probably bad in so many ways, but I prefer it to using tons of plastic ‘syran’ wrap. I guess the better solution would be to quit getting/using the bags and just use aluminum foil, but then again, can’t use in the microwave and doesn’t steam cook my food.
Anyways, that’s what I do.
I’ve been told by a friend that the grocery store will take them off your hands, but probably just trashes them. Any truth to that ?

By: Victoria Evans

Victoria Evans — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:36:43 +0000

A friend made some American pompoms for her daughter by cutting off the handles, selotaping the bottom of the bag flat to the edge of a table, then cutting the bag into strips (from the top end to the selotaped end – but not cutting the selotape), then lift the whole thing off the table and roll the bag up so the seloptape sticks it together.

Repeat as necessary for bigger pompoms. Her daughter loved them, especially as my friend used only pink and white carrier bags!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:11:07 +0000

I enjoy making fish and plastic bag dolls out of plastic bags lying round the house. But out of the two, the plastic bag doll is a lovely little ornament that you can make from old items from the home.

1. Hold the end of the plastic bag, (handle end) and cut of the handles.
2. fill the closed end of the bag with paper balls, cotton wool.
3. tie up the end with the cotton wool of paper balls with a rubber band, so they don’t come out
4. draw a face on the filled head of the doll with sharpie pen or a white board pen.
5. Hang up of make clothes for you little plastic doll. Make an army!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:35:05 +0000

My library won’t they keep trying to sell me their reusable bag for $2.

By: juliejustwandering

juliejustwandering — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:06:02 +0000

will you tell me how you do this? we seem to have thousands of these laying around!

By: diane

diane — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:57:01 +0000

I took the baseboards off my outer walls in a cold living/dining room and stuffed the plastic bags between the walls.
It has cut down on the cold in the heated rooms enormously
I figure I*ll just keep stuffing them in there until its full and start on another wall..

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 02:24:51 +0000

You can take a plastic store sack and use it as a liner for your canvas or cotton totes to keep the inside of the reusable bag clean longer. After they serve their purpose there, you can use them somewhere else. Perhaps, in the garden to keep weeds at bay. I don’t look upon plastic shopping bags with the hatred that so many people do. They have many, many uses. These bags can be repurposed a dozen times or more, for years, depending on how they are being reused I can honestly say, without exaggeration, that I have plastic shopping bags around my home that have been here for years, serving in various capacities. These bags aren’t evil. People just need to reuse them. Or take them back to the store and put them into the recycling bin, rather than just tossing them into the trash or worse, littering the landscape with them.

By: Felicia Follum

Felicia Follum — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:57:56 +0000

I have really been enjoying the creation of plastic grocery bags using plarn. Check out photos of the my upcycled reusable plarn shopping bag. I am excited to try this project with colored plarn.

http://feliciafollum.blogspot.com/2011/01/upcycled-pastic-bags-bag.html

By: silvia

silvia — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:28:50 +0000

hi, after trying the melting together thing, and it did not work to me, i tryied this one:

MAKE RECYCLED XMAS CARDS (or bday cards etc)

use very porous card paper (i used recycled one) and iron on a few layers of thin plastic bags trims.
It is important that the plastic bags used are the thin ones as the thick ones will shrink on top and won’t melt. You’ll need to use a 100% cotton sheet between the plastic and the iron and to iron with slow moves for long; make sure you hold the plastic down with the iron for eventual shrinkage and you move around very slowly to make sure to quickly melt the plastic on the paper.
Do it with open windows as the fumes might be strong actually.
If the cuttings of bags are showing letters and pictures is nicer as it gives a retro look.
Then you can fold it as a card, wrap it on fabric and iron again to give the shape.
It looks very original!!!

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:04:03 +0000

Cut the handles and bottom seam off with sharp scissors and flip inside out so that the ink is on the inside. Then you do that for at least 4 bags and put the bags on top of each other and in between wax paper. Use an iron to melt the bags together. This creates a stronger fabric like material. Sew the what you’ve made together to make messenger bags or anything else you can make with fabric like materials.

By: How can I reuse or recycle plastic tablecloths?

How can I reuse or recycle plastic tablecloths? — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:11:35 +0000

[...] for actually recycling plastic ones, they’re usually made from HDPE (resin code 2) like carrier bags – so can be recycled alongside shopping [...]

By: How can I reuse or recycle plastic tablecloths? | How can I recycle this?

How can I reuse or recycle plastic tablecloths? | How can I recycle this? — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:01:05 +0000

[...] for actually recycling plastic ones, they’re usually made from HDPE (resin code 2) like carrier bags – so can be recycled alongside shopping [...]

By: 1eyed1HORNEDflyingPURPLEpeopleEATER

1eyed1HORNEDflyingPURPLEpeopleEATER — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:58:15 +0000

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…

By: EcoMonster

EcoMonster — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:27:51 +0000

I turn them into pom poms to use as bows for gift wrapping. There are instructions online.
http://ecomonster.com/?p=319

By: t. murray

t. murray — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:54:19 +0000

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

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:36:35 +0000

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

By: NN

NN — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:28:36 +0000

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…

By: Bad Monkey

Bad Monkey — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:27:40 +0000

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.

By: torie

torie — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:14:55 +0000

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.

By: lianne

lianne — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:56:56 +0000

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.

By: louisa

louisa — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:04:50 +0000

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

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:54:52 +0000

Fiona wrote:

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

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:34:53 +0000

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.

By: How can I reuse or recycle … odd or bent knitting needles? » How can I recycle this?

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:23:57 +0000

[...] ago, someone emailed me to ask for creative ways to re-use old shopping bags. I directed her to the shopping bags post we did last year and told her about my experience of knitting some flimsy bags into a heavy-duty [...]

By: njtomboy

njtomboy — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:18:10 +0000

Plastic Bag Crafts!

http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html

…including one oh so haute couture dress!

By: anita

anita — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:10:55 +0000

Hi
more details or a pattern available please – i would love to see a bag made like this thanks anita x

By: Pink

Pink — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:39:26 +0000

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/

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:12:25 +0000

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.

By: louise oakley

louise oakley — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:47:03 +0000

i used plastic carriers bags and poke holes in for my hangnig baskets to stop the soil from falling out