Announcing the Shopping Bag Challenge
Those plastic shopping bags really are ubiquitious, aren’t they?
I’ve been using almost solely reusable shopping bags since Christmas, and before that I brought my own shopping bags to Aldi when I shopped there. But I would get bags from Walmart and Kroger, so I wasn’t completely using reusables. But at Christmas, I got a few reusable shopping bags, and combined with the ones I salvaged from my house, I now have enough to get through an entire shopping trip at all three stores.
And yet, I still have a large number of plastic “disposable” shopping bags. Having a few around the house in case I need them would be okay, but I have far too many. So I decided to run a challenge for myself (and anyone who would like to join!) for the month of August, and try and cut down the number of plastic disposable bags I have. Without simply throwing them away directly - by putting them to some sort of use that ends their lifespan. This challenge also requires that I stick to using reusable bags whenever possible as not to add to the number I have. My goal is to find ways to use disposable shopping bags instead of something I would have to buy and pay money for. I’m not sure exactly what I am going to replace and how I am going to do that, but that’s what the challenge is about. thinking creatively and finding solutions that don’t cost me money, and using things I already have.
Want to join in? Great! Go find your stash of disposable plastic shopping bags (we all have one, right?) and count it. I did, and I had 60. Yikes! And that is with consciously reducing the number I generate for the past 7+ months! Now then - the challenge is simple. Set a goal for how many you would like to have by the end of August. My goal is 10, which means I need to reduce my stash by 50. I would like to have a few around for random odd jobs - like cleaning out the kitty litter and lining small trash bins, but I don’t need a huge supply.
Each week I will post a challenge update post, and with it, ask for comments on how you are doing with the challenge, what your current plastic bag tally is, what uses you have found for them so far, and ways you’ve avoiding collecting more. I’ll update the end of each post with the numbers tally for participants, and then at the end of the month, I’ll write a post collecting all the tips in one place. Simple, right?
To start - here are ways I already reduce collecting more bags and ways I use the ones I have:
- I bring reusable bags to the grocery stores I shop in.
- I bring a few plastic bags to the stores as well in case I buy meat or something else I want contained in a plastic bag that I will dispose of.
- I line small trash cans with the grocery bags.
- I use the grocery bags in our diaper bin.
- My spouse uses one s a lunch bag and reuses it each day until it falls apart.
And here is my first idea for collecting even less of them in the future:
- Bring reusable bags to other types of stores if they allow it - I found in my stash, at least 20 of the bags I have left are not from grocery stores at all.
Join the challenge! Stop collecting plastic bags, and put the ones you already have to some sort of use before they get thrown away. And if you don’t have any reusables - that’s okay. You can reuse the plastic ones you already have when you shop, or look around your house for unused tote bags and other types of bags you can repurpose. One of my shopping bags was from the hospital when I came home with my daughter. :) I’m going to have to think very creatively to eliminate 50 of my plastic bags this month and actually use them in a truly useful manner, but I am up for the challenge. And so are you. 
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:55 am
Brilliant! I’ve been using reusable bags for awhile now too, except for meat products. I never thought to bring my own plastic bags - I’m going to run out to my car right now, and put a few plastic bags inside my reusable bags.
I’ve found that if I hang the bags next to my purse, I see them and remember to bring them along.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:18 am
This is easy for us dog owners! Everyone else better have a plan
July 31st, 2008 at 8:16 am
I use mine as packing material for eBay shipments. They go away quickly that way, and I don’t have to buy packing peanuts.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:48 am
Someone who crochets might want to try this!
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/05/18/recycled-plastic-grocery-tote-bag/
I really have no plastic bags anymore and have to search to find something to use to pick up after the dog. I end up using bread bags and other food bags for doggie detail.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:59 am
Hmmm. Well, we’re using what we have for our yardsale this weekend, but we usually donate them to meals on wheels. They use them for getting the meals to the recipients and that means less budget going to something that can’t be eaten. Those that have a program in your area might see if they could use your bags. We give them to a friend who collects from several people and takes them in every few weeks.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:17 am
I see someone already mentioned crochet, but I’ve seen knitters doing the same thing…using bags to make into stronger reusable bags.
There’s also a way to fuse them to make a thicker “fabric”
http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/howTos/article/fusing-plastic-bags-with-the-etsy-labs/1098/
Ours mostly get used for the liter box though.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:19 am
I switched to reusable grocery bags over a year ago, and ever since, I realized my remaining plastic bag “collection” was mostly Target bags. To solve this I bought a reusable bag from Target (they’re on display by the checkstands in the store near me) that zips up to wallet sized, and I carry that in my purse to use whenever I’m shopping somewhere besides the grocery store. Now I just have to get rid of the remaining stash!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:24 am
I want to get better about this (I keep forgetting to take the darn things in the store) but I had trouble reusing a plastic bag at Target the other night. He took it and started to throw it away and give me a new bag! LOLOL I wound up taking his new bag and my old bag home. I also need to look for something attractive and appropriately sized to use as a mall shopping bag.
Anyway, wanted to add that the park by my house has a dispenser for plastic bags for doggie duty. The city doesn’t fill that dispenser, they rely on recyclers. Thanks for the reminder on food bags though…I can add those to my contribution. I like the idea of having convenient waste bags but not brand new plastic manufactured for the sole purpose of putting poop in them!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:25 am
The local major grocery chain gives ‘points’ if we use the reusable fabric bags when using the store-branded credit card … so we’ve been getting very few plastic bags.
.. so much so, that I’ve been *wanting* more plastic bags — to line the bathroom and bedroom trashcans, and to dispose of litterbox and ashtray contents.
Interestingly, one local major grocery chain store has become the first in Atlantic Canada not to *have* plastic bags at the checkout. You can’t buy ‘em, you can’t have any, there are none, period. Sounds brilliant unless you’re dropping by unexpectedly after work to pick up a few things and don’t have cloth bags handy at the time.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:47 am
Great Challenge! I’ve reused this plastic bag 8 time so far for our recyclable junk mail. You can definitely find reuse for sturdy plastic bags:
http://strivinggreen.blogspot.com/2008/07/plastic-bag-challenge-how-many-times.html
July 31st, 2008 at 11:43 am
I stash my reusable tote bags behind the seat in my pickup so, I’ve always got easy access to them.
I’m re-using my plastic bags in my refinishing project. When I strip woodwork, I use the plastic bag as a ‘rag’ to hold used wood stripper and to wipe the wood stripper off the putty knife i use.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:53 am
I’ve always wanted to buy a cloth reusable grocery bag. Maybe this challenge will get me to spend the $2 to do so.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
This may be “cheating” but I noticed that most grocery stores in the Washington, D.C. area actually have bins to recycle your plastic bags. Keep an eye out for them, it might be the ticket to getting rid of ALL your unwanted bags!
July 31st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Our local library and food banks are always in need of plastic bags so when mine get out of hand, we go drop them off at one or the other.
Also, some grocery stores have recycle bins near the entrance somewhere that you can leave your used bags the next time you shop.
We have a couple reusable bags, including the one from Target that folds up and it’s really great. It’s pretty large, too. You can fit a lot of stuff in it!
We also use them as trash can liners for our bathroom trash. I’m not sure that’s the most environmentally friendly solution but it does get rid of them rather quickly.
~ Annie
July 31st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
This is great! We switched about 6 months ago pretty much to reusables, for groceries, when I finally did the math (we get bag credit here), When dog walking, and for cat litter, I use the produce bags, but for yard “waste” we have a Doggy Dooley which works great. Target is our biggest source of plastic, so we use them for trash can liners. Wish Target gave $ credit, but figure right now I’m automatically paying for their plastic bags.
BTW, our community now offers curbside pickup of food waste, so we place that into Biobags, leaving absolutely no need for “real” (i.e., purchased, bigger) trash can liners. One could use the Biobags for disposal into regular garbage as they hold up just fine with gooshy stuff.
I wish I could think of as great ideas as I have read so far. Thanks for starting this conversation!
Oh, the other thing wanted to mention is Ed Bagley’s great retort to the “paper or plastic” question: “neither”
July 31st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
If and when I get shopping bags, I use them to scoop kitty poo into from the litter box.
When shopping at farmer’s markets, I often get little, skinny plastic bags; I reuse these when I’m shopping for meat or eggs (having an egg break open in your reusable shopping bag SUCKS. Take it from me).
I also get little paper bags from the market. I haven’t found a decent use for them yet, so they are stacking up near my sink. I’ll figure out something for those.
For the market, I use an old knitting bag, complete with six outer pockets for yarn skeins. It helps keep my bananas and peaches from being smooshed! We all have a ton of bags at home like this that would make good market bags!
I’m in - always up for a challenge!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Another way get rid of your stash (if it is not too huge) might be to check in with your local public library. I am a librarian and we keep a stash of plastic grocery bags for patrons to use to protect their books if it is raining, or if they just get more than they can comfortably carry without a bag. Since I started using cloth bags at home I have to scout around for sources for the plastic bags!
July 31st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
As a single person household,with a large garden, I don’t ever seem to have enough plastic bags! So I won’t be joining the challenge… However, some of my uses are:
Over my stool seat that the paint can sits on when I paint.
Over the paint roller that’s put in the freezer between uses.
As a liner in my lunch sack.
The usual trashcans and garbage can liners. I throw 4 or 5 in the bottom of each can so there is always a spare when I take the filled one out. I don’t buy any garbage bags at all, except the large yard sized ones for outside.
Garden: In spring, as frost protection over young plants in the garden. Over some fruits/veggies to keep the bugs/birds away while ripening. Over my scarecrow babies while watering so their clothes/straw/hats aren’t dripping wet for so long.
Between the ground and the barkdust in the garden paths to keep weeds from coming up.
Put over a berry/currant branch so the fruit will just drop right into them.
Over the tractor seat to prevent wet-butt syndrome in this rainy climate.
Firewood: I bundle kindling in them,store in the woodshed, and then just grab the next sack to take into the house as needed. Also use when searching for firewood for the little pieces being picked up.
Beach - grandkids ‘treasures’ and collections. As well as the wet stuff. Put their sandy/wet shoes in them. Towels, etc.
Sewing/crafts; taped to sewing or craft table for scraps or trash threads/fabric. Scrapbook papers bundled by color or project in bags for easy toting to work table. Sewing pattern with cut out fabric and notions until project is done.
Charity: Used clothes to local charity - and they reuse the sacks for sales. Soda pop cans in them and dropped off at Habitat for Humanity. They put the bags in the recyling hopper when they take the cans in for redemption.
Christmas: sorting sacks for organization of my yearlong shopping for 8 grandkids and the rest of the family.
Ok - my confession - I have even been known to wrap presents in them…(especially frozen gifts like homemade lasagna, quiche, or pie)… with a nice ribbon, they don’t look too bad
July 31st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I use plastic grocery bags and the clear ones I’ve used previously for produce every day when I walk the dog. The idea of *paying* for plastic bags to scoop Dog’s doo doo into boggles my mind. But if things keep going the way they are, there may not be any plastic grocery bags to use.
And I am trying to use the 2 reusable bags for the deli since they *gave* them to all their regular customers (most places make you buy them).
July 31st, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I have 1 plastic bag (for holding toiletries) So I think I already won.
As for how to stop collecting them… I guess it depends on how you get them. Whole Foods doesn’t have them in their store at all, so I don’t get them there. I can’t remember the last time I walked into a Target. My local convenience store is a block away, so I take my bag.
And reusables are the way to go! You can get some really cute ones too.
Also a lot of grocery stores take the bags back for recycling…
July 31st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I stopped using plastic bags a year ago. My college roommate and I started a reusable bag business, www.sackaroos.com. It’s a canvas bag that holds washable, lightweight mesh bags. I leave my Sackaroos in the car, so that I have it with me always. When I return home and unload the groceries or other purchases, I make sure to place the mesh bags (if they don’t need to be washed) into the canvas bag and back to the car they go. It’s an eco-living habit.
Love the earth.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
And I am already failing my own challenge. Heh.
Today i went to Walgreens to take advantage of that $5 off $20 one day coupon. The first Walgreens I brought in my reusable bag. They were out of what I was trying to buy. Luckily I pass not one, but three Walgreens on the way home from work (lol). The second one had my items - but I had forgotten to bring in my bag and didn’t realize it until I was checking out.
I thought about going out to get my bag, but it was the last water pitcher filter they had, and someone had hidden it behind another kind to save it (but I found it anyway
) and I was paranoid that someone else would buy it while I was at my car. Heh.
So um…. 61 bags. Doing well.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:16 am
I’ve actually been using baggu bags. www.baggubags.com
They are made of ripcord nylon and so they are washable and leakproof, so I just throw everything in them…I don’t get plastic bags for produce anymore…I just use these.
Much better than the store’s reusable bags which are still made from oil.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:17 am
LOL! I can tell you how many I had left at the time you posted this: two. Walking Cassie the Corgi twice a day really consumes the plastic bags, since she wants to defile at least two (sometimes three) neighbors’ lawns during each stroll. So I have to carry three bags with me each time we go out.
Nifty way to carry bags bags for that purpose: Get an old prescription pill bottle (yah, I know: more clutter to squirrel away!) and stuff a couple of bags into it. Then you have two plastic bags neatly stowed, instead of expanding to fill all the space in your picket. You can pack two or even three bags from the produce dept in one of those pill containers.
After the Great Fly Invasion, I realized a little momma had laid her eggs in the garbage can, which I keep in the garage, and the babes had hatched and metamorphized quickly in the spring heat. So I’m also wrapping ALL wet garbage tightly inside grocery store plastic bags.
These two purposes run the plastic-bag hoard down to zero pretty quickly. Today I had to raid the grocery store’s produce department and steal a half-dozen new bags for doggy pick-ups.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:49 am
we probably have 60 or so bags, also. didn’t count ‘em, but they fill an entire large kitchen garbage bag! we use them for trash can liners and kitty litter cleanup (as does everyone else it appears!)
August 1st, 2008 at 8:03 am
I have not bought a garbage can liner bag in as long as I can remember. I use the plastic bags for liners and end up going through between 4 and 6 a week. It means we have to change out the garbage under the sink more often, but that is generally a good thing anyway.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:16 am
We use the smaller grocery ones for the bathroom garbage. Used to plunk out a good couple of bucks every few months for cheaply-made bags that would break — and had no handles. I don’t feel guilty about getting these from the supermarket when we do repurpose them. Plus, the handles make them easier to remove from the can and tie up the bag!
August 1st, 2008 at 8:30 am
Some stores won’t allow you to bring in reusable bags?
August 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am
We will take a couple of them and cut them in half so each half has a handle in tact. Then we put a couple in each car and a couple in our baby bag. That way we always have a couple spare ‘emergency’ bibs on hand.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Excellent! I’m game. I’ve also made a new year resolution to cut down the influx of plastic bags in my home. And so far I have been quite successful at that. I have 4 reusable bags and I try to keep them at hand whenever I go shopping. I even use dontbreakthechain.com to keep a tab on ‘plastic bag free’ days in our home. Still, some plastic bags do find their way to our place. Right now I’m using them to line our bathroom trash can and now I can see a steady decline in their quantity. However, I’ll need to count how many of them are still lying around.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I switched to reuseable bags about two years ago and had that “moment” when I was in the store picking up a few things and had to take a plastic bag. The reuseable bags does me and the environment no good if I am constantly leaving them in the car or at home.
So I started to carry a couple folded tightly in a pouch in my purse. So now I never have to take a plastic bag.
Many stores will bag your products in your bag if you ask, you do not have to take the store bags unless you want too.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Is that so, about stores that don’t let you bring in reusable bags? Good grief.
Trader Joe’s has a promotion going where if you carry in a reusable bag, they give you a raffle ticket to win another one. Their canvas bags are great! I keep mine in the back of the car and use them for many other purposes. They’re perfect for carrying lunch or take-home work into the office, ’cause you can also fit your purse in and have only one tote to carry.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I love the size of the Aldi bag! It is huge!! I also picked some up at Walgreens. I use the Aldi insulated bags too.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I could not even tell you how many plastic bags we have. I know it fills a huge laundry basket. We use them for garbage bags, yard sales, give them to the library, and put them in our recycle bin. I hope to get reusable bags soon. I have a great one that I use for the library and a couple I use for school. Now I need some for the groceries!
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
When we bought our house I got rid of my huge trash can to encourage recycling. My husband is not the best at it but with a very small bin under the sink he doesn’t have a choice
Plus I can usually pick recyclables out of there if they make it in there. I use all my store bags for this instead of buying a roll of bags that don’t fit right. The Target ones are the best. Even though I do this I still have tons of them! I probably had 80 of them last week.
Our local thrift store wants them so every few months I load up my trunk and bring them over there. I too have bought many of the reusable bags (they are 1.00 here at most stores) but I never remember to bring them in. I have tried to keep them in a bag with my coupon binder which seems to help. I know our library also wants them.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:56 am
I have a huge collection of them, I use them for trash can liners (of course) but also they make great dirty laundry containers when traveling (to keep the dirty clothes away from the clean ones) and occasionally I find other uses for them as well.
I don’t really have any good tips to stop accumulating them though, I don’t use reusable shopping bags, but I also don’t buy much or shop often. Also, I try to not take a bag at all if I can easily carry my purchase without one.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I use my plastic bags for: kitty litter removal, trash bags, lunch bags, dirty clothes bags when on the road (especially the softball uniforms), wet clothes when on the road, packing shoes in suitcase, packing shampoo, etc. in suitcase (road trips), take to library to carry books, double bagged to clean out the refrigerator, use for clothes and food to be donated, carry food to potluck so that it doesn’t spill in car (and to bring container back home), and wrap fresh cut flowers in so they don’t drip. I’m sure there are more, but right now I can’t think of any.