plastic grocery bags

**CarolynM** · 10-01-2003, 07:39 PM

You may have heard about this before, but I thought it was the neatest thing when I ran across it! I always feel guilty about all the plastic grocery bags I have around, now i have something useful to do with them. I cut them into strips, join the strips, and crochet them into welcome mats or rugs!

**but-mum** · 10-01-2003, 10:49 PM

What a great idea for them ! I end up with so many, they simply drive me quite crazy.
Australia is trying to faze these things out. We are getting a levy on them soon, 25c per bag. Great idea. Some shops are already charging for them, but the supermarkets will be the last I suppose. Not sure when this actually begins. Lizzy may be able to hep me out there.....only a matter of months I think.
Anyway, I will have to start making myself some reusable/washable calico bags in the meantime.

**Lizzy** · 10-01-2003, 11:30 PM

Yeah, go for the calico ones but-mum. I'm making myself some too - thankfully I got 40 metres of calico a couple of years ago at a Spotlight sale for 69 cents a metre. Bunnings has already introduced a plastic bag levy - I think it's 20c a bag.

**Piper** · 10-04-2003, 02:10 PM

I use them to pick up doggie poo!

I still end up with more than I can use though. When I have stored up quite a bit I donate them to a thrift/charity shop.

**blueiis** · 10-05-2003, 08:07 PM

I usually line my bathroom trash cans with them. It saves a bundle on buying the regular ones made for the bathroom. I think making the welcome mats out of them is a great idea.

**Chloe2** · 10-24-2003, 10:34 PM

I also use them to line small wastebaskets.I hate to throw them away.

**Dawn Marie** · 10-27-2003, 09:23 AM

LOL Piper! I don't have a doggie yet but my neighbors dogs love to leave presents on my property. Of course it just blends in with all of the other wild animals who leave presents too

! As for saving plastic bags; I usually have my groceries bagged in paper bags because it never fails that the plastic ones have holes in the bottom. There's nothing more frustrating then trying to put the groceries in the trunk of the car and having the bottom fall out of the bags. This has happened to me even with the paper bags. I usually bag my own groceries. The baggers sure don't mind the help!

**targirl** · 10-27-2003, 11:43 AM

I do have a dog and I use them for the dropping that he leaves us. Dawn I know what your saying about the bags, they pack them so heavy that it ends up on the ground. They are heavy to carry also. I tell them paper, because they can't pack them with to much then. I also use the paper bags for my news papers that have to be recycled.

**busymom** · 10-27-2003, 12:46 PM

My mom had a rug made out of bread sacks when I was younger. It was great. What size crochet hook whould you use?

**licia** · 10-27-2003, 04:29 PM

I certainly need to learn to use the plastic bags. I shop at Publix and they put about 2 things in each bag. I recycle some into the small trashcans and use some for wet garbage and the rest I give to the people at the produce stands.

**Zen** · 10-27-2003, 05:16 PM

i use all plastic bags as liners for the kitchen garbage bin.. i make sure i only have small bins for the kitchen! :)

i wish supermarkets here would have those large paper bags! the cat would sure like to play in them, and if i ever have another rabbit, i just know a rabbit would love them too!

i hadn't heard about the phasing out of plastic bags or a charge for using them here in NSW, altho i do see plenty of strong cloth bags available in the supermarkets now.. a lot of supermarkets here have a large bin for used plastic bags, recycling them somehow i think..

i am not a crafty person, so i admire those who can think up a use for them!

**Betsybug** · 10-27-2003, 10:55 PM

I use them for small trash can also, and to put in the sink when I peel vegs, and other things.

Did anyone see Candid Camera last night?
It was so funny! I love that show.

The guy helped people out to their cars and then he was telling them they were short on the bags and he was taking things out of the bags and putting them in their cars! People was getting mad at him. Some were asking him how they were going to get their stuff into their house without the bags? Can't they pay extra for the bags. All kinds of stuff. One lady was putting them back in the bags when he would take them out and put them in her car.

You just don't relize how much those bags mean unless you take them away from people. LOL

**licia** · 10-28-2003, 10:12 AM

I don't know why I didn't remember this before. A lady in our garden club used the bags to make outdoor Christmas wreaths. She cut them in strips and tied them in knots around a clothes hanger bent in a circle. She put ornaments, berries, sprigs of holly and pine cones (use your imagination to do yours) to decorate them. I was surprised how nice they looked and weather proof also.

**CarolynM** · 10-28-2003, 01:22 PM

I started by using the Q hook, but I actually ended up making my little mat with a N hook. I don't have a P, so I went straight down to the N and I liked that. Maybe I had made my strips really thin.

**Dawn Marie** · 10-28-2003, 01:26 PM

Hey Licia, that reminds me also that my son made me a Christmas wreath out of the white bags when he was much younger. It was a school project. They used a big foil ribbon to make a bow to top it off. It was real cute and like you said it was weather proof! Most of our plastic bags are blue or tan. I suppose you could spray paint them once you put the wreath together if you wanted.

**LilDebbieCakes** · 11-14-2003, 05:27 PM

Hi everyone!

The thrift stores and some other stores in our area have bins where you can donate your extra plastic grocery bags......I keep forgetting to take mine though! I do use mine to line my smaller waste baskets and I try to keep one or two in the car to use as litter bags when we travel. They also make a nice cover to protect children's clothes carried on hangers when you are traveling; and good laundry bags while traveling.

**pink_angel** · 11-15-2003, 01:11 PM

I have a million uses. I use them when I peel vegetables and fruit to put the peelings in so that I can tye it shut so it doesn't smell. Same with diapers. For those rugs, my mom made them when I was a kid, but she braided strips and then sewed it with a large sturdy needle (by hand) into the shape she wanted. They are great! So if you can't crochet you can try it this way :-)

**CinCin** · 11-18-2003, 11:37 PM

My Husband uses the plastic grocery bags to take his lunch in to work. I use them to line bathroom wastebaskets, store cleaned outgrown items until they can be given away, to hold aluminum cans headed for the recycling bin, and to dispose of diapers in so they dont smell everything up. My daughter keeps a supply of the bags handy for use when she cleans out her cats box.

**marfalump** · 11-19-2003, 09:33 AM

If I could sew/crochet and liked to, maybe I'd try it, but there are only so many white, brown or blue wreaths/mats I could make.

Anyway, they are our trash bags. Saves us a lot of $$ not having to buy them. They get hung door knobs (i have never had any luck w/ small wastebaskets. I forget to reline them, then they get yucky from stuff in them, or they get kicked over) in almost every room upstairs. We use them for recycling (on the door knob of our pantry) We do have to get a nice trash can for the kitchen, but in the mean time, a bag hangs on a drawer knob. The laundry room has one. Less trash cans to buy, quick to remove when company comes, round up the bags (w/o having to empty a can and relining it) and dump them outside in the big trash can.

I have used them for diapers. We use them for vegetable clippings, disposing of flower arrangements, sending kid's lunches, if I can't find a better suited bag/container. I keep a few under the car seats to put trash in, or take things in the house, or if there happens to be a spill. I save the nicer ones (Disney Store, hess trucks, etc) to transport gifts and take to our gear to pool parties and picnics. All others are saved for yard sales. And believe it or not, I get rid of them all. Then I have to start collecting all over again.

**sweet biscuit** · 11-19-2003, 10:06 AM

Lots of good ideas here. I reuse these bags as well - saves money when I never buy trash bags. I like the white coated wire stands that hold these bags open - mine works great under the sink for kitchen garbage.

My problem is not getting rid of the bags, but getting enough bags. Since I've been shopping at BJ's club (they don't give bags) I've been running short on bags to use for garbage. I depend on the few that I get at WalMart or Target.