How ever careful you are in refusing plastic carrier bags (carrying a
canvas tote bag in your handbag is a great way to make sure you don't pick up plastic bags) and trying to avoid plastic produce bags you are likely to end up with a pile of plastic bags (how many of us are prepared to stand in the supermarket and take a loaf out of its plastic packaging and repack it in our own paper or fabric bags. Not many of us! And even the independent health food shops in Edinburgh wrap at least some of their items in plastic).
Plastic bags can be easily reused, perhaps as bin liners for example. I always take a plastic carrier bag or two with me when I'm doing my voluntary work along the
Water of Leith so that I have something to put the litter in.
So how do you store your plastic bags? One solution is to use a fabric bag like this:
I made this one from a sleeve of the satin robe that I've used to make several other craft projects (for example
this chopstick bag and
this wrist cuff). I threaded some elastic through the bottom and an old boot lace through the top. I put plastic bags in the top and take them our of the bottom when I need to use them. (Notice that the bag is hanging next to the
House Rabbit Connection calendar that Jade and Mickey of
Zen of Bun so kindly sent me for Christmas).
The dimensions of this bag aren't perfect (and were constrained by the dimensions of the sleeve I used). The bag is slightly too wide and too short. So I made one of better dimensions out of a remnant of tie dye fabric from Malawi which I've also made a tablecloth out of.
This one is now in the
Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop. I hope to make some more of these in different fabrics.
***
Meanwhile I'm delighted that one of my beaded bookmarks has been included in
this treasury on Etsy.
And I've put together a
Tiger themed Treasury.
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
I have canvas bags I promise myself to bring with me for shopping at the supermarket..then almost regularly I forget them at home. Last time to avoid getting a ( recycled anyway ) further plastic bag at the supermarket I went home with my pockets literally bulging, exploding really, with groceries...making me walk like a bear...
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ReplyDeletepretty holders,xx Rachel
ReplyDeletei have a large plastic bag that holds all my store plastic bags. i take excess to be recycled and reuse the others as bin liners.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! My mom gave me a holder like that to store plastic bags and they are very handy. The San Francisco area recently passed laws where they charge you 10 cents for a bag at the store (and only paper allowed nowadays) so that really motivates people to carry their own reusable.
ReplyDeleteNice. BL just stuffs them in another one. When it is bulging, she takes it and recycles it at the grocery store - they have bins for that.
ReplyDeleteWonderful idea. I always carry my canvas bags. When I do have plastic, I reuse them for household waste. I also take them to the recycle place here in town.
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