TAKING HOME THE TRASH

How do you get your trash home?

I usually don't mess around and bring it home by the van load. I can truthfully say that I do haul it off by the van load also. I can't verify it but I think the bring home count is just a smidgen higher than the hauling off, not absolutely sure but it is a pretty good guess.

Most folks bring home their stuff in bags or boxes. Over the years I have learned to take reusable bags to yard sales. After all, my goal is to get rid of plastic bags not to get more. And let's face it, some of those bags from yard sales look less than clean. Just an observation.

I like to keep a bunch (do bags grow in bunches?) of reusable bags in my car, some in my work tote bag and some in a basket in the kitchen. I want no excuse not to find a reusable bag when I need one

Over the years I have purchased a variety of bags for reusing for shopping of all kinds.  I have also made a lot of reusable bags for myself, friends, family and for sale at different venues. My favorite bag is one that is made from a vintage sheet or vintage fabric. Like this:

This was a piece of vintage barkcloth that I found at Goodwill for cheap. I used an old Wal-Mart bag as my pattern for this bag, I just made the handles a bit longer and the bag a bit wider and added an outside pocket so you could drop your keys, wallet or customer card in there.

I have also made reusable bags from discarded and purchased t shits. Like this:

These t shirt bags are great for stuffing. They hold a lot of stuff and expand very nicely. And sometimes I find really cute t shirts that are popular. I wish I had a hundred of these. I sold this one on line in less than 30 minutes after I made it.

I made this one from a garden soil bag I made last year. I lined it with a piece of vintage sheet. My SweetiePie refers to me as his "Dirt Bag" when I use this bag and he is along. He is funny like that.

There are lots of web sites to purchase plastic bags (like the ones at Wally World) that are new. You can also find ones that are made of recycled plastic bottles or bags. The website myrecycledbags.com will teach you how to make plarn so you can crochet or knit your own bag. Like this:

So next time you need to move some trash please think about what you are going to do with those plastic bags. It doesn't matter what type of bag you use.You are only going to be using it an average of 30 minutes.  Just long enough for you to get your purchases home. In an average persons life time you will use over 20,000 plastic bags.In just my family we will use 160,000 bags in our lifetime. That's probably enough to fill the back of my van several times.

Doesn't it make sense to use them more than once?