Reuse Plastic Bags: 12 DIY Upcycle Tips

From Networx' Adam Verwymeren:

The scourge of landfills and the enemy of environmentalists, plastic bags have been much maligned in recent years.

Starting in 2007, cities around the country have voted to ban or curb the use of these non-compostable carriers in favor of paper or plant-based alternatives. For instance, the San Jose, CA plumbing and sewer system was plagued with an overabundance of trash in its storm sewers, and issued a plastic bag ban in January of 2011.

But while their eco-impact might be pretty harsh, you can at least make a plastic bag serve a second purpose before it ends up in a landfill. There are, of course, the obvious uses: lining a trash bin, cleaning up after a dog or reusing them as bags at the grocery store. But here are some other great, innovative ways to re-use plastic bags.

All captions/text courtesy of Networx.

RATE IT!   |  

VOTE

Wouldn't bother

Awesome!

CURRENT TOP 5 PICK YOUR OWN TOP 5

USERS WHO VOTED

NEW! CREATE YOUR OWN SLIDESHOW

Comments

[spunk32]

04:04 PM on 02/11/2013

I use a great product called Handi Hanger to reuse grocery bags for trash or storage. Check it out at handihanger.com. It's an earth friendly product that also saves you money.

www.handihanger.com
www.facebook.com/OriginalHandiHanger

[Chef Emily Brooks]

04:40 PM on 02/02/2012

the plastic in these grocery bags are NOT FOOD SAFE -- so using them for frosting and other things is not a good idea

[Nora Bahr]

05:40 PM on 01/29/2012

I'm wondering how sanitary letting your bread rise in a big like that is. . .

[mackfleetwood25]

07:16 AM on 01/28/2012

i was on the spot one time and needed a trogan i just bought a vidio cam that had bubble wrap in it i made a trogan from it the lady i was with said it was great the bubbles gave her a great sensation thanks nikon you saved the day

[royzgirl1]

04:58 PM on 01/27/2012

Check out the movie 'Bag It'...something included in the film for all of you to learn from.

[lilpeg]

08:38 AM on 01/26/2012

I like the idea of making a shopping bag and the rug out of the old plastic bags. Guess I need to learn to knit or crochet.

[aligatorhardt]

08:25 AM on 01/26/2012

How much energy is used to recycle plastic bags into different products? Use cloth bags at the grocery store and avoid plastic bags.  Most of these re-uses of plastic bags are still worthless junk.

[kenholmes]

04:25 PM on 01/26/2012

Actually, recycling plastic bags requires very little energy. And the most common reuse of plastic bags is a trash bags. Of course, you can just buy trash bags, but i don't see how that reduces plastic use in any way. The vast majority of reusable bags are also plastic (non-woven polypropylene - check the label), are non recyclable, not usable for the second uses of traditional bags, and are shipped all the way from China. The manufacturing is not eco friendly, and they don't support the US economy in the lease.

[mzrecycle]

05:20 PM on 01/25/2012

There are 3 things pictured that are not made directly from plastic bags. If the bags have to be recycled, then made into something else, well, that's been going on quite some time. Takes too much energy.

[kenholmes]

07:15 PM on 01/25/2012

wait... recycling them into something else takes too much energy? so you are advocating for all new material in everything? that's pretty silly. Recycling works. It takes your trash and gives it a new life as another product. Plastic bags are always 100% recyclable.

[mzrecycle]

09:20 AM on 01/26/2012

If I ever (very seldom, since a have a lot of canvas and nylon bags) use plastic bags, I recycle them. My point is that we should all be using reusable bags. It does take energy to transport, then process the plastic bags into other products. I've got bag that I got back in the 80's, others more recently. Just imagine all the oil used to make enough bags to replace by reusable one's since the 80's. Then to transport, and process them into some other plastic thing that we use for a while and toss in the trash...
I just try to keep the amount of "disposable" products that I buy and use to a minimum.

[Felicia Hunter]

03:55 PM on 01/25/2012

why not just take them to your local grocery store (I know Giant does this) and recycle them.

[RbeckNative]

03:01 PM on 01/25/2012

Better idea for what to do about plastic shopping bags: Recycle what's in your closet and then REFUSE THEM! Get some cotton bags (they are very rugged and can support a LOT more weight than their plastic counterparts) for groceries and as many other places you can use them. If you only get a few things & forget your bag(s), CARRY them out of the store (w/receipt so you're not accused of thievery!). Leave them in the trunk for easy use; if you forget your bags, leave your cart in the store, walk to the car, and retrieve them. Plastic can NOT break down into soil and ends up in land fills and our oceans. For our future and our children's: No More Plastic (when possible)!

[mzrecycle]

05:18 PM on 01/25/2012

Love your idea... Besides my really sturdy reusable bags, I have 3 that I can carry in my purse. My newest one (got for Xmas) is a BAGGU. Ripstop nylon, folds up easily to fit in it's own "envelope", 4 1/2"x4 1/2"x3/8". Great colors and it holds a lot. This way, even if I didn't plan to stop and buy, I'll always have a least one bag with me.

[kenholmes]

07:22 PM on 01/25/2012

Yes, it's a great idea to get a reusable bag. But equating ocean litter (where trash shouldn't be) and landfills (where trash belongs) is wrong. Plastic carryout bags make up less than half of one percent of landfill volume. And don't kid yourself... nothing breaks down in landfills. That's by design to protect the environment from toxins leaching into the water table and greenhouse gasses from getting into the air. In a landfill environment, plastic bags are benign. Don't believe me? look it up.

The downside of reusable bags, besides the over-hyped claim that they can carry bacteria, is that they are almost all made in China, which doesn't help the US economy in the least, and are shipped halfway around the world, which doesn't help the environment in the least. Plastic bags on the other hand are 100% recyclable, reusable for many things, convenient, energy efficient to manufacture, and waterproof.