You get lots of bags when shopping. I save mine. When I run out of room, I stick shopping bags and tote bags in suitcases. On my next holiday or working trip I will have a handy bag for souvenirs and overflow packing and packing shoes so the dirty soles don't mark clothes.
I see many bags discarded in shopping centres. I think shoppers feel obliged to use them to exit the shop to show they have bought the goods, then decide they have too much to carry. They either wear the clothes they have just bought and then discard the bag, or consolidate the bags.
Why don't they do it in the shop? Not to hold up the queue when paying. Need to find a bin.
No wonder the Singapore MRT train stations' announcements tell you that if you have parcels, please use the lift.
Blocked By Big Shopping Bags
I used to wonder why. Now I know. With wide carrier bags, you block the escalators. You also block the pavements. Try overtaking two parents and two children and their shopping - or three Japanese tourists, all festooned with bags.
Re-using Paper Bags
It hurts me to see perfectly good bags abandoned. Sometimes I rescue a clean bag. I use the bags until they fall apart.
Then I like to save the ribbon handles and the coloured rope handles. I put the ribbons into my sewing box.
In theory you could cut up the bags to create new smaller ones.
Carfts and beds
I recently read a website for crafts-minded people about making beads from paper. there is also papier mache. Or lining drawers.
Drawer Liners
I recently used wrapping paper as drawer liners. Once the drawer is full, it doesn't matter if you have used Xmas paper or wedding paper or some other season paper. You rarely see it under your piles of clothes or stationery.
But what about plastic bags, waterproof bags? Plastic bags can be used to line wastebins. Also as drawer liners.
Plastic Bags when Travelling
Wrappers for shoes when packing a suitcase. Covering or double wrapping liquids such as cosmetics and bottles of drinks. Covering books and notebooks which get battered and would appreciate protection when you are travelling and in rain.
One website has thirty suggestions for reusing paper bags.
Some people have set themselves the task of cutting down on the amount they throw out.
Many items could be re-used by schools for crafts and art lessons if the schools put up a sign and bins to take the treasures which others throw away.
Some supermarkets have bins for bags you no longer need. You might want a big bag to carry home your shopping, but be able to return it later when you are buying only smaller or fewer items.
Some manufacturers suggest new uses for their packaging. I have seen boxes which can be turned inside out to make a toy dolls house or a board game with the game and pieces you fold together, all printed on the back. A bonus for families, as well as good for the environment.
I have seen YouTube videos showing how plastic can be twisted and compressed, or shredded and used to make bricks for building houses. I look forward to the day when everything is recycled.
Meanwhile a few ideas for those free toothbrushes and old toothbrushes: for painting, cleaning, even making one into a bangle.
Meanwhile, some ideas for you:
https://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/How-to-Make-a-Purse-from-Plastic-Bags
https://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/10-Crafty-Uses-for-Old-Toothbrush
https://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/14-Creative-Uses-for-Mesh-Produce-Bags
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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