The bag lady: Reusing those plastics

re: The bag lady: Reusing those plastics

suzin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:26:21 GMT

One of the things I do with "spent" bags is crochet them into outside rugs to put by the door to clean your shoes...they can be washed off for a while, and when they get too tacky I just toss...finally...

re: The bag lady: Reusing those plastics

Cheap Chick — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:39:54 GMT

Here where I live the humidity level is HIGH! so if you have cereal or anything else opened you must seal it - so I swear by Ziplocs! Yes - I wash and reuse. Except if it has meat in it. Athough you could probably soak it in bleach and it would be fine, but I draw the line there. I have a phone that I have had for 17 years - everyone keeps asking when I am going to replace it - still looks fine - a little "loved" . I tell them when it breaks I will. A really great thing to do with broken appliances is to cut off the cords and make sure there is nothing that would cut and let the kids take them apart and use the parts to make something else with and or put it back together.

re: The bag lady

Donna Freedman — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:30:17 GMT

Denise: No one is advocating a Collier-Brothers type of hoarding. That does indeed verge on mental illness. I'm just talking about what Frank Moll refers to above: don't throw it away if there's nothing wrong with it. As an example, someone didn't want a clock-radio any longer and so s/he donated it to the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop. I bought that radio for 99 cents. It has awakened me with classical music every morning for nearly three years.

Jennifer: I would definitely NOT reuse a bag that had held, say, raw chicken. But a bag that held nothing but bread gets reused, often to hold more bread. I would invest in some small plastic containers to pack your child's lunch; look at yard sales or thrift shops and disinfect with a bleach-water solution (1:10 ratio) if you're concerned about "used" stuff. Or if a friend is selling Tupperware, attend the next party....! These things can be used and reused for years.

And Jestjack: Thanks a bunch. Keep posting!

re: The bag lady

Jestjack — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:08:17 GMT

Congratulations Donna on your own "blog". Have watched your progress from WAY BACK with the "thriving on $12K" days...LOL. Glad to see you are doing so well in your career. Best Wishes.

re: The bag lady

Jennifer Suggs — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:31:06 GMT

I tend to recycle my plastic bags as they tend to tear or shred. I do reuse many of my ziplock bags (a quick wash is all it takes). However, there are some that you just cannot reuse. Do you think it is safe to recycle bags that have contained food? I worry about spreading some sort of salmonella or other food born bacteria that could get someone killed. Also, is there any other way to send a child's lunch to school with them without resorting to using those plastic bags? I don't want him food to go bad by lunch and how do you keep Cheetos from ending up all over the kunch bag?

re: The bag lady

denise — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:22:10 GMT

some folks are so "Thrifty" that they become a hazard to their neighbors, their communities.

I have know quite a few "Hoarders" who save but have really no use for the items they save, they just save.........

They save to the point of rat infestation and completely unsanitary conditions.

My Motto:

If you can't eat it.........toss it

My point is, to save a few bags because you will need them is one thing but if you have a stash of bags and have had them for over 6 years and the pile is growing faster than it could possibly diminish, you may have a bigger problem

Hoarders are not a pretty sight, they hoard what most folks would call garbage and when they have no room to live anymore, its their families that pay a high price.

Both in emotional wear and tear and the time and money that it takes to clean the mess up.

SO BEWARE

re: The bag lady

Frank Moll — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:08:36 GMT

after growing up in the depression years, reusing plastice bags, or anything else for that matter seems nothing but routine no matter what one's financial status maybe. We were taught never to throw anything away that still works, and repair that "what needs fixing"