ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Five Creative Uses For Plastic Shopping Bags

Updated on March 20, 2012
Source

Did you know there are approximately 380 billion plastic bags used every year? A majority are tossed into landfills and only 1-2% of all plastic bags are recycled. Out of the 380 billion approximately 100 billion are shopping bags. So how much waste are we creating in our landfills? Enough to wrap a large plastic ribbon around the Earth 63 times, as reported by Washington Post.com

300,000 tons of waste is dumped into our landfills per day. The numbers are staggering. Instead of throwing the bags into our landfills , there are useful ways to use the plastic bags.

Our home has always been Eco-friendly, finding ways to use plastic bags is a simple day-to-day task. But if you could change the percentage of plastic bags going into landfills would you do it?

Creative Ways to Use Plastic Bags

One of the most common uses of using a plastic bag is to remove animal debris. Many stores have turned to using recycled plastic, so check the bag before using. Take two bags and use one for the feces and the other as a glove. Not only are you getting a little exercise by bending and picking; but you can also take one bag and add it to the recycle bin. The second bag you can tie and place it in the garbage. Since the bag has already been recycled it is more bio-degradable then a normal plastic bag.

Instead of purchasing little plastic non-recycled bags for your bathroom garbage can, use the recycled plastic bag to line your can. If you like things neat and tidy like myself, you can tie the bag to make it fit snugly in the can. Or if you have a lid on your bathroom garbage can it is hidden easily.

If you have children and don't really care about how nice a kite looks. Find the largest plastic bag you can find and create a kite. Large Kohl's, Target or Wal-Mart bags are the best. Let them use color or erasable marker to add a little pizzazz, before they fly it in the air. Easily stored and it does not rip to shreds like most store bought kites can.

Have you ever gone to a shoe store and they are all out of booties? Fearful you may get athlete's foot or some other unknown fungus, you choose not to try the shoe on? Carry a recyclable plastic bag with you and use it as a booty. Unless you are Shaquill O' Neil the bag with fit over the average sized foot and you can slide the shoe on and off easily.

If you wish to get a little more crafty and have little ones at home. Go to any craft store and find child-safe non-toxic paint. Take several plastic bags and lay them flat. Place a food can in each corner to hold the plastic bag down. Have them paint designs, faces, people, flowers or whatever they chose to design. Let dry. Cut a 3x5 or 5x7 square from cardboard, glue work of art onto paper and frame. You will be able to save the work of art for years and will be keeping a few plastic bags out of the landfills.

#20/30

Will you now become more Eco-Friendly?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)