One of my teachers once said: “If you don’t know three ways of doing something, you’re not being creative. It makes me wonder how to get creative about the trash and resource issues that face us-how can I conserve/reduce/reuse/recycle my stuff?

Which bring me to plastic bags. I carry Earth Bins with me to the grocery store and reusable shopping bags, but I still seem to end up with a fair amount of plastic bags under the sink. I use them as trash bags for the small amount of stuff that leaves our house for the landfill, but are there more creative ways to reuse them? With the millions of plastic bags out there in the world, there ought to be at least as many answers, if we are truly being creative.

What can I do with this plastic bag draped across my thigh? Maybe catch that pigeon with it?

I found 3 sets of creative ideas at DIY Life, Rustic Girls, and our good friends at Greenwala. I’ve sorted through the best ideas, tossed out the duplicates and pulled together our own list of Top ways to reuse a plastic bag. When you can’t avoid ‘em, reuse ‘em, I always say.

The Greenwala piece is pretty straightforward - Anil Kapur posted a photo of a bag from a sandwich shop that uses plastic bags to keep their ‘wiches fresh, but they print 10 ways to reuse the bag right on the side:


Photo: Greenwala

Probably better to find an alternative to the bag, but it’s a start.

DIY Life has 5 creative ideas for durable stuff you can make from plastic bags:

1. Plastic Bag Chandelier

Always wanted a chandelier, but put off by the price? These designs featured in the NY Times and by Stuart Haygarth may give you some ideas.

2. Plastic Bag Chair

This is from ryanfrank free range furniture collection. An armchair made entirely from reused shopping bags.

3. Plastic Bag Cushions

At our house, with 8 year old twins, cushions get tossed around, thrown on the floor, and subjected to all kinds of abuse. Why make them form fine cloth, when they can be contracted from old plastic bags. Click here to see the video.

4. Plastic Bag Shoes.

Photo: Botasdacca

Yes, Dacca offers fine fashion, all weather footwear that started life as bags. Erin Link’s blue jean shoes better move over!

5. Plastic Bag Containers

These crocheted containers at Crochet Me remind me of the story we ran on making your own durable purses and bags from plastic ones. Just the way to spend winter nights!

And not to be outdone, Rustic Girls ran a piece on 30 ways to reuse plastic bags. Here are our favorites from the list:

1. Fuse bags into plastic fabric to sew with. Instructions for this are popping up all over the internet.
2. Make a draft blocker: Sew a tube of recycled fabric and stuff it with the plastic bags, then sew up the ends. Placed at the bottoms of drafty doors it will cut down on the heating bills, saving energy and the bag.
3. Use plastic bags as packing material instead of Styrofoam packing peanuts. It reuses bags and prevents the production of more Styrofoam.
4. Make rope. Rather than using rope or plastic zip ties, loop together as many bags as needed to make plastic rope.
5. Tie a couple over your feet and keep your shoes clean when you have to walk through a muddy area.
6. Donate them to the local library - many use them for sending home big stacks of books with patrons who did not bring their own bag.
7. Support companies that use recycled plastic, from handmade African crafts to designer chairs to composite decking.

You can see all 30 here, and add your own creative uses to the list. So bag the bag. Given how ubiquitous plastic bags are - if you don’t know 30 ways to reuse them, you’re not being creative!