This 'n' That - Frugal

This 'n' That - Frugal

This was posted on my Facebook wall today, and had to laugh, because, yes that is me.

 

 



I am guilty of doing this. But I do use them. I use them to line wastebaskets instead of buying the ones made to fit and might come in pretty colors plus a nice scent. The shopping bags are so much easier to use as they have handles to use to take the full ones out, then I use those handles to tie them shut before putting them in the large cans. I will put several in the wastebasket at one time so that when the top one is full, there is already another one ready to be filled.

I also use them for scooped cat litter. I use the clumping kind and have to scoop at least twice a day. The grocery bag just fits in some old litter pails I had kept. These are heavy duty plastic pails with a strong wire handle and a lid. I don't get litter in those any more so am glad I kept a few. That is so handy for the used litter since I can put the lid on and keep the odor in the pail until time to take out the garbage. And with the handles on the bags, I tie the full ones closed and dispose. I don't get hands dirty that way as well. I have seen an ad for a container made just for that purpose but it is expensive. And it doesn't look very big - not big enough for my cat as it would have to be emptied several times a day. Again, I put several bags in at one time so there is always another bag ready to be filled.

And I use those bags to take the recycle items out to the garage. I have a mesh waste basket in the kitchen that holds those items until full, then take to garage. That includes newspapers, magazines and other paper, and the plastics that can be recycled. Then I empty the bag in the recycle tub the city issues for pickup. Those empty bags then go into a container in the garage or put in the car for putting loose items, like mail, that need to go to the house or trash that has accumulated, like fast food bags and cups, in the garbage can. When I get too many a large bagful will be taken to the collection box in Walmart for recycling.

The only garbage bags I buy are the tall kitchen bags for kitchen waste and the larger black trash bags for the final disposal of cat litter and all the rest of the trash/garbage. You might say, why not just put it all in a garbage can instead of using bags. I don't think my garbage man would appreciate it since I now divide up the week's used cat litter into two bags otherwise one bag would be too heavy for me to lift and he most likely would not take it either because of weight limits. All this litter is because my cat is old and is peeing more than normal. I often wonder what the garbage man thinks every time he picks up my two heavy bags each week. I am sure he can't imagine how an old lady could generate so much heavy stuff to get rid of. Then again, maybe he has figured it out when he sees all the empty litter containers in the recycle tub.


Here is something else that can be done with the bags. I think I might have to try this later. I don't get red or green grocery bags so will have to put some other colored decorations on it. The link to the blog where the instructions are found is below the picture.

Plastic Bag Christmas Wreath by Kathleen George.

 

http://craftsncoffee.com/2013/07/16/christmas-in-july-go-green-and-make-a-white-plastic-bag-christmas-wreath/

There is also  a chicken made with the bags for those of you who collect chicken things. It is quite cute.