How to Deal With an Infestation of Plastic Grocery Bags in Your House

No matter what we do, we seem to be overcome with an infestation of plastic grocery bags. Like insect pests, they seem to multiply and come crawling out of the woodwork overnight. No matter our well-formed plans to hold them at bay, the next time we turn around we are facing a bunch of plastic grocery bags piling up under the sink or in the closet. No doubt about it, the plastic grocery bag is a pest that is hard to live with!

Sure, sometimes they can be helpful, if you have a stinky diaper to throw out, or some wet clothes to carry home from a camping trip. But, usually there are far more of them around the house than are necessary. Their numbers grow and grow and soon we are drowning in plastic grocery bags.

Try these suggestions to rid yourself of plastic grocery bags or at least to live at peace with them.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• plastic grocery bags
• empty tissue boxes

1. Corral your plastic grocery bags by keeping them all together in one place. An empty tissue box makes an excellent plastic bag dispenser. It is just the right size to hold the bags you need under the bathroom sink, in the trunk of the car or in the laundry room.

2. Fill the first empty tissue box with plastic grocery bags, then start on the second. Do not let any plastic grocery bags escape. Every plastic grocery bag that enters your house should be placed into a tissue box unless it is immediate put to another useful purpose, such as lining a trash basket. Develop the habit of filling tissue boxes with plastic grocery bags.

3. Take extra tissue boxes containing your extra plastic grocery bags back to the grocery store and place them into the recycling container. The tissue box is easy to transport and no rogue bags can escape to float around in your vehicle or litter the highways.

4. Ask for paper grocery bags, or better yet, invest in canvas tote bags to carry your purchases and leave the plastic grocery bags at the store. There is no need for you to have to deal with this extra aggravation in your life.