Plastic Grocery Bags--Do You Fold Them?

[umsami]

So, I just found out that folding plastic grocery bags into triangles is a thing people do.  

 

I had no idea.

 

Apparently the little footballs take up very little space.

 

Do you do this?  Is this one of those things that everybody knows about except me? :D
 

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by umsami

[MEmama]

I have a variety of types of reusable bags. Some get folded, most get squished up. It really just depends how ancient they are whether they are cloth or something else.

 

Eta: oops, I misunderstood. I don't use disposable plastic bags but when they come my way I keep them around stuffed into another bag for things like muddy cycling shoes, track spikes and so on. I don't fold them, no.

Edited March 13, 2018 by MEmama

[4everHis]

I have never heard if folding them. We stuff them in a bag like this.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075ZGGP64/ref=asc_df_B075ZGGP645402272/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B075ZGGP64&linkCode=df0&hvadid=229200252920&hvpos=1o14&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5470409263006310550&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017040&hvtargid=pla-387708416781

Edited March 13, 2018 by connib

[Mbelle]

I have reusable bags, but very often forget them. I throw my plastic bags in the trash with guilt!

[regentrude]

I never have more than 2 or 3 plastic grocery bags in the house. Certainly don't bother folding them.

[lllll]

nm

Edited March 15, 2018 by _______

[Arcadia]

My parents generation folds the plastic bags into triangles the same way as the link below.

https://www.origami-resource-center.com/grocery-bag-folding.html

[Rosie_0801]

They get a knot tied in them if there are children in the house. Otherwise they get stuffed into the top drawer to be used as rubbish or soft plastic recycling bags. (Hard plastics go in the council recycling bin. Soft plastics go in my brother's bins on my front nature strip. He empties them every week or so and takes them to a recycling facility.)

[marbel]

I've never heard of folding them.  I try to remember always to take my own shopping bags to the store, but when I do end up with some store bags, I throw them into a larger bag to use for trash; when I gather too many I take them to the store for recycling. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Life is too short. . .

[Loowit]

I just stuff all them into one bag.  Most get recycled, but some we use as a garbage can liner in the bathroom.

 

I have a friend who who braids (or twists?) them into "yarn" and then crochets it into sleeping mats for homeless people.

[Cosmos]

If I save them, I do fold them into the little triangles. I try not to get them at all, but we do keep a few on hand in the same drawer as plastic wrap, etc. The triangles fit nicely in the corner. Ones that we're recycling just get stuffed in a larger bag until we have enough to take to the recycle drop-off.

[historically accurate]

I have a small garbage can under my bathroom sink that I stuff them in (unfolded). I use them for cat litter. I can't believe people have time to fold them. 

 

I use reusable bags when I go to stores, but Walmart curbside pickup uses 500 bags per order, so we always have a bunch. 

[katilac]

We take one bag and shove all the other bags in it. 

 

I'd use totes instead, but I haven't figured out another way to deal with cat poop. My b-i-l uses a big bucket, which uses one big bag instead of several smaller ones, but we lack space. We'd have to buy special bags, so I'm not sure about the ecological advantage. Plus we have a lot of pets and no basement, so we really have to stay on top of potential stinkiness. 

[Mimm]

Nope. I recently saw someone demonstrating how to fold them all in a line so you can pull one out of a container after another, like kleenex. I was totally baffled that anyone would spend time on something like that.

 

[Mama Geek]

I fold some of them to put in a ziplock bag for having in the car while traveling with the dog.  Other than that they are balled.

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Nope.  I keep them balled up inside a plastic bag.  I use them for the cat boxes and reuse them. 

 

[LifeLovePassion]

Yup, I saw it somewhere, Pinterest probably. They take up so little space now and it works well for our space.

[JenneinCA]

I haven’t seen any in a long time. The grocery stores here don’t use them. It costs ten cents a bag to buy a paper one or you bring your own. They also sell better quality reusable ones.

[hornblower]

guys - you need to you store them in a container like this! Just shove them in & you can pull them out one at a time through the holes. 


http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80010222/

Any that we don't use go to recycling.

[JFSinIL]

They are wadded up in larger bags and kept by the front door. Each time we go on walkies with the Lab, we grab a bag -if it has holes, into the recycle bin it goes, otherwise if intact it is the day's dog poop bag.

[Pawz4me]

We use them in the RV for trash bags, and yes I fold them into triangles because they take up so very little space (which is always at a premium in an RV). I had no idea folding plastic bags was a thing until we bought this house and I found a bunch of them the previous owner had left. For the ones we re-use at home I have a hanging cloth bag thingie, but that takes up way too much real estate to use in the RV.

 

And yes, any that we don't use get taken back to the store for recycling.

[prairiewindmomma]

guys - you need to you store them in a container like this! Just shove them in & you can pull them out one at a time through the holes. 

 

 

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80010222/

 

Any that we don't use go to recycling.

 

I take recyclable bags to the store, generally, but if I do a pickup order I end up with the thin filmy bags. I fold them in quarters and shove them into an IKEA variera and then use them to line my bathroom trash cans.

[SKL]

I fold them flat like a towel.  Then stack them up.

[Megbo]

I ball them up, shove them inside one bag, and hoard them in the space under the sink. 

[SeaConquest]

Those are still legal?

[BarbecueMom]

Mine are sort of folded into rectangles and stacked in the box on the fridge with the science project/grill lighting newspaper. We use them to line the barf buckets that are strategically placed around the house and car (which I recently discovered are useless when a child panics and starts spinning around in circles mid-hurl... sigh).

[kiwik]

guys - you need to you store them in a container like this! Just shove them in & you can pull them out one at a time through the holes.

 

 

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80010222/

 

Any that we don't use go to recycling.

. I have one of those and it is great. Unfortunately it is now empty because I am doing order and collect or delivery and they have switched to reusable - you give them to the driver the following week.

[wathe]

My parents generation folds the plastic bags into triangles the same way as the link below.

https://www.origami-resource-center.com/grocery-bag-folding.html

 

My mother in law does this exactly.

[Annie G]

Nope. I use them to hold the lumps of cat litter full of pee and poop. No way am I spending more time folding the bags than it takes to scoop the poop.

[edelweiss]

I have never heard of that!

 

No, we have a drawer in our laundry room which we use to store plastic bags.  We don't do anything special with the bags-- just shove them in there.

[katilac]

Those are still legal?

 

Yes, because what else are we going to do with the poop? Dog or cat. I seek answers! 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I fold them because I donate them to our library, and they need to be folded in a certain way to fit in the library's dispensers.

 

Each bag gets flattened by pulling a handle while simultaneously pulling on the little pleat at the bottom.  Once both handle/pleats are pulled straight, and the bag is flat, I fold it lengthwise (handle over handle), then fold it lengthwise again, making a long strip.  I fold that in half crosswise.  I stack those up and store them in an (unfolded) grocery bag.  When it's full, I take it to the library.  They're happy to receive folded bags so that they can spend their time on something more productive.  (ETA: I start just like the origami/triangle method shown above, but I don't do the triangle part.  I just fold it in half)

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by Suzanne in ABQ

[maize]

I tie a knot in mine; learned that from a Japanese roommate.

 

Didn't ever pick up the habit of making tidy knots in candy wrappers though.

[dsmith]

I fold enough laundry, why the heck would I want to fold a plastic bag?!? I stuff them into a larger bag and bring them back to the grocery store for recycling. My father-in-law ties them into knots.

[gardenmom5]

we  line trash cans with them - so we do go through them.   I have thought about making plarn out of them and crocheting a totebag or something waterproof to sit on in the park . . .

[SeaConquest]

Yes, because what else are we going to do with the poop? Dog or cat. I seek answers! 

 

We have these little biodegradable poop bags that actually compost, so they don't clog up the landfills/oceans. We needed a solution for when we were sailing with the dog -- something we could toss overboard and not worry about, if we were out for a long time. 

[happi duck]

Team Triangle!!

 

I'm doing better at having my reusable bags but still end up with a few plastic bags. Folding them into triangles is very quick and they really take up so much less room!!

[Melissa in Australia]

Other - I tie thiem in a knot. Years of having young children I guess

[Melissa in Australia]

We have these little biodegradable poop bags that actually compost, so they don't clog up the landfills/oceans. We needed a solution for when we were sailing with the dog -- something we could toss overboard and not worry about, if we were out for a long time. 

why would you need to bag it to chuck the poo in the ocean. Wouldn't it be better for the environment to just turf the poo overboard without a bag  :confused1:

[SeaConquest]

why would you need to bag it to chuck the poo in the ocean. Wouldn't it be better for the environment to just turf the poo overboard without a bag  :confused1:

 

I am not sure how you would pick it up. I'm a city girl, so I am used to picking up dog poop with bags. It's not like we are going to hose it off in the middle of the ocean, and we didn't have some sort of pooper scooper with babies on board. Bio bags seemed the most responsible, but YMMV. 

[horsellian]

Here in the UK supermarket plastic bags are almost square; I fold them in half repeatedly one way then the other, until they are about 2 x 4 inches, and stick an elastic band around them.

[Melissa in Australia]

I am not sure how you would pick it up. I'm a city girl, so I am used to picking up dog poop with bags. It's not like we are going to hose it off in the middle of the ocean, and we didn't have some sort of pooper scooper with babies on board. Bio bags seemed the most responsible, but YMMV. 

not picking on you but just curious. do the bio bags dissolve in water or do they break down slowly when composted. Because I am (probably naively) thinking that a fish will swallow the bag and die before it composts down in water.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Melissa in Australia

[Ausmumof3]

Yeah I started when I was in my konmari phase... I got a bit addicted to folding things. Though not into triangles just squares.

[regentrude]

Yes, I fold into triangles. Knotting takes more space.  Its an environmentally aware thing..this way they sink rather than fly away if they get out of the recycling stream.

 

That seems bizarre - if one is concerned about the environment, why not simply forgo the plastic bag altogether?

[regentrude]

Yes, because what else are we going to do with the poop? Dog or cat. I seek answers! 

 

There are so many things in the household that come packaged in plastic that I have no difficulties finding bags to dispose of cat poo without acquiring plastic grocery bags. I use the bags from any packaged groceries or toiletry items. (We don't have a bulk store, so rice, sugar, nuts, carrots, etc come in plastic bags.)  And then there are bags from misc stuff we order online. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by regentrude

[Katy]

The triangle fold is one of those things that I found on Pinterest that I used to do before I got too busy with kids.  These days DH stuffs them into an old burlap rice sack, and when I need one I go through five or six to find one without holes.  I think the bags have gotten thinner & lower quality since I got busy.

[Pawz4me]

There are so many things in the household that come packaged in plastic that I have no difficulties finding bags to dispose of cat poo without acquiring plastic grocery bags. I use the bags from any packaged groceries or toiletry items. (We don't have a bulk store, so rice, sugar, nuts, carrots, etc come in plastic bags.)  And then there are bags from misc stuff we order online. 

 

Sure if you only have one cat it's pretty easy to find other things. Especially if it's a youngish cat who hasn't yet developed kidney issues (they almost all do as they age). If you have an older cat(s) you might find yourself needing to scoop multiple times a day. Add in a dog or two and . . . the need grows. Maybe we shop in a weird way (and by nature we're minimalists), but other than grocery bags the only plastic I can count on is one bread bag a week. I don't put veggies or fruit in bags unless absolutely necessary and some of the prepackaged stuff comes in perforated bags (for air circulation) which eliminates their use as poop or litter bags.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Sure if you only have one cat it's pretty easy to find other things. Especially if it's a youngish cat who hasn't yet developed kidney issues (they almost all do as they age). If you have an older cat(s) you might find yourself needing to scoop multiple times a day. Add in a dog or two and . . . the need grows. Maybe we shop in a weird way (and by nature we're minimalists), but other than grocery bags the only plastic I can count on is one bread bag a week. I don't put veggies or fruit in bags unless absolutely necessary and some of the prepackaged stuff comes in perforated bags (for air circulation) which eliminates their use as poop or litter bags.

 

Yeah same here.  I've got two cats and multiple boxes.  I do use whatever packaging bag I get too.  It's just not enough.

[Cosmos]

Sure if you only have one cat it's pretty easy to find other things. Especially if it's a youngish cat who hasn't yet developed kidney issues (they almost all do as they age). If you have an older cat(s) you might find yourself needing to scoop multiple times a day. Add in a dog or two and . . . the need grows. Maybe we shop in a weird way (and by nature we're minimalists), but other than grocery bags the only plastic I can count on is one bread bag a week. I don't put veggies or fruit in bags unless absolutely necessary and some of the prepackaged stuff comes in perforated bags (for air circulation) which eliminates their use as poop or litter bags.

 

I wouldn't say it's weird if you're shopping in a way that minimizes plastic. That's great!

 

I have gotten pretty good at eliminating the grocery bags and I'm working on eliminating produce bags, but I still seem to accumulate a bunch of plastic from other sources. Just in the last 24 hours, I have gotten plastic bags from:

 

a package of corn tortillas

a package of coffee filters (usually I get a brand that comes in a cardboard box, but I was at a different store)

a package of rubber bands

something in an Amazon box, can't recall exactly what

a bag of coffee beans

 

I don't think we would normally have so many in one day, but gosh, they just keep coming. Of course, I will recycle all of them. Except the coffee bag -- I don't think those are recyclable because they aren't thin-film.