Traveler shares brilliant hack using 'unavoidable' household trash: 'I've used it 10 times and still going strong'

If you've recently bought new bedding, one Redditor has a hack that they shared to r/Anticonsumption you should check out.

"Unavoidable bedding plastic makes great travel shoe storage," the original poster wrote. "I've used it 10+ times and still going strong. I'm a women's size 8.5 and can fit 2 or 3 pairs!"

The poster shared a photo of the bag in use with two pairs stacked inside comfortably. In the comments, they dissuaded folks from putting wet shoes in the bag for too long since they could develop mold.

That's a smart way to reuse a heavy-duty plastic bag, though the original poster isn't the first person to try it. Other tough bags can work great in the freezer — it's up to your imagination where to put a sturdy zippable bag to work.

Reusing functional items instead of throwing them out has a host of benefits. For starters, you save a few bucks on having to buy something new. In this case, that means you don't need to get a new bag just to haul your shoes around. Preventing that purchase also saves all the energy and resources spent on manufacturing a new thing. Production has a sizable ecological impact that we all want to avoid.

Then there's the issue of what happens to this stuff when we're done with it. Plastic bags in particular don't biodegrade. They shed microplastics that then find their way through our water systems, entering oceans and the fish we eat.

The Reddit community was largely thankful for the idea to reuse bedding bags.

"Thanks for the tip. I always wondered how I could reuse these," the top commenter said.

"They're good to keep in your suitcase in case you have to bring home a wet swimsuit or muddy clothes or something, too," another user suggested.

When you think about a product's packaging, which of these factors is more important to you? The way it looks 😍 The information it provides 🧐 The waste it produces 🗑️ I don't think about packaging at all 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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