While many grocery stores around the country have instituted policies encouraging the use of reusable bags, many shoppers have been collecting plastic grocery bags for years. If you've struggled to find ideas to make use of them, one TikToker might just be able to help.
The scoop
In a short but helpful clip, TikToker Ruby (@prpinny) offered up a simple hack that just about anyone can take advantage of. And all you need are some of those pesky leftover plastic grocery bags.
Instead of throwing the single-use grocery bags away or shoving them deep inside a container, the TikToker demonstrates that you can find another use for the bags by using them as trash bags. "Saving money on trash bags since 1997," they wrote.
The social media user then takes their grocery bags and folds them up nice and tight for simple storage.
How it's helping
On average, the standard grocery bag is around 12 inches wide, 6 inches deep, and 22 inches long. That means that most grocery bags can typically hold around two gallons' worth of items. Since most small trash bags can range from four to nine gallons, all it takes is a minimum of two plastic grocery bags to replace a small trash bag.
While that might not seem like a big deal, it can make a significant difference over the course of just 12 months. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, consumers use around 5 trillion plastic grocery bags each year. However, a large portion of those bags are never properly recycled.
These discarded bags can often end up in waterways and other natural habitats. This has a major impact on wildlife that may come across the bags and accidentally consume them. According to a study conducted by The University of Queensland, around 52% of turtles have consumed plastic waste and other human-related debris.
By recycling plastic grocery bags or finding a secondary use for them, we can work to cut down the amount of plastic waste that has polluted our environment. As mentioned by Ruby, this can also save your household money in the long run.
What everyone's saying
In the comments section, many users shared the same enthusiasm for recycling plastic bags as the original poster.
"That a way!!!" exclaimed one commenter. "Recycle! Save big bucks!!!"
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Absolutely 👍 Another user shared their own experience with using plastic bags for trash. "Yes, I just line the trash can with like four of them and pull out when needed!" they wrote.
"I even have a bag full of bags," shared a third user. "But they're gonna be banning plastic bags in PA soon."
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