apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

wow, probably save a good amount of storage space, but really folks, how many people are going to actually do this on a routine basis.

Great idea.

This is a paper football! Didn't any of you every do this during study hall in high school?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_football

I saw people doing this at home and I have to refrain not to laugh. It takes long to fold and unfold. If you really wish to save space, carry reusable shopping bags instead.

Just like folding a flag! Kind of... :)

I actually always fold my plastic bags this way for storage (and I do use reusable grocery bags--some still get into the house, anyway, and I use them for cat litter--not too defensive about it, am I?)--it really does save space.

Do those who don't buy plastic ever wonder what would happen to the waste products left over from gasoline and heating oil refining if they were not recycled into useful household products?

I wonder where the term "jumping on the band wagon" came from and got its current negative connotation...

I always try to use reuseable bags, but sometimes the clerk is faster than I am. My mother-in-law introduced me to this folding method and it really does save space (there's two of us in about 350 sq. ft. so every inch helps!). I also like how neat it looks and how easy it is to grab a bag when I do need one.

its so annoying to have all these green leaf pushers stare you down and give you nasty looks if you use plastic.

get over yourselves.

I also fold my plastic bags this way and I use reusable grocery bags, but I thik this way of folding the bags is like doing a mandala, a kind of zen work, very soothing

when I don't bring my own bags, I'll take plastic and then reuse it at home for the trash cans. The ones I keep for this purpose are all folded. I usually do it while I wait for the kettle to boil, or while I watch tv or whatever.

For all this talk about banning plastic shopping bags in NYC, I wonder what else can be used for trash. The alternative would be buying trash bags, which uses even more plastic and is wholly impractical for the typical NYC apartment.

I found a whole tin of folded football plastic bags in my new place. I thought it was so weird.

I can't wait to get home and fold my ginormous plastic bag collection into an army of footballs.

(for the "tsk tsk"ers, i re-use when possible, plastic when practical.)

trash bags, litter bags, doggie poop bags...AND they get the groceries home!

*climbs onto soapbox*
I made a rule for myself that everytime I went to the grocery store without a reusable bag I had to buy a new one. Once I had about 20 of them I got a lot better at remembering.
But then one day it finally happened, I ran out of plastic bags in my home. At first I was very proud of myself, but then I went to throw something out and there were no bags to put in the garbage can! It seems really stupid to me that I should go out and pay for plastic bags to put my garbage in that are made of plastic that is far worse for the environment that the ones I get for free when I go to the store. So now I try and keep a reasonable amount of them lying around. I use cloth bags most of the time, but I don't mind if I forget them sometimes. I don't fold them up like footballs though, I pull them into a rope shape and tie a slipnot in them. That makes them small enough for me.

I find the reusables from Whole Foods a really good deal. They hold a lot, stand up when filled, and I can carry them over my shoulder, plus they have lasted a long time with heavy use. I also had about a million plastic bags before something had to change. I tried the reusable bags from Shaw's but the one I had tore on the seam the second time I used it. Shaw's paper bags (the ones with the handles, not the plastic bag "liners") also suck.

I bring my WF bags with me for all shopping tasks, even clothes and trips to Target, usually only if I plan to go, and generally have a few plastic bags whenever I really need one because I forget sometimes or need just a little more room to carry my purchases. I also have a lot more storage than most people, so I would never "think" to fold up my bags. I don't think plastic bags take up that much room to spend time on it. I once had (I estimate) over 200 bags in a drawer. This is ridiculous, and I mainly reuse bags to avoid this. I think the little football triangles must take frugality to a fault - people of a certain era saved everything, even if they don't need so many. A few bags on hand doesn't take up that much space.

When you use plastic bags, you're likely to double some and come home with about 6-10 bags, more if you have a car and do a lot of grocery shopping at once. Although seeming to be "just the thing" for a lot of household jobs, what use does anyone have for so many bags after you've brought your groceries home? Does anyone reuse actual grocery store plastic bags next time they grocery shop? I never have seen anyone do that. I have seen people reuse them to bring lunch to work, pick up dog poop, line a trash pail, carry books and papers when it rains, bring a change of clothes for the gym or daycare, seal off liquids from leaking into the rest of one's luggage, etc. and basic toting, but I have never, ever, ever, ever seen anyone at the grocery store bring in plastic bags and use them for their groceries again. I just think they tend to pile up faster than they can ever be used for anything else I mentioned.

I still remember a time when all grocery bags were paper and stood up straight in the trunk of a car. People managed with their trash and their dog crap somehow. My father to this day rants over the stupid design of the plastic bag and how groceries roll all over the place and fall out and roll under the seat of the car, and he uses some imagery I will not share here. People did without plastic bags from the grocery store 25-30 years ago (I estimate in my memory), so this is a real modern problem of how to get along without getting them "for free" when you grocery shop.

I have a big paper grocery sack that I used as a catch-all for the plastic bags, and I keep it under the kitchen sink. If it gets full to over-flowing, my grocery store has a convenient "plastic bag recycling" drop-off so I just get rid of them all and start fresh.

I try to remember the cloth bags when I can, but I usually forget them or don't bring enough to hold everything. :( I figure even infrequent use is better than no use at all.

Why do you need a garbage bag? Just put your garbage in the bin and dump the bin directly into the outdoor container that is collected. You can rinse out your bin if it gets dirty.
No one should have to buy plastic liners...

Well, piez - I live on the 3rd floor, first of all. Carrying down an open bin of garbage is kind of tricky, as well as lifting it over my head and dumping in the dumpster, especially when it gets full and overfull. Second of all, if I could manage that, my lease requires all trash to be tied up in plastic garbage bags. I don't usually line the one in the bathroom or near my desk, but somewhere in my apartment, there needs to be a main receptacle plastic bag. Other people may be somewhat relaxed on what goes in a bag and what can just lay loose in the dumpster, like a lamp or an old mop, but it's generally for everyone's sanity and sanitary conditions that things have some sort of containment. It helps the maintenance folks out most of all and the squirrels the least.

I have a great dane -- she eats a lot! I will take all of your plastic grocery bags please :) They don't go to waste in our home, and I can't imagine buying paper bags or trash bags in order to pick up her recycled food.