HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR PLASTIC BAGS

Easy to do while watching tv or right after unpacking your groceries, huge difference with space management.

Step 1:

Empty your plastic bag.

Comments

[allekob]

Thanks for the great comments everyone!

[ClareBS]

That's a great idea, very easy. I put a small S or M on folded small and medium bags. Usually I want a large one but sometimes it it hard to tell once folded. The small ones make good litter bags in the car. Of course, I usually use my cloth shopping bags but it's hard to completely avoid plastic bags and a few do come in handy.

[robayre]

All I can think of is the episode of Gallery Girls when Eli made Maggie go in the back and fold the dog's plastic bags, oh yeah, and then he made her count the rocks in the bonsai tree planters to make sure they were evenly distributed.

[Grathio]

Thank you! My Japanese friends all can do this (!?) but I've been a poor student and never remember how, my recreations are always no better than the wad I start with. Now I have a reference for it when I forget.

(And I really don't get the OCD comments below. If you live in a small place tips like this really make the difference. I'm pretty sure that's why all my Japanese friends know how: Tokyo apartments.)

[vader0ne]

Ok, like folding a flag,and pocket size.....good one

[creaky]

This is an excellent idea! Thanks for sharing it.

[joeyaustria]

I just say "no thanks", everytime someone offers me a plastic bag. works fine.

[maka]

I do something similar, different fold. I tried this but it seemed to be less tight and tidy than the fold I use. Still, it really does make that collection of plastic bags neater!

Our collection is much smaller and slower-growing now that we use reusable bags for most of our shopping, but we still end up with a few here and there.

[antioch]

waiting for your instructable!

[ElectroFrank]

I love being ecologically friendly, and avoiding waste, so . . .

PLEASE would you put all the steps on one page ?

It wastes an awful lot of everyone's time (and electricity) to keep on waiting for each page to load, just to look at one picture.

If you trimmed the pictures to just show the relevant part of the image, they would all fit easily.

Thanks for listening.

[clarie91s]

You could just click on "View all steps" and they will all show on one page.

[ElectroFrank]

Many thanks, I had never noticed that button before.

[marjorieallea]

Very useful! Thanks!

[mrscloud]

I have the storage bag elastic sleeved holder. But your idea is great for glove box, lunch box, briefcase, motorcycle side bags, etc. Reuse, repurpose, recycle, etc. These go on the road!

[water rat]

I've been doing this for years, and it does save a lot of space! A couple of things i do a little different:

- i flatten the bottom by pulling the sides, then fold it in halves until it's this long skinny thing (1-2") then i roll them up from the bottom (so air doesn't get trapped) making a not-as-tidy square.
-after that I put them into one of three kleenex boxes labeled S/M/L. the plastic on the top of the box makes them easy to contain & retrieve!

i just fold them up that evening after unloading the shopping while i'm watching some happy-crappy horror movie :)

[Penolopy Bulnick]

I'm totally trying this when I get home!

[SusanML]

Your idea will make it much easier for me to keep the big bags separate from the smaller ones. Thanks.

[northcalgreens]

Cut a shirt or jacket with a good elastic cuff ,
Hang cuff side down.
Stuff from top ,pull out what you need from the bottom.
Takes very little space and works great.

[pielet]

I see it--it's the American flag fold--interesting idea.

[harstaddesign]

There is a lot of stores now that take $0.05 off your bill per bag you bring and use. It seems keeping them folded like this is an easier way to carry them into the store and while you are shopping. Thanks for the idea.

[rvsnmms]

You've got CDO... It's like OCD but all the letters are in the right order... I totally folded some myself to be stowed in strategic locations. I put them in my glove box, some in my shop and one for may Fannypack. I love the idea.

[minimaker10]

Thinking you've got too much time on your hands. How about just sewing up a cylindrical bag with an elastic on top and bottom. Fill from the top & take from the bottom. Hang in pantry. Much easier.

[bakunin]

That does sound like a cool contraption that also solves the 'go for one bag, pull out three' problem. I can't wait to see your Instructable!

As for this one, I'm totally going to start doing this with the produce bags we reuse. It's frustrating when you can't find the biggest bag or the smallest one without going through the whole bag of bags! This way I can see or feel immediately which bag it which. Smart!

[Datawolf]

You are obsessive about tidiness, aren't you ?
A piece of pipe on the wall, and I put all the bags in it.

[clarie91s]

But this saves a lot of space. I have a basket for placing plastic bags and before, my family and I would just stuff all the bags inside and it would fill up quickly. The bags would all be jumbled up together and when we took one bag out numerous other bags would fall out as well. Now that we do it this way, we can fit more bags inside the basket and can take the bags out one by one.

[heather34]

yes....that is exactly what happens to me too :)

[G B G]

Works fine, and quickly, I love it and will do that from now one, and yes, it does save lots of space. Smart idea!!! I went right to my pile of bags and tried it.....and you don't have to be exact....the word "roughly" is very appropriate.

[HaveFunWithIt]

I especially like your Chemex coffee maker! I must have 6 of them. I find them at thrift stores all the time. LOL

[Comanchegyrl]

Nice Pics and idea. I just stuff them inside empty paper towel tubes and keep them in a drawer. Mostly, I use canvas bags, so it isn't a big problem.

[AlphaRomeo]

Nice one indeed - but what i like most is your b&w pictures - that made lot of difference, I suppose, to your presentation.

[Glowbot]

Awesome ible! I already do this and it keeps my huge pile of plastic bags neat

[wmelo]

yeah, i've already known that :D
but, good idea, share it to others...

[chiok]

This is still pretty much the "done thing" after you've eaten a bag of crisps ("chips"). Tis time consuming to straighten out each bag though, especially when Walmart decide to send you off with one bag per two items.

[Codswallop]

Dog walkers, take note! Keep a bunch of these near the door with the leash. Just the thing for scooping the poop.

[q.piper]

That's the one thing I still use these bags for, and this neat method will be SO much better than stuffing loose bags in my pockets!

[maytel]

That is awesome!! I have so much catching up to do!

[MonkiMan]

with reusable shopping bags we are finding that we don't have plastic bags any more we are using them up and not getting any to replace them.

[residentevil5]

Nice. But why do I have this feeling I saw something like this somewhere on instructables before

[jessyratfink]

That's awesome! I might do this to a few to keep in my purse. :)

[jessyratfink]

totally did it. turned it into a moustache.