How Many Ways Are There To Reuse A Plastic Shopping Bag?

While the debate rages about the merits of reusable grocery bags vs. plastic shopping bags, stores like Walgreens are pushing the many ways shoppers can reuse plastic bags with this handy list printed on the bag’s side.

If you can’t read the text on this Walgreens bag, it suggests these 5 ways you can get at least one more use out of it:

1. Shoe Protectors
Assuming they mean you can wrap the bags around your shoes when trudging through particularly wet, muddy or snowy streets. Not exactly fashionable, but I have seen it done.

2. Dirty Diaper Holder
Amen. Plastic shopping bags are basically the original Diaper Genie.

3. Freezer Bag
I’ve had mixed results with this and I’ve always found plastic wrap works better. But in a pinch…

4. Rubber Gloves
This one I don’t really understand, especially since plastic shopping bags are not rubber. And anything I can think of that you’d use rubber gloves for — from washing dishes to cleaning a wound — don’t seem to mesh with wrapping a used plastic bag on my hand. Anyone out there have an idea what they might be getting at?

5. Plant Protector
I’ve certainly seen my share of plants and seedlings sheathed in grocery bags, though my thumb is far from green so I have no idea if this is truly effective.

I’m surprised by the lack of “Dog Poo Disposal,” since every person I see walking a dog has an old grocery bag at the ready — or they’re toting a refilled bag gingerly to the trash can.

What do you think of this list? More importantly, what other secondary purposes have you found for plastic grocery bags?

There’s always this:

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