Search ITGO
Canning and Pickling
Colleen’s Organic Gardening Blog at About.com
Friends of ITGO
My Favorite Garden Blogs
- A Study in Contrasts
- Chiot’s Run
- Cold Climate Gardening
- Gardening Gone Wild
- Growing With Plants
- Ilona’s Garden Journal
- In My Kitchen Garden
- Kitchen Gardeners International
- Mr. Brown Thumb
- My Northern Garden
- My Skinny Garden
- Our Little Acre
- Pollinators-Welcome
- The Cheap Vegetable Gardener
- The Compost Bin
- The Gardener’s Pantry
- The Plant Hunter
- The Transplantable Rose
- Veggie Gardening Tips
- Zanthan Gardens
From the Archives
How to Reuse Plastic Shopping Bags in the Garden
Americans use an estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags per year, and less than ten percent of those get recycled. The vast majority end up in landfills. If you live in an urban area, they’re often observed floating by on a breeze, or, in my case, getting caught in the trees and shrubs in my garden. Besides ending up in landfills, where they take hundreds of years to degrade, they are proving to be a danger to marine life. Animals become entangled in the plastic, or ingest it, mistaking it for food, and suffocate.
Ideally, we wouldn’t use plastic bags at all. When purchasing one or two items, carry them or put them in your purse. Keep canvas or cloth bags in the car for shopping trips. But we all end up with at least a few. There are some ways to use them in the garden.
1. Fill Space in Containers.
Ball up the plastic bags and put them in the bottom of large containers so you won’t have to use so much soil. This will also make the container lighter. To keep the soil from falling down into your plastic “filler,” put a layer of landscape fabric between the plastic bags and your soil.
2. Use them as a “liner” for rust-prone containers.
Use plastic bags to line metal containers that might rust if they were in direct contact with soil. Be sure to poke a few drainage holes in the bottom of the bag before filling it with potting soil, and trim any plastic that would show above the soil line.
3. Make a Kneeler.
Double up the bags and slide a thick newspaper inside. Instant kneeling pad.
4. Get Organized.
Use them in the garden shed for keeping small items like cell packs, tiny plastic pots, or hose fittings and nozzles contained and hung up and out of your way.
5. Store Autumn Leaves.
Fall leaves are a great “brown” to add to the compost pile, so I try to keep some aside for spring and summer, when carbon-rich materials seem to be lacking in my compost pile. Fill a few plastic shopping bags with leaves in the fall, poke holes in the bags to allow for a bit of air flow, and store them in your shed or garage. When you need browns for the compost, all you have to do is dump a bag or two onto your pile.
I’m trying to avoid plastic shopping bags all together, but it is a challenge. It makes me feel a little bit better when I can put them to good use. I hope these ideas help you with any plastic bag guilt you may experience this gardening season!
1 comment
1 comment to “How to Reuse Plastic Shopping Bags in the Garden”
Tee Riddle, February 13th, 2010 at 8:18 pm:
-
Very nice tips for repurposing those plastic bags. I, too, try to stay away from plastic bags by using some cloth bags. I do keep the ones I do get. I love the container filler idea. I will use that one come spring. Thanks!