“Grandma, why do you save bags inside a bag?”
One of my grandkids asked me that last month. We were putting groceries away together, and I was folding the new plastic bags to tuck into the big bag under my kitchen sink.
I laughed and started to answer. Then I stopped.
I didn’t have a good reason. The only answer I could think of was “because my mother did.”
That little question stayed with me all evening. (Grandkids ask the best questions.)
The next morning, I looked at that bag under the sink. It was so full that the cabinet door wouldn’t close all the way anymore.
So I made a plan. I wanted to figure out what to do with plastic grocery bags, keep the ones I really use, and send the rest somewhere they could help.
If you have a bag of bags under your sink too, this is how I sorted mine. (It took me about an hour, sitting at the kitchen table.)
Why Saving Plastic Bags Made So Much Sense for So Long
My mother kept a bag of bags under her sink for as long as I can remember. It was always stuffed full, and there was always one ready when she needed it.
She used them for everything. Wet swimsuits, leftover rolls to send home with company, and the peels from her potatoes all went into a plastic bag.
To her, a bag was something useful you got for free. And you didn’t throw away something that still worked.
I picked up the same habit without even thinking about it. Every time I came home from the store, the bags went into the big bag under the sink. (My husband says I’m more like my mother every year. He means it kindly.)
There’s a good reason we keep them. Plastic bags really are handy.
They line a small trash can. They carry a wet umbrella or muddy shoes. They hold the things we’re taking to the donation box.
In some states, stores don’t han