LPT; Wash Your Ziplocks, Save Money and Reduce Plastic Use

Submitted by 0-Give-a-fucks t3_125su0t in LifeProTips

I've tried to reduce my plastic consumption as much as possible. But damn, plastic bags with ziplocks are ideal for some things. A tiny refrigerator makes it really tough to utilize non-disposable storage for some things. I looked hard at my plastic usage at the start of covid, so here are my tips for successfully re-using plastic bags that I've learned in the past couple of years. This is a pretty USA centric post, I think. I'm not so sure these products are available in many countries tbh. But anyway, we have a terrible problem with disposable marketing in the US. Help when you can!

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  1. Buy the more expensive freezer bags with the sliding widget. They are 10 times as tough in my opinion. It's much easier to open and reseal with oil or food on your hands, and they last a long time.
  2. Cheaper bags have the ziploc strip "glued on", so the bag will separate from the top zip closure very quickly when you try to clean them. Avoid them if possible. More expensive bags are simply a short term savings, but it adds up over time. I've only bought one small box of gallon bags in 2 years.
  3. Wash and rinse the bags after each use. Use warm water and dish soap. Washing them in really cold water makes them brittle, be careful of tearing or cracking at the edges if your water is super cold. Be sure to rinse them really well too. Soap residue will give you the shits.
  4. Test them by filling them 1/4 full with water and zip them up, and flop them around upside down over the sink. Check for leaks. A leaky bag can be used for something dry.
  5. Lubricate the zip (and the slider) for effortless use and long life. Making the machine part work more efficiently reduces stress and wear, prolonging the life of the device. (yes I know baggies are not machines). This works well for slider bags, and regular zip bags. Get the olive oil, get a drop or two between your thumb and finger and apply it to the full length of the ziploc, which is on the inner surface of the top edge.

American food manufactures are still not getting the broader message that plastics have to get reduced. It boggles my mind, so please, do what you can to reduce plastic waste. Be kind to your self, other humans, and the planet!

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keepthetips t1_je5o09f wrote

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omniscientchar t1_je5qiz1 wrote

My mom does this and it makes me lose it. She’s wasteful for everything else but is obsessed about her aesthetic looking ziplock bags so she keeps reusing them ad infinitum. I hate ittttt

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hizzoze t1_je5rbqf wrote

But what about the soap and water now used? Is there a cost/waste comparison for both scenarios?

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decrementsf t1_je5s73t wrote

If this is a system it's worthwhile to upgrade over time to non-plastic alternatives. Over the course of a lifetime it's good for metabolic health to reduce interactions with plastics. I like glass. It's an impossible task to avoid. We're all in this together. But we can mitigate the damage done a bit in ways that benefit your children's and grandchildren's epigenetics.

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Top-Pension-7527 t1_je5tqbb wrote

A lot of people in my city (Calgary, Canada) don't know this but you can actually recycle them with plastic bags from grocery stores! I clean them out and put them into one bag :)

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wildadragon t1_je5tsc1 wrote

They make reusable storage bags now usually made of silicone just for that purpose.

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seals42o t1_je5tsk1 wrote

How much money are we saving by doing this ? Plastic is pretty cheap.

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Jesse0100 t1_je5wwj2 wrote

You can get box of 50 cheap ziplocks for under $2 at any dollar store or Walmart. I like to save money but reusing sandwich bags is ridiculous.

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NairobiMuzungu t1_je5zsrt wrote

Would Vaseline be a good substitute for olive oil when it comes to lubricating the bags?

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Preposterous_punk t1_je677w7 wrote

Replying to omniscientchar (#2,452,509)

My MIL does this but doesn’t really clean them particularly well. Then she puts the used bags, often with crumbs and/or grease, into the box with the new bags. So it’s like a lottery when you pull out a bag. I, also, hate ittttttt

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Jesse0100 t1_je6gs0l wrote

Replying to jotsea2 (#2,457,320)

The problem is that plastic bags are porous and can have microbes living inside the walls. Everyone knows that bidets are great though. Unfortunately they are very rare in the US. Everyone here uses toilet paper.

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WruceBayne03 t1_je6j0rl wrote

Thank you for this! I’ve recently just been putting all the stuff I purchase out of the packaging and into bags but was feeling really guilty of using so many bags but wanted a specific bag for raw chicken and another for sausage and etc and had this thought.

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0-Give-a-fucks OP t1_je6ldb2 wrote

Replying to WruceBayne03 (#2,458,258)

I would be especially careful reusing bags with meats like chicken. Personally, I wouldn't do that because of the E. coli risk. You may need to use a more powerful cleaning method than water and dish soap.

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seals42o t1_je6muyw wrote

Replying to 0-Give-a-fucks (#2,458,564)

I think the title is a bit misleading bc it says save money first then reduce plastic.

I wouldn't say it's not worth it , I think more of a personal win but pretty marginal overall as most plastic waste is via fish nets etc outside of individuals control.

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0-Give-a-fucks OP t1_je6zia4 wrote

Replying to seals42o (#2,459,001)

Excellent point on the title of the post. But I disagree on your second point. My rational to post was about my personal win fs, but also sharing it in away that sets a small example on how personal choices can have a positive impact. It feels important to me to offer examples of change in action. I thought it was a pretty low key example tbh. :)

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