It always kills me how people think that washing out and saving a plastic storage bags is a dumb idea. One person said, "I'm poor, but I ain't that poor!" Somebody else looked at me like I was the red-headed stepchild at the family reunion.
But it makes sense to re-use everything you can. Think of it this way. Imagine if you had a coupon that said, "Buy one box of gallon-size plastic food storage bags and get four boxes free!" People would love that coupon. But if you rinse out and re-use those bags four times (and just about anybody can get five uses from one of those bags), that's what you got.
It's just not glamorous. It's more fun flashing coupons. But it works.
Let me put it another way. Let's say, just for the sake of easy math, that it costs you 10 cents to buy one plastic storage bag. If you use it once and toss it, it costs you 10 cents.
But let's say you wash it when you're hand washing some dishes. You're not making special dishwasher, you're just letting the baggie get in on a free dip. Swish, swish, you're done. You rinse it off and set it out to dry. (Put chopsticks in a dishrack; they work great to hold the baggie as it air-dries.)
Total time invested, 10 seconds. I'm not counting the time that the baggie spends drying out. But you washed it out without costing you anything (used dishwater, some rinse water, drying time on your counter).
If that bag cost you 10 cents, you have now saved yourself 10 cents by investing 10 seconds of your time. If your time is worth a penny a second, your time is worth $36 an hour. That would be equivalent to earning $74,880 a year. Not bad for some used dishwater.
If you wash that bag out a second or third time, your savings get compounded.
That's one of the great secrets of saving money by living smart. It isn't glamorous!
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It's your money or your life
What is your biggest weapon in keeping grocery costs down?
Live Better, Spend Less
It's your money or your life
May List for Cheaper Living
- Get a water filter and stop buying bottled water
- Plant a few tomatoes
- Cook big and pack away some freezer meals
- Bike to work or the store
- Learn a new craft or cooking skill
Resources
About Me
- Working Texas Writer
- Living on the Gulf Coast and writing for a living.
4 comments:
I love it! I just started washing them out as well and people always give me strange looks. But thats how the world is changed. Shocked looks means that expectations are challenged and slowly the norms will be changed. Sustainability will be the new paradigm of the 21st century (well lets at least hope so).
Do you think its unheathly to rewash too many times? Because they may not be made to endure hot water washing them off, plastic particles may start getting into whatever food is in the bag. What do you think?
Thanks for sharing!
Karl
San Diego, Ca
Hi Karl,
Please forgive me that it's taken so long for a response, to tell you the truth, I did not see your comment until just now.
I know when I told somebody I washed plastic bags, she looked at me and said, "I ain't that poor!" She had just been griping about not having any money. But there is a funny attitude we have that if you're rich, you should squander your money.
I ABSOLUTELY THINK there is a limit on how much you can wash out a bag. They're really not built to be infinitely re-used!! In our house, we make that decision based on what was previously in the bag and how the bag seems to be holding up.
Because I'm a big germophobe, I will not wash out a bag that has held raw chicken. I just won't, although I think you could probably get it clean. Chicken is the end of the line for a bag, so we usually try to find a bag at the end of its service life for chicken parts.
But bags that have held relatively benign cargo get re-washed a lot. I would guess we can re-use a "gently used" bag four or five times but heavier use may retire them early.
Thanks for your patience in waiting for a reply!
I am all about 'a penny saved is a penny earned' mentality when it comes to many kitchen uses. One of those being the plastic baggies. I will say I do reuse my meat bags. I rinse them with hot soapy water, then a TOUCH of bleach (a small squirt from a spray bottle with water+bleach is perfect) this is to ensure you killed off the bacteria from the meat. Then hot soapy water again to rinse out the chemical. Air dry. It might take longer than the 10secs you estimated for non contaminating food, but even if you reuse the meat bag for meat again, its still the same idea.
Glad someone else is thinking along these same lines and I'm not the only 'loon' out there. :)
I read your post on ziploc baggies and love it! I used to wash my baggies by hand, but now I've invented a frame that fits inside a baggie to hold it open and upright so you can easily wash it in the dishwasher without worry.
The product is not available yet, but I am seeking backers and pre-orders at:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1371617912/wash-baggies-in-the-dishwasher
If this is something you can get behind, please post to your blog so people will be able to find the Baggie Washer on Kickstarter.com and back the project!
Thanks.
Jan
Post a Comment