Open Brainstorms
How can plastic grocery bags be creatively reduced, reused, or recycled?
These littering bags waste petroleum and aren't very biodegradable. How can they be minimized or utilized better? What are creative ways to reuse them? ALL CAN JOIN US HERE AT 4pm CST (21:00 GMT) ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 TO BRAINSTORM THIS LIVE!
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Brainstorm Info
| Creator: | djeich |
|---|---|
| Created: | about 1 year ago |
| Activity: | 14 days ago |
| Users: | 37 |
| Ideas: | 220 |
Top Brainstormers
218.
use them as containers for items that are not always used such as x-mas decorations.......or we could use them as pots for plants....
217.
hold mass recycling days throughout the year for recycling plastic bags. Start with educational institutes and government agencies and work up all the way to the private sector and then families
216.
1.) Offer tax grants to supermarkets and shops who provide a certain amount of discount on most of their items if customers brought their own bags, be in plastic or otherwise.
215.
if you have a leak in your shoe put the plastic bag over your foot and then put your shoe on it makes a great water proof guard.
214.
use the old bags to create a "yarn" for crocheting reusable grocery bags! www.remodelinglibrary.com
213.
Reduced : Say NO / Ask Govt. to put ban / Ask Shopkeeper to provide alternate paper/cloth bags. Once u get one plastic bag , keep it in your car and start using that one for multiple purposes. Maintain a count of how many you have. Reused : I think Govt in India is using the junked plastic bags while making big freeways, they mix it with the tar and looks like it increases the grip. Recycled : ???
211.
use them instead of 'packing peanuts' when you're mailing a parcel www.intimateattitudes.com
210.
use them as a cap to cover hair treatments ie: clour treatments, hot oil treatment, lice treatment www.intimateattitudes.com
208.
Use them to stuff into holes and cracks to block cold air...like around windows, plumbing or in a greenhouse to minimize drafts.
207.
Design and make small household or office garbage cans that are a perfect fit for these grocery bags. Make them so they hold in place by the handles. Have a lid that covers the overhanging bag so you can't see them. Imagine reusing these for garbage bags so we do not have to buy garbage bags. We just throw away garbage bags, wy not use the plastic grocery bag as a garbage bag. Most everyone just throws them away anyway. ReUse or We Lose
206.
Combine them with other recycled products to make a wood-like product when compressed or glued and then use this to replace wood as a construction material(2x4's, particle boards, flooring, etc...). Then encourage companies and consumers who produce, use, or sell these products with tax incentives, grants, or free advertising! Imagine not destoying entire forests because we used something twice.
203.
Use at home and in animal shelters for lining litter boxes and disposing of animal waste products.
198.
Allow grocery chains to repurchase the used bags at a lesser price than they would pay for new plastic bags. In order to make this feasible a large quantity of bags would be needed for re-sale. Schools can collect these bags from students. Proceeds can go back to classrooms or school funding. Same concept applies to large offices promoting a "go green" campaign
197.
Turn into bags for sandbags that can be used by local governments for citizens in case of flooding, etc.
196.
Start a program at schools across the world to teach kids and teenagers they need to recycle plastic stuff like plastic bags and other stuff that needs to be recycled. This would get people at a young age into the habit to recycle stuff.
195.
Collapse bags into cell phone sized pouch to easily bring to store. Really interesting MSNBC video report on paper vs. plastic: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23358591
193.
the best thing to do is to urge supermarkets to make the bags in sizes so that it fits the small bins in each room like the one next to the study table. this will reduce cost of buying bin bags and also throwing rubbish every week.
191.
In Bangalore, India old/waste plastic bags are used to lay roads. Links: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/16/stories/2006081620460400.htm
189.
Collect them and make a messenger bag!!! they are cool look at this tutorial, (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/08/making_messenger_bags_the.html)
188.
The BBC news site recently had a debate about this subject: Should shops do more to reduce packaging? http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=3719&edition=1&ttl=20071024194047
184.
recycle bags into crates then they can make the transportation of shopping easier and more economical.
183.
This was an amazing live brainstorm session! We achieved most all of this in only 1-2 hours....with most the first half hour. Now click on the "good idea" button on the right to start rating the best ideas!
182.
If you are feeling ill, place plastic loops around your ears and use the bag to catch anything that might not want to stay in your body.
180.
Promote the challenge "Name 100 uses for a plastic bag" as a standard creativity challenge in training and exercises. This way the people will be trying to solve the problem for years to come!
179.
Put your shampoo, toothpaste, and shaving cream in them when you travel so that when the baggage handlers bang up your bag, it doesnt leak onto your clothes.
178.
Select the best ideas from this brainstorm and publish them on the Global Ideas Bank to spread the message.
177.
Print the contents of this brainstorm on all plastic bags to suggest ideas for uses and to promote the green message
176.
Use them as planters for your houseplants - you could even use them for hanging plants using the handles.
174.
Put a can of soup in one, whirl it over your head, and see how far you can throw it. Challenge your friends!
173.
Turn them into a universal weighlifting set. Put a few bags inside each other and fill with a big of rice, cans or soup, etc. and do arm curls.
171.
Make all grocery store packaging be able to fit into square crates so you can easily move them to your trunk and into home without bags
170.
(5 Google for information, inspiration, or ideas.) This Google image search (with search "plastic bags") produced this image: http://30gms.com/images/uploads/I_am_not_a_plastic_bad.jpg gives the idea: put advertising on plastic bags and use funds raised to concentrate on disposing of bags safely and spreading green message.
167.
Create an environmental olympics where the main event involves creative ways to reuse these bags.
166.
Put one down your pants and walk around a bit to help you think of more ideas for this brainstorm.
162.
What if we could seal oxygen or other gases into these plastic bags? Then when we need to use the gas, you can puncture the bag and put a "tap" pipe on it.
160.
Print flags on bags so that when the Olympics or World Cup is on you can attach them to your car and show your allegiance
159.
Tie them to your car's attenna as a decoration. Or the bumper. Or to the seat on your bike.
158.
Take photos of birds and animals trapped in discarded bags and show them in shops as a deterrent
157.
Put your laptop in them when it is in your backpack and it is raining so it doesn't get wet from the moisture that seeps through.
152.
Why does a bag have to be bag shaped? Why not just have sheets of plastic that can be wrapped around the shopping? Then these sheets would have constructive uses - as garden covers or maybe shelters for the homeless.
151.
Melt enough down to be able to make huge blocks that can be used as seats in parks and bus shelters
150.
Have special and convenient parking spaces immediately outside shops: "only for customers who don't use plastic bags".
147.
Encourage baggers to stop putting things with handles into them (e.g. gallons of milk, 6-packs, bottles of detergent).
146.
Wrap bags around apples on trees so that when the apples fall they are caught by the bag
145.
Shops could have a rule: only three bags per person. Or, they could weight your shopping and a chart shows how many bags the person is allowed
144.
Fill them with water and put them in your freezer to make huge ice cubes for your cooler.
143.
Put useful advice on plastic bags - maybe about safety in the home, first aid or safe driving etc
142.
Improve the ergonomic shape of products that would help people carry them just by hand, without the use of plastic bags.
139.
I had a dog that ate one, and it went right through him without causing any abnormal stoppage or anything. Maybe we could eat them to help curb appetite and lose weight.
132.
Use it as a meditative tool. Slowly breathe in and out of it while focusing on something.
127.
Have a local company that can disinfect them in mass and then distribute to local sellers of food and other products for their packaging.
123.
Stuff them in the mouths of dirty mouthed little kids instead of washing them with soap.
121.
Blow them up, tie them shut, then slam it between your hands to make a loud popping noise.
119.
Attach little army men to them like they are parachutes and throw them from high places
117.
gotta go, have seminar. last idea, product integratable plastic bags so that a number of them can be somehow used together for more serious purpose other than shopping grocery
116.
Put your feet in them before putting your socks on when you go sledding - keeps your feet dry!
113.
To reduce...start issuing quotas on how many plastic bags a store can give out to customers.
109.
print free papers, like badger herold on plastic bags, so people with take care of them
107.
Put at the bottom of lockers in lockerrooms so that the bottoms don't get sandy and salty from the shoes.
106.
Ask art galleries to arrange exhibitions that feature exhibits made only from plastic bags. Ask all the famous artists and sculpturers to make one exhibit each.
101.
Give the country a project: collect millions of bags, melt them and use them to make a gigantic statue that celebrates the country's identity
100.
People who are just watching this brainstorm and have not added any ideas are encouraged to add ideas! My idea - Ask grocery stores to compile a list of ideas that shows benefits of using paper bags instead of plastic. Put this list everywhere in your shop
99.
lower the quality of plastic bags to make ppl frastrated with the plastic ones and turn to paper
96.
What if we could use the plastic bags to protect the icebergs in the Arctic from melting? That would solve 2 of our problems.
95.
Give groups of students or engineers a plastic bag challenge, to creatively develop a way to make them useful
94.
Host the world's biggest plastic bag ball contest - make balls out of plastic bags...and auction them at the end for charity..
93.
Buy one of those cheap bag holders with holes in it from Ikea to organize your supply of bags for reuse.
90.
add small collectors in car truncks specially for plastic bags for better bag collection
87.
Film American Beauty like clips of a bag gracefully blowing in the wind (bag as supporting actor!)
84.
Print this on the plastic bag - "Please re-use me, dont throw me away when i'm still good"..or some other phrase that would urge ppl to re-use the bag.
82.
Don't know if this was said yet....weave the bags into - more bags! Use them for backpacks, reuseable grocery bags, etc.
80.
Have the local community provide you with an eco friendly bag to bring to stores when they give you your garbage/recycling program
75.
enforce the adverticement of the negtive effect on the enviorment from using plastic bags and encourage ppl to use paper bags
73.
Grocery bags that are not torn or are in decent condition could be returned to the grocery store for say 1 cent per each good bag/ store credit for a certain number of bags...its a win-win situation for both the grocery store, and the customer.
71.
Pass a law so that when bags are purchased, a percentage of the money goes into researching how to make bags biodegradable
68.
Start a company that takes the old bags, weaves them into bigger new bags, and brand them for grocery stores so they can sell them to their customers.
67.
Create a drop-box for plastic bags outside grocery stores where the bags are collected again, cleaned/sterilized and then people going into the store could take a clean bag with them when they go shopping.
65.
Find out how many bags the average person will waste in a lifetime. Create a big pile of bags and photo them to enforce the message.
61.
make the plastic bags much biger, so the number of bags needed drops and the total material needed drops
56.
Show YouTube videos of what happens in the "life of a grocery bag" that raises awareness of the harm these bags cause the earth.
55.
Create a new form of art using the different shades of plastic covering as a different color for a portrait for instance.
52.
Create a delivery truck service that delivers groceries once you are done shopping, so you don't need bags.
49.
Once a shopper uses and owns a bag they are then, by law, held responsible for that bag. They have to - if necessary - bury the bags in their own garden
46.
We could stack up plastic bags one on top of another and compress them together to create solid plastic useful for moulding furniture or other plastic objects.
44.
What if we used churches to spread the message that throwing away plastic bags and not re-using them was a "sin" against the world.
41.
Make a fruitfly trap with one of the bags, put a banana in the bottom and then quickly tie the bag to trap the flies.
39.
We could create public artwork from just used grocery bags to raise awareness about the waste.
34.
Keep a bag or two in your backpack to use to protect papers, etc. from water if it rains.
31.
stop making the trash bags, and make all trash can to hold only shopping pags to encourage the reuse of these plastic grocery bags
26.
encourage the manufacturers to make as many product as possible with easy handle features
25.
Actually take the old bags, weave them into a bigger new bag you can bring with to the store.
23.
How about burning them to create foul smell that drives away mosquitoes and bugs in any outdoor park area.
22.
give a dozen cloth bags to the store members, and set a rule that they have to use the cloth bags to get their member ship discount.
15.
What if we turned the plastic bags into flat sheets of thin plastic that could be used to make rain jackets or disposable umbrellas.
14.
loan container/cart which are compatable in trunck, and cumstomer supposed to return them to store next time
11.
How about we shred the plastic bags into tiny pieces and use the shredded plastic as filler material for shipping and packaging.
9.
After you’ve entered as many ideas as you will, you can click the “good idea” button next to some of the best that you’d like to highlight. (on the right side)
5.
Get into your zone entering your own ideas, don’t worry about reading everything or duplication. Get your ideas out there.
2.
make dresses out of the plastic bags (http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/images/SF_dump_art_program009.jpg and http://www.animadesigns.com/liveartbites_files/fusing-plastic-bags-ultimate-in_3.jpg)








