2025 Destash Time to Heave or Leave it

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I went through all my reusable bags awhile back-the ones that were absolutely trashed but did'nt have holes got used one last time each for cleaning the catbox . the ones on the verge of trashed I started using to put any donations in (found that if I put one on the inside doorknob of rooms and I came across something I was more apt to toss it in). the ones in good shape I have a few old plastic laundry baskets that stack one inside the other I use to store them. the old laundry baskets are in the back of the car so that days like tomorrow when I go grocery shopping I can snag the bags and then put the filled bags into the laundry baskets (so many less tipped over bags and toppled groceries since I started doing this).

We don't get plastic bags here anymore (Philadelphia), but MIL does. We see them twice a year (they live in Florida) and she saves all of her plastic bags so we can use them for cat litter. It cracks me up. I made the mistake of saying once that it's annoying we don't get plastic bags anymore because of the cats. LOL. So now we drive home at Christmas and 4th of July with a giant bag of bags. I don't feel bad because she would get them anyway and they would just go in the garbage so at least we can use them first. But it's pretty funny.

 

[barkley]

We don't get plastic bags here anymore (Philadelphia), but MIL does. We see them twice a year (they live in Florida) and she saves all of her plastic bags so we can use them for cat litter. It cracks me up. I made the mistake of saying once that it's annoying we don't get plastic bags anymore because of the cats. LOL. So now we drive home at Christmas and 4th of July with a giant bag of bags. I don't feel bad because she would get them anyway and they would just go in the garbage so at least we can use them first. But it's pretty funny.

it's crazy. we live in a state where it's take your own bags or pay for 'reusable' (plastic). in the nearby state it's free old school one and done thin plastic or paper bags. we save the other state's plastic bags for the catbox and use our own decent quality (think Trader Joe's) for shopping in state. I don't care for the 'reusable' ones and I must not be alone b/c I recently read how California is now entirely banning all plastic bags being sold/provided at grocery stores b/c they have hundreds of thousands of tons of non recyclable bags sitting in their landfills and have reverted back to paperbags b/c noone there cares to reuse them either.

 

[Turn the Page]

In the midst of our two bathroom remodels the contractor has to pull the toilet and vanity out of the main floor bathroom and tuck them.....somewhere while he works on the floor. I cleared out the auxilary entry way that is right next to said bathroom to make space to put that stuff.

It turned out I had a bunch of stuff in there that just needs to go. It is a way to convenient place to just dump stuff we don't want to deal with. I even found DS6's stroller that we haven't used in years. Actually, it is DD19's stroller. I briefly thought about keeping it for grandchildren but those are, hopefully, several years away. I had to text a friend to offer encouragement to get rid of the 20 year old stroller lol. You guys can all offer encouragement too though.

But since I'm on a roll I think I will take the opportunity to purge my kitchen utensils drawers since that will also only take a few minutes and then run those items to the transfer station and then swing by the nearby gourmet cheese shop to get myself a tasty treat for a job well done.

 

[barkley]

I even found DS6's stroller that we haven't used in years. Actually, it is DD19's stroller. I briefly thought about keeping it for grandchildren but those are, hopefully, several years away. I had to text a friend to offer encouragement to get rid of the 20 year old stroller lol. You guys can all offer encouragement too though.

old baby/kid items are best tossed just out of concerns over safety, also, out of kindness-don't put your kids (and future in-laws) in the position of having to fear hurting your feelings over refusing these items if they are having kids. my mom held on to my crib for over 30 years (I was the youngest and ended up being the only one to have kids) and could not seem to understand why we kept declining when she asked when we were going to take that crib for the nursery we were putting together. it was SO outdated safety wise and despite it having memories for her, I obviously only having used it as an infant had no such attachments. despite us finally getting her to understand that we had a new crib/did not need hers (and always brought a sleep and play to her place when we visited) she held on to that thing another 10 years and only got rid of it when we misled her into thinking another family member (who she never visited) wanted it (it went to landfill-it was a hazard).

 

[goofytinkerbell]

it's crazy. we live in a state where it's take your own bags or pay for 'reusable' (plastic). in the nearby state it's free old school one and done thin plastic or paper bags. we save the other state's plastic bags for the catbox and use our own decent quality (think Trader Joe's) for shopping in state. I don't care for the 'reusable' ones and I must not be alone b/c I recently read how California is now entirely banning all plastic bags being sold/provided at grocery stores b/c they have hundreds of thousands of tons of non recyclable bags sitting in their landfills and have reverted back to paperbags b/c noone there cares to reuse them either.

I'm in Canada, and single use plastic bags have been banned here. Like shopping bags. You also can't get plastic straws, and some other things. Anyhow, what I find funny is now everyone with cats will buy single use plastic garbage bags to use for litter. Meanwhile I just save things like milk bags (and everyone I know saves them for me) and re-use those. I'd like to say it's for environmental reasons, but really it's an added expense and I can't afford much in the way of added expenses.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I'm in Canada, and single use plastic bags have been banned here. Like shopping bags. You also can't get plastic straws, and some other things. Anyhow, what I find funny is now everyone with cats will buy single use plastic garbage bags to use for litter. Meanwhile I just save things like milk bags (and everyone I know saves them for me) and re-use those. I'd like to say it's for environmental reasons, but really it's an added expense and I can't afford much in the way of added expenses.

Our milk doesn't come in bags in the US. And what I find funny is people in Canada have a lot of opinions about the US but actually don't know anything about the US.

 

[barkley]

I'm in Canada, and single use plastic bags have been banned here. Like shopping bags. You also can't get plastic straws, and some other things. Anyhow, what I find funny is now everyone with cats will buy single use plastic garbage bags to use for litter. Meanwhile I just save things like milk bags (and everyone I know saves them for me) and re-use those. I'd like to say it's for environmental reasons, but really it's an added expense and I can't afford much in the way of added expenses.

yeah, here the laws vary state to state. when I hop over to Idaho to shop I get a wealth of single use bags b/c they have a state wide law that prohibits ANY municipality from placing prohibitions on plastic bags and auxilary containers. I recycle them for the cats or to line small trash cans so they are getting multiple uses. you can still BUY single use plastic bags in a variety of sizes in Washington State but no business can use them to bag items so it's really much more single use b/c people buy them for the expressed purpose they need them for.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Our milk doesn't come in bags in the US. And what I find funny is people in Canada have a lot of opinions about the US but actually don't know anything about the US.

Actually, some states DO sell milk in bags. Not all, just like not all provinces in Canada do. In my province you can also get milk in gallon jugs but it costs a little bit more. What I find funny is how some Americans make derogatory comments about Canadians when they don't know anything about us, while assuming their country is the center of the world. We (in general) know far more about the US than the average American knows about Canada.

yeah, here the laws vary state to state. when I hop over to Idaho to shop I get a wealth of single use bags b/c they have a state wide law that prohibits ANY municipality from placing prohibitions on plastic bags and auxilary containers. I recycle them for the cats or to line small trash cans so they are getting multiple uses. you can still BUY single use plastic bags in a variety of sizes in Washington State but no business can use them to bag items so it's really much more single use b/c people buy them for the expressed purpose they need them for.

That's exactly how it works here! You're welcome to buy boxes of single use plastic bags, but the grocery store can't give you one. I've always "recycled" my single use bags, unless there was a large hole in it or meat leaked in it... and even then I'd use it for litter if I was using it same-day. I just didn't want to leave it sitting around if it would wind up smelling bad or something.