Frugal Living with Pat Veretto

What to do with All Those Net Produce Bags...

Surely you don't just throw out those plastic mesh bags?

If you shop for fresh produce at all, you probably have on hand more than one of those plastic mesh bags, with or without produce in them. Rather than throwing them out, why not substitute them for other things you need (and that you pay good money for!)?

Some of them are rather stiff, just like the plastic scrub pads that you buy for dishes. The most common and frugal way of using mesh bags for that purpose is to wad them up and/or sew them into a more or less round shape. However, if you tie a few into one length then loosely crochet or knit them into a square, they'll last longer and work better. AMD they're easier to hold on to when scrubbing.

If you're not really concerned about making them last - as in you have an abundance - here are some other ways to use them in place of "boughten" merchandise:

1. Hang tub toys in a plastic mesh bag when bath time is over. The toys drip dry and are in one place for next time.
2. Use them for the wading or swimming pool, too - and not just for kids. Keep sunscreen, combs and other needed things in one. Lace a length of string or yarn a couple of inches from the top to use as a drawstring.
3. If the shelves in your shower stay too wet and make the bar soap melt, put it in a net produce bag and hang it over the shower head or faucet. It will dry out between showers and last longer.
4. Use them to hang onions or apples for storage.
5. Use them to hold small items in the washing machine to keep them from getting lost. (Not too small though, as the holes expand. Also, don't use them in hot water.)
6. The soft bags are fun for the kids to wear over their heads and faces as "masks."
7. Use them for bags to sort and group small food packages in the freezer.
8. Bend a wire hangar into a circle (keep the top hook), then cut mesh bags into uniform length and tie closely together all around the wire circle. Makes an interesting and easy to decorate wreath. Since mesh bags come in different colors, you can make wreaths for different seasons.
9. Make funky bows from them for gifts.
10. Open both ends and put a piece of elastic through it, pulling up and tying the ends of the elastic together - you have a scrunchy.
11. Put bar soap in one and hang from your outside faucet for quick after garden or other messy job (or play) cleanups. You don't have to take it out of the bag to use it.

-- Pat Veretto