66 uses for a bread bag

Despite our best efforts we don’t always have enough time to bake bread and end up nipping out to buy a loaf. The thing is each loaf comes in its own plastic bag. If you really can’t bring yourself to chuck the bags in the bin as they might have a use, or even if you always throw the bags away here are a few ideas to keep the bags out of a landfill site, at least for a while. All the ideas come courtesy of our forum members, thank you to all who contributed. To add to this list then have a look here.

1. Wrap your sarnies in
2. To keep the rubbish in on your way home (banana skins, apple cores etc.)
3. Store home made biscuits
4. Sick bag for emergency use in the back of the car with the kids
5. Little crochet dollies from bread bags
6. Keep one in your pocket at all times in case you find berries or mushrooms while you are out
7. Cut into strips and use for the tail of a kite
8. Or bright ribbons for your hair
9. Use as a freezer bag
10. Can be used for picking up doggie poop when out walking them
11. I always use bread bags for wrapping lunch up in.
12. Putting inside shoes or boots to keep water out.
13. Ideal for storing tomatoes in for the fridge.
14. When cakes you baked are cool wrap cakes in bread bags and store in biscuit tin.
15. It’s Christmas, you have got a bag of mixed nuts in their shells and you can’t find the nutcrackers… don’t despair… put the nuts in the bread bag and use a hammer to crack the shells – don’t whack too hard or you’ll have nut butter with lots of shell in it….
16. To put over plant pots to aid germination.
17. Store balls of wool
18. Store your leftover seedbags in at the end of the season
19. Cut up into strips and tied to a piece of string over your veggie seedlings to scare the birds
20. Rough and ready gloves when handling anything unpleasant- raw liver for example, yeuch!
21. Turn into book covers, to make those cheapo paperbacks last longer
22. sponge bag when traveling
23. makeshift plastic pants for clothbum baby
24. a bit rude this one… “but when I lived in Brighton… I remember passing a shop in the lanes on a rainy day and spotted an African sculpture – wooden carving of a man with a huge phallus… that might have been enough to catch my attention…but the fact that both his (ummm how do i put this) head on his shoulders AND the phallus were wearing plastic bags as rainhats…. made it fairly unforgettable!! So.. it can also be a raincover for a statue’s extremeties.”
25. Filled with compost – growbags for smaller plants
26. An alternative (and reusable) gift bag
27. For storing your CDs to prevent them getting damp
28. Keeping your homebaked bread fresh in one
29. Keep a box of matches and some kindling in one when you go camping….keep the rain out…
30. Fashion into a hat to keep off the rain.
31. As a Mt Druitt condom – a plastic bread bag (or part thereof) and a laccy band.
32. Collecting seashells and pebbles instead of making your pockets all damp and sandy.
33. To put over your keyboard as a guard against coffee.
34. Wear the bread bag as a bow tie!
35. Mixing a marinade and putting it into a bread bag with your pork chops/chicken bits
36. Use to cover your award winning apples on the tree to protect from blemishes
37. blow up and use as a mould for papier mache.
38. Filling them up with icing and then snipping off a corner and using it for piping
39. Storage of lab samples. (I’m just clearing out our lab freezers – and the number of perfectly good, but by now smelly plastic bags I have to throw out is sickening!)
40. A water balloon
41. Repair kit for poly tunnels
42. Parachute for a toy
43. Storing Lego in. I’m sick of treading on the flippin stuff with bare feet
44. Gigantic root trainer bag.
45. Birth control for an elephant.
46. Couple little sticks in the bread bag you have a little cloches or propagator.
47. Pin it up on your door indoors and use as a rubbish basket ball hoop
48. Fill the bag up with water with some holes in it when camping a portable shower.
49. Windsock
50. Rolled up and made into a circle and makes a sumo ring for ants.
51. Collect slugs in before disposing of them in some nasty way
52. Take to the shop/market to buy your fruit and veg in
53. Fashion into masks, using baling twine, as a precaution against bird flu.
54. Put on children’s feet under shoes, when shoes have holes in them
55. Having just experienced (for the first time in many years) the horrible unpleasantness of a white, processed, polyester loaf of Mother’s Pride ‘bread’ (don’t make me laugh): Disposing of mass produced ‘bread’ in, without ever having to unwrap it.
56. A kite
57. When doing bare root work use the bags for going over the roots.
58. Put handful of maltesers in, tie, pulverize with blunt object, untie and sprinkle crumbs onto ice cream. Thanks Jamie!
59. Use as bag to collect other bread bags ready for recycling
60. Use bread bag full of bread bags, loosely filled and then tied off, as makeshift tripod for taking timed photographs (this is a professional trick using carrier bags)
61. Use for flouring meat (or mushrooms, ok?) Put a few tablespoons of seasoned flour into the bag, add the chopped meat, shake bag like buggery.
62. Oil one inside and put your dough in it to rise.
63. Put your breadcrumbs in and just drop the fish (or scotch egg) in already egged and shake it about to coat it.
64. Loosely cover top of a bowl of frozen grub when you defrost it in the microwave (defrosts a bit quicker).
65. Wrap home made playdough to keep the air out.
66. For holding your damp flannels when you go for picnics (for cleaning your hands with

Written by

Andy Hamilton, Ina, Tigerhair, Shirlz2005, Magpie, Jessica, Shiney, Glenniedragon, Hedgewitch, MillyMollyMandy, Wombat, Chickenlady, Goodlife1970, Gunners71uk, Wollcraft, Muddypause, Libby, Hedgewizard, herbwormwood, albert onglebod