Reuse Ziploc bags as self-sealing car trash bags

I'm a Ziploc bag-washer. I just can't bear to throw out those freezer-weight bags when they've only been used once. Problem is, some bags rinse more cleanly than others. For those bags that really shouldn't do double-duty with food, I store them in the car to act as self-sealing trash bags. That way, when my kid eats a banana and is left with the (rather fragrant) peel, she can seal it up in the bag and throw the whole thing away when we get home.

Related: Keep unwashable Ziploc bags in the diaper bag

Comments

[lindsey]

On long trips we keep a gallon size Ziploc with a paper towel in the bottom taped with painter's tape to each car seat. Each child is given instructions that if he/she needs to throw up to rip the bag off of the car seat and throw up into it instead of all over the place. When a child gets ill we simply seal it up and throw it away, replacing it with a new one from the diaper bag.

It's saved my sanity on long car trips.

[tracy]

Why didn't I think of sending this hack in? I've been doing it for years!

I send a spare set of clothes to daycare with my daughter in a gallon-size ziploc bag with her name on it. When she has an accident at school, the clean clothes come out (free of all the glitter and such from all the art projects transported home in her backpack) and the yucky clothes go in. I save all the yucky ziplocs and stuff them in the door pocket of our cars as trash bags. I have a humongous stash of bags from the days when clothing changes at daycare happened quite often, but I'm sure one day I'll eventually run through all those bags.

[Tustin Babysitter]

I like to keep those "less than stellar" ziplock baggies in my Camelback pack for hikes. When I see trash out on the trail I stash it in my ziplock and toss it when I get home.