To be suffering existential confusion over reusable shopping bags?

[WottaMess]

Clearing out the house today.

I have found a carefully labelled plastic crate in which I have stored all the excess reusable shopping bags in. You know, the freebie hessian jobs from naive food shops on opening, or surrounding hampers, the various wine carriers offered by supermarkets picked up in those "damn I left the reusable bags at home" moments.

But they are reusable. I have about 4 that I now am reasonably organised about using. So I don't need all these extra ones cluttering up the place taking up room under the stairs I want to store DS's dressing up box in

But is it unethical to throw them away? That pains me for some reason. I can't charity shop them... Wwyd?

Am I the only person to have come across this first world problem dilemma?

Naive possibly but was sposed to be naice!

You can take should to the charity shop. They are often grateful for plastic bags as they use them to give to the customers, so they may be grateful for these (fragile items may break in a plastic bag).

Sorry, I'm multi tasking so my grammar's gone to pot! You should be able to take them to the charity shop.

Freecycle? Someone may want them.

I've put charity shop donations in the older ones that I don't want anymore rather than plastic bags. Good for heavy things like books.

Also use them for garden waste and for wrapping stuff up in the shed. I keep tatty ones in the shed. One is full of balls, one has BBQ charcoal in it. I will throw them when they are ripped and too dirty.

I agree with Lady, all of our local smaller charity shops have notices up asking for carrier bags.

The bags themselves are usually recyclable, so can go in the recycling bin, if you have no charity shops that want them.

I keep mine in a basket in the boot of my car - I can never have enough shopping bags! I got rid of all the ones that were too small or not easy to carry but the rest all get used. I'd take the ones you don't want to the charity shop - bags are always wanted but make sure you keep a decent supply - nothing worse than getting rid of stuff only to think a week or two later "I need another bag" (or whatever)!!

Charity shops welcome carrier bags but you were talking about hjessian bags, weren't you?

What about standing in the high street with a placard saying 'Free Bags'? You'll finish up with a queue of people wanting them!

hessian

YABU - get a life!

You will be glad of them when the plastic bag charges come in. We have been paying for bags here in NI for over a year, and I now keep bags in lots of places to ensure I always have one to hand!

I grew potatoes in some of those hessian bags recently
Stick some in the car just in case and charity shop the rest

I am taking some clothes to the charity shop later so if people think they might want them I will take them with me.

And do I really have to put "lighthearted" in to let people know I will not actually be seeking therapy over the issue but equally don't want to be more of a burden on landfill than necessary?

Thanks for all the useful comments (potatoes is also a good one...)

Offer them to friends - someone will want them - for some reason we seem to need about a million bags in order to have one free to take shopping (yes DH, I am talking about your need to have a 'gym bag' with your shorts in, a 'choir bag' that your music lives in, a 'drama bag' that your script lives in . . . you get the picture)

Charity shops will def use them to give sold purchases to customers

Someone mentioned on a thread a little while ago that food banks also really appreciate strong bags!

Oh, a food bank is a good idea. I have a few strong bags here that I don't need so I could fill them up and donate them