The Great Plastic Bag Stocktake

Doing a plastic bag stocktake in your home is a confronting way to begin a plastic free lifestyle. Sound crazy? Sometimes we need a bit of crazy to spur us into positive action...

Posted by Shea on February 9, 2014

The plastic bag stocktake was undertaken the day I came home from the supermarket with these packaged tomatoes!

I was busted by my husband as I was unpacking my groceries earlier this week.

“I can’t believe you bought tomatoes in all that plastic packaging?”

Gulp…

I could have replied with something lame like –

“I was shopping with two children, pressed for time to get to swimming lessons and operating on automatic!”

… but I didn’t. I just stopped, looked at the amount of plastic used and felt like a complete fraud. The conversations I am having through my blog involve discovering the effect plastic is having on our planet – yet in my daily life I am still buying it!

I turned around and opened the fridge and was horrified at the amount of plastic.

This prompted me to do a Plastic Bag Stocktake! How many bags do we have in our home and what do we need them for?

The 3 Step Plastic Bag Stocktake

1. Firstly I gathered up all my plastic bags.

I had both a ‘Plastic Bag – Bag’ full (everyone has one of those in the kitchen right?) plus another separate bag holding the overflow.

A total of 114 bags all together just waiting to be used for something….

Might I just say this isn’t my collection just from this year, this is carried over from last year as well.

I am disappointed to say it looks like our household is well on our way to being one of those average Australian homes using 350 bags a year. (I have never been one to feel comfortable fitting into ‘average’)! You can read other discoveries I have made regarding plastic bags and their global effects here.

On closer inspection, I discovered a modest collection of 100% Degradable Bags…

as well as a couple of recycled bags – PHEW!

2. Next stop was the fridge and freezers

It was full of plastic. Ahhhhh…….

– Plastic containers storing food
– Plastic bags wrapped over left-overs in bowls
– Plastic bags in the freezer also being used as storage

25 bags in total, all being reused

3. Miscellaneous

– We use bags to line two of our three garbage bins

– 10 plastic bags are currently used in the pantry to help seal opened, yet not finished, food items

– Since one needs to count all items to do an accurate stocktake, I must include both my cling wrap (all 300 meters) and sandwich bags.

Must Read: Lunchbox Essentials to Simplify Your Life, Save you Money and Change The World

I must explain something you don’t yet know about me . . . my friends call me, (affectionately I think?) a ‘tight arse’. I have earned this title through my careful, yet wise, approach to spending money?! One of my best friends once declared she was not taking me away for a girls weekend unless she could tip me upside down and start releasing some of my loose change….

I am telling you this to explain; the 300 metre roll of cling film was bought, not because we use that much, simply because it was more economical to buy in bulk.

So there you have it – plastic bag stocktake complete!

151 plastic bags accounted for in our home as of today.
This is not including the plastic packaging which a lot of our items are brought home in, this is just simply plastic bags.

That’s a massive reality check for me – I am horrified!

Time to put our family commitment into action –

Be part of the solution, not someone adding to the problem

Now it’s your turn …

The way I see it – if we come clean together and fess up to our plastic bag addiction, we can support each other as we work towards minimising our personal usage. Even better still, build a collection of ideas on how to go cold turkey and having no plastic bags in our individual houses altogether.

Are you up for the plastic bag stocktake challenge?