A Wastebasket Revolution, the Thrifty Green Way!

One of my monthly goals is always to find a new use for something that would otherwise be thrown away or just sit gathering dust... This last month I was able to "repurpose" an old shopping bag to excellent and highly thrifty effect. (The shopping bags I mean aren't of the plastic grocery store variety, but rather the heavy, almost decorative, paper ones that you get from department stores, Bath & Body Works, etc... as you read this post, make sure that those are the ones you're picturing or it might get confusing. :P)

Having recently moved, my roommate and I have spent the last month getting settled into our new apartment. The apartment overall is slightly bigger than our old place, but the bathroom is even tinier. We're talking minute here. The shower space runs along the full length of the bathroom, and if you're in the seated position on the toilet (lid down we'll say, for decency sake, since we are online at the moment) then one foot is pressed up against the wall and your toes are touching the shower door. I may or may not be exaggerating very slightly, but you get the idea.

In any case, since our previous bathroom wastebasket would have taken up about half the available floor space, it obviously was not going to work here. Being a die-hard Thiftie, I was loathe to run out to purchase a new one, but at the same time we were in definite need of a trash receptacle... fortunately, inspiration struck! With a snip-snip to remove the shopping bag handles and the insertion of a second (plastic) shopping bag inside the first, I turned a very nice blue Bath & Body Works bag into a highly space-efficient wastebasket! I since have done the same with one of those pink-striped Victoria Secret bags too, and it has made a very sporty, handy "junk-mail and incense-ash containment unit" next to my desk. These disposable wastebaskets are especially good for me because I tend to get grossed-out by trashcans in general... rather than having to hassle with disinfecting and cleaning them, now I can just swap them out for a new one each time I make a mall purchase!

Another day of saving money, reducing consumer consumption, finding new uses for items I normally would have tossed away, and generally darkening my shade of green. Hurrah! For more tips and ideas on thrifty green living, check out this week's round-up here. :)