Supermarket Plastic Produce Bags Rock

Let's discuss a bag equally as valuable and practical as a fine leather bag, namely a supermarket plastic produce bag! I’ll explain. 

Dispite buying a few sizes of Ziploc bags, I find supermarket plastic produce bags much more versatile, flexible, and useful for both storage and holding smaller quantities of food one needs to contain before dropping them into the trash. In Manhattan we put garbage down a compacter, as well as, separating it for recycling bins.

I try to be as neat as possible for the benefit of our maintenance men. Food scrapes and toiletries I can fit easily into these bags’ wide opening, and I tie the opening in a Boy Scout knot to close and leak proof it as it goes down the chute. 

What’s more, supermarket plastic produce bags are idea to separate articles that need to be stored away. Plastic produce bags are both strong and thin, taking up no additional space. Christmas decorations can be organized before going into drawers or huge Tupperware containers. What makes  these bags so perfect is again their wide opening, plus you can see your contents to know exactly what’s inside when you go to retrieve your items.

I have also used these plastic bags to enclose liquids such as suntan lotion, face creams, shampoos and conditioners before packing them into a suitcase or on a shelf at home when I fear a liquid could leak. The mess stays inside the bag without leaking on a shelf or inside a suitcase. 

After I arrive at my destination, I place dirty clothes in these bags, as well as, shoes so they won’t touch my clean clothes inside my suitcase.

At home I put raw beef and chicken inside supermarket plastic produce bags to first store them in my freezer, then to defrost the meats in my refrigerator.

If you are without containers to store flour and sugar, you can enclose them inside these plastic produce bags,  the tops secured with our trusty Boy Scout knot. Residual flour and sugar from their packaging ends up inside the plastic bags not inside your cupboards to clean.

They work so well to store all kinds of goods! I highly recommend repurposing your plastic produce bags that you bring home from the supermarket once you remove your produce. Think free storeage plastic bags. Not too big or too small but just the right size for so many jobs! Plastic produce bags never seem to develop holes from their travel home from the supermarket! Don’t toss them out as garbage, re-use them for garbage or storage bags. Personally, I don’t buy as many Ziploc bags as I once did.

Moreover, if you need more plastic produce bags than you carry home from the supermarket, you can buy them from Walmart, Amazon or ReStockIt. Who knew?

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Photo courtesy of Walmart.

Since moving to Manhattan where space is at a premium, I've become super organized. Life is simpler when all your things have a home and you can easily fetch them. You spend less time searching for possessions and don't re-buy something you already own. I like to say I'm too lazy and cheap to be unorganized. Once a friend, Dru, on a visit to my apartment with her husband, A.J., asked if she could show him my closets. I was so flattered she had noticed my tidiness on her previous visits. She made my day!

While I'm always open to perfecting my system, here are 5 Organizing Tips I can share:

1) In my clothes closets - I group alike-garments together: First by seasons -- warm weather versus cold weather -- then within the seasons, coats; sweaters; vests; blouses and tops; trousers; and dresses, etc. 

Although for Manhattan I have 2 good-sized wardrobe closets I still must shift my spring/summer and winter/fall clothes to the front or back of the closets as the seasons change. I don't have the luxury of a 3rd wardrobe closet to avoid moving my clothes each season. Rats!!! I envy people with more than 2 closets. From time to time I also purge my clothes of what I no longer wear so I can always fit everything I own in my 2 closets, never overflowing them. In New York City, our lack of spacious apartments is just too unforgiving to keep things we never grab. I donate my still in good condition clothes to Housing Works or Goodwill. 

2) Outside my bathroom I have a personal care shelf - Here again I like to group similar items together - I gather the skincare products together; the shampoos and hair conditioners together; the toothpaste and mouthwash together, the pain relievers - aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen together; wound treatments together and hair tools, etc. Since these items are stationary on a shelf, I simply stack them up so I can easily grab them. At times baskets and such help organize, at other times they just hog more space so you can't stack items. When bars of soap or boxes of toothpaste stay put, you don't need containers that become just another takedown before you can reach your articles. What I do find helpful in organizing small personal care stuff like extra dental floss, hairpins, or cotton balls is storing them inside a repurposed plastic sheet set protector. It has structure, transparency, a zipper, and a slim body that sides in against the wall -- perfect for the job! And, you already own it. In fact, save a couple of sheet protectors to protect other goods too. Great for separating, or keeping categories of things together!

3) Shoes and odds and ends - The shoes I slip into most often are on the floor of my wardrobe closet. The shoes I wear occasionally, I stack up in clear plastic shoebox-shaped containers. 

Additionally, I use one of the plastic shoeboxes to keep receipts ... a 2nd to store extra makeup I have for when I run out of what I'm presently using ... and a 3rd plastic shoebox for extra lightbulbs along with extra vacuum cleaner bags. These clear plastic shoeboxes are terrific for organizing all kinds of things. I even have a collection of photos in a 4th plastic shoebox. They only cost $1 - $2 apiece (depending on the retailer), are compact, strong, see-through, and hold lots of stuff. You can't go wrong buying them for storage. (The above image shows belts inside one box, but I think belts are best grouped hanging on a clothes hanger.)

4) Other odds and ends only needed at certain times (for example wool clothing, or a pump for an air mattress) get kept inside clear plastic 13-gallon trash bags before going on a shelf. The 13-gallon size is ideal, not too big or small a size to keep similar things together, as well as, dust-free, and since you can see through the bags, you don't waste time labeling or opening them to remember what's inside.

5) Ziploc bags of various sizes fit the smaller items you need to keep together, Q-tips, nails, whatever. Easy to see what's inside and open.

Believe it or not, you don't want to spend hours of time organizing. Aim to reduce your steps to keep organizing simple and efficient. Moreover, try not to spend too much money on the supplies you use to keep your things together and in good condition ... just a few bucks for the containers you need. The right organizing system should save you time, money, and work. Starting with these 5 tips, join me in being too lazy and cheap to be unorganized!

Happy upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd! A perfect time to get organized.🌍🌎🌏

Do you have brilliant organizing tips of your own to share?

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Platinum Silicone Bags

As we are learning, plastic is an environmental disaster. Often it is not biodegradable and is filling up our landfills and oceans, plus killing our marine life. Moreover, chemicals in plastics can harm people. But now we have plastic alternatives for food storage and organizing our stuff. Meet a plastic baggie alternative with an unsexy name: Platinum Silicone Bags. But, it's not they're called, it's what they do that's so exciting!

Replacing plastic, they are very versatile: You can bake; boil; microwave; refrigerate and freeze food in them after cooking. Or you can reverse the order: Pull frozen food stored in them out of the freezer to pop into your microwave or boiling water. How convenient!

Better yet, you don't need to worry about the harmful chemicals in plastic because Platinum Silicone Bags are made of all natural materials -- mostly sand and oxygen. The manufactures claim they are "more like flexible glass than plastic," yet if dropped they won't shatter. As opposed to glass, Platinum Silicone Bags are light and functional. Also as a benefit to Mother Earth, you can wash these silicone bags with soap and water to reuse 1000s of times. Plus they are dishwater safe.


The bags come in an assortment of sizes from snack to sandwich to gallon.

Platinum Silicone Bags seal airtight keeping food fresher longer and thus, reduce food waste.

Although they're great for cooking and food storage, there's really no need to stop there! Use them to organize your things like electronics, toiletries, office supplies, or makeup, i.e. anytime you would habitually grab a plastic bag. In fact, they are stronger and more durable than baggies and zip-loc plastic bags that might only be used once. So by switching over to reusable Platinum Silicone Bags, you can spare the environment of more plastic waste.

This innovation saves money, food, natural resources and the planet. A terrific deal all around!


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