As I was washing out the plastic bags on Monday (yep, that's how I spent my Memorial Day, doing housework), I was calculating the cost of washing those thin grocery store, produce, and bread bags as compared to the cost of a roll of plastic wrap. We have several food items for which we prefer the flexibility/conformity of thin plastic wrap or bags as opposed to rigid food storage containers. When bags were free with grocery purchases, it seemed like we had an endless supply of them. Now that those bags are no longer available (most of our stores have switched to non-complimentary paper sacks), I've turned to washing most of our bags. (If a bag is torn or has held meat, I throw it out.)
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If I didn't wash the bags to reuse, I'd use thin plastic wrap, the kind that sells for $1.97/200-foot roll at Walmart. I estimate I'd use a sheet about 12 X 20 inches on average. A sheet this size costs me about 1.6 cents. I washed 16 bags the other day, or the replacement for 26 cents of plastic wrap.
Water and soap isn't free, however. I washed all of the bags together in a large sink of water (with a squirt of soap in the wash water, clear water for 2 rinses). I used about 3 gallons of water in each sink-full, or 9 gallons of water total. A gallon of water (with wastewater disposal) costs me about 1.1 cents per gallon. I used about 10 cents of water and about 1 cent of dish soap. My water had to be heated, so I'll add 2 cents to the wash calculation. Washing my 16 bags cost me about 13 cents. I hung them to dry on the laundry rack afterward, no cost there. I saved myself about 26 cents on the plastic wrap. So, I netted 13 cents by washing the bags.
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There's an extra factor to consider. If I had something more lucrative to do in those 10 minutes, I could have earned more money than I saved. However, I didn't have anything better to do Monday morning. I'll take the savings.
I wash bags every other week, about 15-16 bags per time. I wait until I have enough bags to make the work worthwhile. In one year, I'll save $3.38. I certainly won't get rich on that savings. But as is often quoted, pay attention to the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. Another way I look at it when finances are tight -- it's better to save some money than to spend some money.
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