Plastic bags. We all have them, and we all save them because we are absolutely certain we will need them someday.
Then someday never comes, and the bags reproduce like Tribbles.
The bag of bags has become a bag civilization
Today I found a drawer where my entire family had apparently conspired to store plastic bags. Maybe they were preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Maybe they think plastic bags will become currency. Either way, I now have bags filled with bags filled with more bags.
I grew up with the idea that you do not throw away anything that might still have a purpose. Sensible advice—right up until you are accidentally operating a private plastic-bag reserve.
I have enough bags to open the world’s saddest Amazon store. If there were a flood, I could probably build sandbags out of bags, which feels like we have reached some kind of bag singularity.
What do you actually do with all of them?
That is the question. At what point do I admit that I am never going to reuse 300 plastic bags?
Do I make plastic-bag clothing? Melt them into alternative fuel? Build a weatherproof guest house?
Or do I finally accept that “I might need this someday” is how you end up with a drawer you are afraid to open?