If you like to buy your fruits and vegetables in bulk, you may find yourself trashing mesh produce bags more often than you'd like.
TikTok user RosemaryFairy (@rosemaryfairy) — whose real name is Allison — recently shared her hack for repurposing those plastic mesh bags into something useful: a cleaning scrubber. And her genius reuse is going viral for its creative take on reusing often discarded items.
@rosemaryfairy Buying bulk veggies and got all these plastic bags? Let's upcycle them into some scrub daddies! 🧽 it's not much, but it's honest work and gives a little more purpose to that crappy plastic stuff. Of course ideally, food without a plastic jacket is ideal. But in the event you find yourself with some, here's a useful idea! 🫶🏻 #diy #upcycleplastic #reducewaste #kitchenhacks #dishes #scrubdaddy #lifehack #veggies #bulk #kitchen #plasticsucks #cleaning #cleaningtiktok ♬ original sound - 🌿RosemaryFairy🌿
The scoop
In the viral TikTok, which boasts more than 1.2 million views, Allison shares how she repurposes plastic mesh produce bags into scrubbing sponges. In the video's caption, she says the hack "gives a little more purpose to that crappy plastic stuff."
Here's how it's done: Simply put, Allison balls up the produce bags into each other to make a compact scrubber. She says she strategically puts the "stringiest, nastiest" plastic bags in the center to add volume.
Then, she wraps each following bag around the last, balling up the mesh into an intertwined makeshift scrubber. Her best bag — the most complete bag with the finest mesh — goes on the outside to hold everything together and do the bulk of the scrubbing.
It's a creative way to upcycle an often discarded plastic packaging. But Allison doesn't want you to go out of the way to collect loads of plastic mesh produce bags to make a scrubbing sponge.
"Of course, food without a plastic jacket is ideal," she writes in the video caption. "But in the event you find yourself with some, here's a useful idea."
How it's working
Mesh produce bags are common in grocery stores when buying bulk fruits and veggies, but these net bags are a sneaky source of plastic pollution. Allison's hack helps give these plastic net bags a new life — even momentarily — giving more purpose to the plastic.
While Allison's hack doesn't solve the bulk produce's plastic packaging problem, it does help curb the use of plastic-based scrubbing sponges. Popular scrubbing sponges — marketed as so-called "magic" sponges — are a major source of microplastic pollution in our environment and waterways.
Buying new plastic-based scrubbers just adds to your plastic pollution footprint. Reusing the plastic mesh bags you can't avoid, however, helps bypass the unnecessary spending on plastic "magic" scrubbers.
This hack reduces waste by upcycling and using what you already have around the house instead of buying something new. It also prevents resources and energy from being wasted in packaging and transportation.
What people are saying
Allison's hack went viral on TikTok, gaining more than 162,000 likes and more than 600 comments. TikTok users called the hack "genius," promising to give their plastic mesh produce bags a new life.
"This is an amazing idea," one viewer commented.
"I want to do this but I have literally never bought more than one fruit at a time," another commenter added. Allison responded: "That's even better though!"
But some other commenters were concerned about trying the hack, wondering if it was safe to clean dishes and surfaces with mesh produce bags.
"Does it get microplastics into the water — like does it break down at all when scrubbing?" one commenter asked.
In response, Allison said her makeshift scrubber likely doesn't break down "any more than a regular sponge." She also added that her upcycled scrubber "stays intact much longer" than other scrubbing sponges that she's used.
In other comments on the video, some equally creative TikTokers shared how they give their plastic mesh produce bags a second life.
"[It] can also be used as a pasta strainer for backpack campers," one commenter wrote.
"I also use them at the bottom of plant pots to cover the drainage holes so soil doesn't get out when you water," another added.
"I used mine in my garden so I could grow watermelons on a trellis and hang the melons so they could grow [and] not break off the vine," a third commenter wrote.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
