5 Creative Ways To Store Reusable Grocery Bags

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Cutting down on plastic waste is hardly ever a bad idea, and a great way to reduce your usage is to bring your own reusable grocery bags when it comes time to go grocery shopping. In fact, many states have outright banned single-use plastic bags or at least put a fee in place for using them, which makes reusable ones all the more key. However, storing your growing collection of bags can be a pain, but we're looking to make that task easier.

Fortunately for you, there are plenty of different ways you can keep your reusable grocery bags neat and organized. You're far from limited to just stuffing them all together in a bin or in the backseat of your car. Do that too much and you'll find your nice neat bags getting all wrinkled and disheveled. Organizing them neatly will help keep the designs you loved picking out in pristine condition, so long as you remember to put them back after shopping, of course.

Of course, before you start organizing your bags, it's best to sort through them and discard any of the ones you aren't using. There's not a lot of point in finding neat ways to store your bags if you're never going to take them out, after all. Consider giving them away to friends or using them to donate clothes or food to charities — making sure they're in decent shape first, naturally.

Once you've taken care of the extra bags, organize the ones you've decided to keep by folding them down neatly into a little square. Simply fold the bag in thirds vertically, fold in thirds again from the bottom, and wrap the handles around the bag. You can also tuck those handles into the bag and then tuck the end into the bag's mouth, turning it into a tidy rectangle or square. Once it's done, you can easily store it in whatever container you choose.

Got a seriously small storage space? You can easily fold reusable bags into even more compact squares to store more of them at once. To turn your bag into a little bundle that can easily fit into teeny containers, fold it in half towards the top twice, then into thirds horizontally to create a small square. Finally, twist the handles and wrap them around the bag, or simply tuck them in. If you've done it right, the result should be an extra-small wrapped square that you can tuck into just about any bin, box, purse, or other storage vessel.

For a bit of a unique look, fold your reusable bags into triangles. Once again, fold your bag into thirds starting at the bottom, then again from either side. Now, here's the twist: fold diagonally twice, and finally loop the handles around the package to keep things together. This method folds your bags tightly, so it's best for flexible, soft bags instead of stiff canvas ones. Folded this way, you can carry it with ease on your way to pick out the juiciest rotisserie chicken at the grocery store – and show a bit of style, too.

If you're short on containers for your reusable bags, try getting one specifically designed for organizing them all at once while making them easy to grab on the go. Bag organizers can keep all of your reusable totes in one place so you never have to go tracking them down. Look for one with adjustable dividers that you can rearrange at will, so you can always organize your array of bags however you wish, like by size or even color. This one will work best for bags with a bit more structure, like canvas ones or some insulated totes.

If you've got a bit of extra storage space, organize your bags into bins based on what type they are or what you use them for. For example, you can set aside a bin for heavy-duty grocery bags, while lighter shopping bags can go in another, insulated totes in their own container, and maybe holiday-specific gift bags in their own spot — you get the idea. If you've followed our advice to get some cute, affordable shelf labels, you can easily use those here to really up the style and organization factor.