The Costco Cart Hack That Makes An Improvised Cup Holder In Seconds

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It's one of those universal human experiences that we all have, but usually don't discuss: you stop by the Costco food court on a shopping trip and buy a combo with one of those delicious, cheap hot dogs and a fountain soda. The 'dog goes down your gullet (this is why we call hot dogs glizzies), and you grab a drink refill to bring around the store with you. Herein lies the problem ... there's no cupholder in your Costco shopping cart. How to secure your drink so it doesn't topple while you shop?

According to social media, the answer might be already attached to your basket. Redditors and Facebook users are using the child safety strap to wrap around their cups and secure them in place. There's not one single way to do this, either. Basically, any way that you can tie the straps around one another or loop them over the framework of the shopping cart to make them snug on the cup is fair game — see a particularly-complicated version of this hack here, for example.

"I don't want to call myself a genius or anything, but here we are," one Redditor humblebragged, showing off their knotty soda swaddle. "You're ready for [a]isle drifting, and max speed deal snagging," a Facebooker nodded in approval on a similar post. While Amazon offers shopping cart-compatible cupholders meant to fit any buggy, the Costco strap trick is free and doesn't require remembering an accessory when you enter the warehouse. There's at least one major downside, though, and it doesn't even have to do with the dubious stability of the straps. Actually, the possible flaw in your makeshift Costco cupholder has to do with the original purpose of those straps, which is securing babies' butts to the basket.

Without delving too explicitly into the icky specifics, there are some mega-gross possible problems with using a strap meant for encircling diaper-clad children. A few of the less-squicky social media comments on the aforementioned Reddit and Facebook groups pointed that out gently. To wit: "Not placing food on, or wrapping it with, the parts closest to a diaper blowout seems like a reasonable compromise between not using the cart and quarantine-style sanitizing of your stuff when you get home." Others were more direct and to-the-point: "Ewwww imagine how many damp diapers [have] been on those straps while parents get their samples." Furthermore; "[S]hopping carts NEED to be treated as if they are basically the inside of a [...] toilet. They are [...] swimming in nastiness. When using them, don't touch your face, don't touch food and then put that food in your mouth."

Point well made. If you're worried about what yuckiness might have touched the cart before your cup, you could perhaps carry sanitizer or Lysol wipes and wipe down your cart basket (and strap) before using it, which is a good practice anyway to prevent germ spread. We're all in favor of fun and hilarious Costco food court hacks, like the legendary "jochizza," but strapping your cup to your cart like a toddler might be a bad idea unless you are willing to do a little disinfecting first. Don't write off this little trick entirely, but we're definitely going to keep cleanliness in mind and take precautions if and when we try it.