In our basic Emergency Preparedness Checklist, we included garbage bags. Why? Because there are a ton of garbage bag uses for emergency situations besides simply taking out the trash.
Trash bags, or garbage bags, come in a variety of sizes and strengths. For most emergency uses, you’ll want “heavy mil” or contractor grade bags of at least 3 mil in thickness and between 40 and 55 gallon capacity.
Standard tall kitchen bags also have many uses and we recommend that you keep a box of these with your emergency kit too.
Here are five garbage bag uses for emergencies
Emergency sheeting
The case of hurricanes, high wind events, chemical spills, or any situation where you might want to “black out” your house, contractor bags work great. Cut them along the sides and duct tape them together, then around your windows.
These keep broken glass and debris from getting inside, keep those outside from knowing that your home is occupied (if necessary), and they will also help to keep more warmth inside.
If you live in colder climates and find yourself stranded in your car, the heavy plastic can be put over your windows to keep it warmer inside while you wait for help.
Dry bag
Growing up in Houston taught me a lot about hurricanes, flooding and how to protect things in wet conditions.
In an emergency, contractor bags make great dry bags. They are very thick and sturdy so you can store those things that need to stay dry – clothes, food, etc. in one of these and rest easy.
It’s also easier to carry a bag full of stuff in the rain than an armload of smaller things.
You can use lighter weight bags, like kitchen bags for this purpose too, but they aren’t as sturdy. Where the kitchen bag shines, in this application, is when you use it inside another container, like a backpack, to keep the contents of the container dry.
Gather water or take a solar shower
After a natural disaster, like a hurricane, you may find yourself without basic utilities for an extended period of time. Fill a contractor bag with a few gallons of water and leave it in the post-storm sun for a while. Then hang it up and poke a few holes for a warm shower!
If necessary, you can use the sheeting idea we talked about earlier to make a shower stall outside and get yourself clean!
There are any number of situations in which you might find yourself needing to collect water. Contractor bags are a great way to collect and store water in those situations.
Sleeping bag or emergency blanket
Contractor trash bags can be used as a make-shift sleeping bag, an emergency shelter, and (the most common emergency situation) as an emergency blanket.
You probably already know that when we get hurt, depending on the severity of the injury, we may go into shock. Bad things happen when we go into shock, but keeping the injured warm and dry can help to keep shock at bay. Cut a bag down the sides and wrap it around the injured person to keep them warm.
Waste bag
Finally, if you lose your running water, you’re going to have to find other ways to handle human waste. A kitchen bag in a 5 gallon bucket from the hardware store makes a great toilet. If you have a little kitty litter, you can keep it minty fresh for quite a while too!
There are so many garbage bag uses that we’re just scratching the surface here talking about the most common reasons to have them in your emergency preparedness kit. Do a quick Youtube search and you’ll find a lot more ideas!
Or better yet, share your own ideas! Share how you use garbage bags, besides for holding garbage, in the comments below.
Image by Joseph thomas from Pixabay