Trash bags are essential tools for your emergency kits and to have stocked in your home. This article is tip #18 in our preparedness quick tip series.
The list below has the black trash bag in mind, but many of the uses would work equally well with any type of trash bag. I highly recommend you buy the better brands as they are often stronger and will hold up better than cheaper brands will.
How to Use Trash Bags in an Emergency
Rain poncho – cover yourself or other objects to protect from rain.
Waterproof your gear – when storing or carrying, keep your gear covered to protect from moisture.
Ground cover – for sleeping bag or small tent or just to rest on.
Heat water – fill up with water and set in the sun for solar heated water.
Makeshift shower – fill up with water and set in the sun for solar heated water. You can then use that hung from a tree or post as a makeshift shower.
Haul stuff – of course it’s obvious to use it to haul stuff if you have no other bag or container.
Toilet liner – if you are without a septic or waste water system, use a trash bag to line a toilet, a bucket, or other container to collect waste. Sprinkle in kitty litter, wood shavings or dirt between uses, then bury in a safe location.
Protect yours shoes & hands – cover your feet and secure high up on your leg to protect yourself walking through water or mud. Use to cover hands for unsavory jobs.
Shelter – open it up to serve as a windbreak or as a rain cover. A few together can make a tent.
Insulator or blanket – when you have nothing else, it can serve as a blanket or insulator for a blanket. But know that when using as an insulator or blanket, plastic will make you sweat, which has it’s own drawbacks in survival situations (dehydration, rapid cooling/body temperature in cold, etc.)
First Aid – you can cut into strips to use for bandage ties, you can use to help use as a sling, cover wounds to protect from elements, waterproof casts or pressure bandages.
Gardening – use a black trash bag to help kill off weed/ground cover in a bed you wish to plant later in the season (this will kill everything, good or bad, but could be useful if you need it), compost small amounts quickly by filling bag and rolling around often.
Bedding – fill with leaves or moss and create a mattress or pillow.
Markers – cut or tear in to strips to use as trail markers or signals.
Food Storage – not only for storing any food you might forage, but to protect your food from predators and pests. Hang in a tree to keep it out of reach from most creatures.
Body Bags – while gruesome, trash bags can serve as makeshift body bags.
Privacy curtain – if you need to change clothes or want to go to the bathroom hanging a plastic bag can give you much needed privacy.
Rain water collection – if water is not readily available, using bags to collect rain water can be a great emergency resource.
Snow pants – a couple of bags and duck tape and you have emergency snow pants for tough situations – or snow play.
Emergency sink – whether you use bottled water or rain water, put a bag in a hole or box and fill with water. Then you have an emergency sink for any cleaning need.
Weights – fill with rocks, dirt or other materials to use as weights to prevent important things from flying away. Even tents can be secured if you lose stakes!
Rope or cable – twist and weave several bags tightly together to create a pseudo rope.
There are more ways you can use a trash bag in a survival situation. Can you think of any?
