I live in Mississippi and if you don't know much about this controversial state, let me explain a couple of things. First, we have what is called red clay instead of dirt. If you dig, you'll find clay instead of dirt. Second, the winter and spring here is mostly rain. Third, driveways in the country are made out of red clay and pee gravel. It should look like the picture below when it has set up and if you have enough gravel in it.
But when you put the above three factors together with a new driveway, you get mud. My driveway stands in mud for months. Huge pot holes have formed and are getting out of control. it's pretty costly to get a truck load of rock, but we had to do something, the music instructor keeps getting stuck in the drive.
A few months ago, we got a couple of bags of rock at Home Depot. Not that much, but we had a few big holes and need wanted to do something. We left the rock in the plastic bags and threw them in the hole. After a few months of driving over them, they have stayed in the same place. The clay getting soaked and then drying out again has rooted the bags to their spot.
However, we have plenty of holes to patch. We grabbed a few more bags of rock at the store. But the plastic bags of rock stuck in the ground gave me an idea as we started to patch another hole. We were going to shovel some of the gravel/red clay drive material that had been washed into the side ditch and add back to the holes. But if the plastic bag around the rock had held the rocks in place, and people add plastic lining under flowerbeds then layer with dirt, they why not do that to the holes? So I grabbed a ton of my Walmart sacks and lined the holes before my husband shoveled the clay and added the rock. A few weeks later and the clay is still holding.
Now we still need to do more work, add more rock and clay. But one of the holes might have swallowed a small car before. Now it is manageable. Sill filled with water, but workable.
Yes, I buried Walmart bags in my driveway. But what is American doing with them now? Throwing them in the landfills to be buried. At least I have a good use for them and a reason to do it. (And yes, I do use them for other things. One year I made a white Christmas wreath out of them instead of buying one.)
What do you use Walmart bags for?
KJ
Put some mystery in your life.
LOL. Nice way to put those things to good use. I used to carry them back to the store and recycle them once the quantity got out of hand. Now I do use the re-usable bags, mostly because they hold TONS of groceries and it's fewer trips into the house, plus my stuff doesn't get smushed like it does in the Walmart/grocery store bags. My son uses the store bags for his lunch, and we use them when we scoop the litter box. When we get low, I don't bring my big shopping bags to the store next time.
ReplyDeleteOur use is pretty simple. We don't buy garbage bags anymore, we use the Wal-mart bags, I know they end up in the landfills still, but at least we reusing them and using less other plastic while just throwing these away.
ReplyDeletePretty good plan you have there though.
I use them as bathroom trashbags and for litter too. My husband uses them for lunch bags sometimes and I use them to clean out the car and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI also love the reuseable bags because they hold so much more. I have to tell the cashiers to load them down. You'd be surprised at how light they are to carry with a ton of stuff in them. I'm all for less trips to the car in my muddy drive.