This week’s Martha Mondays assignment was a donation bag. I loved this idea. I try to take a bag to Goodwill once a month or so but I generally toss items into a closet and let them pile up and then stuff them into a bag when I’m ready to take them. Martha’s suggestion was to designate a bag you keep things in. This actually is a really 
good idea. Not only does it keep it all together, but it makes it easy to grab and go when you get a chance to drop it off. Seeing the bag hanging there also reminds you to look for items to put in it and to regularly take the bag to be donated. Inspired by this, I’ve also designated an area in my pantry to pile up food pantry items. In the past I’ve tried to make mental notes of what I should donate from my pantry but I almost always forget. Now I’ve got an area set aside for those items so I won’t forget. I’ve also designated a shelf in a cupboard in my office for book donations to my local library. It’s amazing how a very simple project like this can make you feel so very efficient!
I haven’t heard back yet from the Martha Mondays member who is scheduled to choose for this week, but when I do, I’ll post her pick.
You can follow any comment to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
This is a great idea. I take read magazines to the local nursing home and always forget them. Having a bag handy will surely help me remember!
Thanks for another great project! I posted my results on my blog:
http://homemadeiowalife.blogspot.com/
I already do this, but I tend use old plastic grocery bags. I like the idea of hanging up a stronger, reusable bag instead.
We have a box going right now, as part of our continuing basement purge.
The only problem is when we go to Goodwill, it’s a trailer (as in tractor trailer) that’s in a parking lot. There’s an old guy up in the trailer and you hand him your bag. If I go with a bag I want to keep, I’m not sure how I’m going to get it to him. Ask hi to empty the bag and return it? I don’t know, but I guess I’ll figure it out in the next couple of weeks when I go,
I do this with my clothing – it’s amazing how it’s so easy to forget, but when there is a special bag designated for cast-offs, you remember.
And Brette, why not keep a carton in/near your car and when you get to Goodwill, empty the bag into the carton so you don’t have to worry about leaving the bag?
Yes. that’s a good idea.
Sorry it has taken me so long to post about this but here it is http://sassysuppers.blogspot.com/2009/09/martha-monday-donation-bag-er-basket.html I had the same thought about the reusable bag. It is just easier to use a plastic or paper one but not as attractive. But Sheryl had a great idea. Of course, it requires being even more organized than I usually am 🙂
By the way, when I try to click through to the Homemade Iowa Life on the blogroll it doesn’t seem to work. All the other sites do but not that one.
This is a great idea – one I’ve been using for a while now 🙂
I love this idea because it’s so simple. Some of the donation drop boxes in my city are hard to get to, but several of the dry cleaners in my area accept donations, which is much easier.