Now that Iowa temperatures have reached a record high for spring, it is safe to say the worst of winter is behind us, bringing with it the casualties of the colder weather — our jeans. It is all too tempting to cut off the legs of your jeans, but adding another pair of shorts to your wardrobe does not mean you have to add more material to your local landfill. Instead, recycle your denim by transforming the discarded legs into something useful for your apartment or dorm room.

A common problem for many households is the overflow of plastic bags accumulated from your weekly trip to the grocery store. While it is much more environmentally friendly to bring reusable sacks with you, it is also easy to forget them until you have already pulled into the store parking lot. These bags can come in handy when you need a make-shift trash bag or lunch box, but the problem is where to store them. This is where recycling your old denim pant legs comes in.

All you need is a stapler to turn the pant leg into a storage container for plastic grocery sacks. Turn the leg inside out and staple the non-seam side securely shut. Turn it right side out again and stuff the bags inside the opening.

The container can be kept in a cabinet or you can cut a hole near the seam (don’t forget to burn the edges so it doesn’t fray) and hang it on a hook in your closet. You can also customize the denim with puffy paint or iron-on patches. This storage container also works well for stashing toilet paper or cleaning rags.

If your container starts to get too full, don’t throw the plastic bags away; they can take up to 500 years to decompose. Take the full container to Wal-Mart or HyVee and empty the bags into the specified bin near the entrance.