If you're someone who has a designated drawer or cabinet to hoard your plastic bags from the grocery store (you know who you are), I have some good news to help declutter.

First of all, if you think it's safe to recycle them, you're wrong. Plastic bags and wraps can get tangled in processing equipment, damaging them and can cause potential injuries to workers at the recycling plants. While most people will just throw their unwanted bags away after a trip to Price Rite or Stop & Shop, there's a better way to help prevent these bags from ending up in the ocean.

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Fortunately, many different supermarkets and retailers will accept these plastic bags and dispose of them for you without any cost. I've done the digging and the research (thanks to bagandfilmrecycling.org and Recyclesmartma.org).

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Here are 20 places on the SouthCoast close to you that will take care of your plastic bags for free:

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Shaw's: 15 State Rd, Dartmouth, MA (508)-993-9995
PriceRite: 39 South St, New Bedford, MA (908)-527-3300
Stop & Shop: 438 Dartmouth St, New Bedford, MA (508)-993-1791
PriceRite: 139 Hathaway Rd, New Bedford, MA (908)-527-3300
Market Basket: 122 Sawyer St, New Bedford, MA (508)-992-3049
Kohl's: 81 Faunce Corner Mall Rd, Dartmouth, MA (508)-994-7031
Wal-Mart: 42 Fairhaven Commons Way, Fairhaven, MA (508)-993-8100
Target: 479 State Rd North Dartmouth, MA (508)-979-7530
Super Stop & Shop: 1001 Kings Hwy, New Bedford, MA (508)-998-2000
Wal-Mart: 506 State Rd, North Dartmouth, MA (508)-984-7771
Trucchi's: 2941 Acushnet Ave, New Bedford, MA (508)-998-7500
PriceRite: 910 Pleasant St, Fall River, MA (908)-527-3300
Wal-Mart Supercenter: 638 Quequechan St, Fall River, MA (508)-730-2677
Wal-Mart: 374 William S Canning Blvd, Fall River, MA (508)-730-2677
Shaw's: 485 William S Canning Blvd, Fall River, MA (508)-674-8445
Shaw's: 4171 N Main St, Fall River, MA (508)-677-0940
Shaw's: 127 Marion Rd, Wareham, MA (508)-295-7813
Target: 2421 Cranberry Hwy Wareham, MA (508)-273-0436
Target: 579 GAR Hwy, Swansea, MA (774)-488-3684
Hannaford: 8 Merchants Way, Middleboro, MA (508)-947-4787

Additional Reporting By Chloe Acevedo

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