A Tisket, A Tasket, I Bought a New Laundry Basket!

It was a difficult decision, and one I dreaded making, but the time had finally come when my dear friend could no longer keep up with my demands, and we needed to part ways.  It was bitter sweet; I was excited about the prospect of something new in my life, yet at the same time this friend had been with me since my dorm days in college, and had served me well.  My dear laundry basket.

I received my laundry basket as a gift from my parents for Christmas, during my first year of college.  It was my trusted companion on the countless trips home from school, harboring my dirty laundry on my way to my parents' house, and my freshly laundered clothes on the way back to campus.  It moved with me from my dorm room to my first apartment, to my second apartment, to the house that my husband and I rented when we were first married, and finally to our current home.  In the past 5 years, it has served not only as a carrier for laundry, but also as a number of imaginary vehicles for my children, and doll bed for my daughter's stuffed animals and dolls. 

When the first of the four handles broke years ago, I was annoyed, but not terribly upset.  I continued to use the basket faithfully for years.  A few weeks ago the second handle broke off entirely as well, and again I was disappointed, but not enough to give up on my trusted friend.  It wasn't until the third handle broke, and I was forced to try to carry my laundry out to the clothes line with three sides of the laundry basket bending and buckling under the weight of the damp laundry, that I finally decided that it was time for me to part with my old friend. 

But, what to do with my old laundry basket?  It's plastic, but is it recyleable?  For now, it will house stuffed animals in my children's room, but what will it's ultimate fate be when it becomes to decrepit to serve a useful purpose in our home?  With this dilemma in mind, I set forth on my search for a replacement.

I decided, after much thought, that a more eco-friendly laundry basket would be a good choice.  I had in my head, a picture of what I was looking for.  I wanted one of those "old-school" wicker laundry baskets, the kind with the handles woven into the pattern of the basket.  With that in mind, I began scouring the internet for the perfect laundry basket.  I had no idea how daunting that would become.  I found BEAUTIFUL hand woven wicker laundry baskets that were EXACTLY what I had pictured, but I couldn't muster the courage to spend the amounts of money that were being asked.

Amazon.com did prove fruitful in my search though, and I found a laundry basket that was close to what I had envisioned, and the price was much more palatable.  The reviews on Amazon.com for this basket were scattered.  Some people loved it, some people hated it.  I decided to throw caution to the wind, and give it a try despite the fact that some people weren't madly in love with the basket.

My new friend arrived on my doorstep last night, and was given it's debut today with two daunting loads of laundry that I had to lug out to the clothesline.  In my opinion, this basket was well worth the investment.  It's just as large as my old plastic laundry basket.  It serves it's purpose of carrying my clothes from the washing machine to the clothes line, and back again.  It's much more attractive than its plastic counterpart, and it's bio-degradeable should the need arise for it to be disposed of.  Granted, I don't think it would hold up to a game of race car, in which my son sits in the laundry basket, and my daughter drags him around the house, but then again, that could very well be why my plastic basket broke as well.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase, and more than happy to pass my plastic laundry basket onto my children as a bed for their stuffed critters.