Trash Bagging is a Blast

Trash Bagging: The Most Ridiculous Way to Turn a Hill Into a Waterslide

There are normal summer activities, and then there’s trash bagging.

If you’ve never heard of it, the name sounds completely unhinged—which is honestly part of the appeal. Trash bagging is basically what happens when somebody looks at a grassy hill, a box of trash bags, some Dawn dish soap, and a water hose and thinks, “Yeah, we could probably turn this into a sport.”

And somehow, it works.

The basic idea is simple: you wear or sit on heavy-duty garbage bags, get everything extremely slippery with water and dish soap, and slide down a grassy hill like you’re on the world’s cheapest homemade water slide. It’s messy, chaotic, hilarious, and almost impossible to do while keeping a straight face.

Obviously, this is not an official Olympic event. Yet.

What is Trash Bagging?

Garbage bagging is basically hill sliding with an extra layer of slippery insanity.

Instead of using a sled, tube, or Slip ’N Slide, people use large plastic garbage bags to reduce friction between themselves and the grass. Water makes the hill slick, and a little dish soap makes everything even more slippery.

Then gravity does the rest.

You push off from the top of the hill, immediately realize you have way less control than you expected, and spend the next several seconds flying downhill while yelling, laughing, spinning sideways, or all three.

The best part is that everybody looks ridiculous doing it.

There’s no graceful trash bagging.

Nobody finishes a run and looks like a professional athlete. You usually end up sideways at the bottom of the hill with wet grass stuck to you, wondering why you just traveled 40 feet faster than seems reasonable for someone wearing a trash bag.

That is the sport.

How to Go Trash Bagging

First, you need the right kind of hill.

You want a smooth, grassy slope with a long, completely clear stopping area. This part actually matters. Do not use a hill that ends near a road, parking lot, fence, tree, creek, rocks, stairs, or anything else you really don't want to meet at high speed.

Basically, imagine where you could end up if you slid twice as far as expected. If the answer is “in traffic,” find another hill.

Next comes the garbage bag.

Heavy-duty lawn or contractor bags work much better than the super-thin kitchen bags that rip when you look at them wrong. Some people step into a bag and hold it around their waist, while others use one more like a sled.

Important: never pull a garbage bag over your head or tie yourself inside one. Your face and airway should always stay completely uncovered.

Then add water.

A garden hose works perfectly if you're doing this somewhere with permission to use one. Get the grass wet enough that it becomes slick without turning the hill into a giant mud pit.

Now comes the secret ingredient: dish soap.

Dawn is popular because it gets ridiculously slippery with water. You don't need to empty half the bottle onto yourself. A smaller amount spread over the outside of the bag and the sliding area can make a huge difference.

Also, dish soap can irritate eyes and skin, so keep it away from your face and rinse off afterward.

Once everything is wet and slippery, sit down near the top of the hill, point yourself toward the safe open area, and push off.

Congratulations.

You are now trash bagging.

Control is largely theoretical from this point forward.

Why Trash Bagging is So Fun

Part of the fun is how incredibly low-tech it is.

You don't need a boat.

You don't need a pool.

You don't need an expensive inflatable water slide.

You need plastic, soap, water, grass, and questionable decision-making.

There’s also the unpredictability.

One person might glide perfectly straight down the hill.

The next person spins around backward.

Somebody else goes approximately six feet and stops.

Then one person somehow discovers the perfect combination of water, soap, body position, and gravity and launches down the hill like they were fired from a cannon.

Everyone immediately wants another turn.

Trash bagging is also one of those activities that's almost more fun to watch than it is to do. Half the entertainment comes from standing at the bottom and watching your friends attempt increasingly dramatic launches.

People start experimenting.

“Maybe I should start farther up.”

“What if I lean back?”

“What if we add more water?”

“What if two people go at once?”

Some of those ideas are better than others.

Unofficial Rules of Trash Bagging

There aren't really rules, but there should probably be a few.

Keep the course clear.

Don't slide toward streets or hard objects.

Don't wrap yourself completely inside a bag.

Don't intentionally crash into other people.

And maybe don't turn the hill into a competition for who can reach the highest possible speed.

The goal is hilarious summer fun—not explaining an extremely embarrassing injury to an emergency room doctor.

Protective clothing, shoes that won't fly off easily, and even a helmet aren't crazy ideas if the hill is fast.

The Bottom Line

Trash bagging is stupid in exactly the way some of the best summer activities are stupid.

It takes normal household objects and somehow turns them into an afternoon that everybody remembers.

You're going to get soaked.

You're probably going to get grass stuck everywhere.

Someone will absolutely wipe out in a spectacular but hopefully harmless way.

And somebody will eventually yell, “MORE SOAP!”

Just choose a gentle, obstacle-free hill, keep your head completely out of the bag, make sure you've got plenty of stopping room, and don't treat it like you're attempting a land-speed record.

Then grab a trash bag, add some water, get slippery, and let gravity provide the entertainment.