How can I upcycle large plastic bins?

I consider these totes my greatest garage storage treasures. I pain or label one for each decorating holiday, plus eight for Christmas. A stripe of orange and green label the bin for Autumn and Halloween and Thanksgiving. Inside the house, I added wheels and a padded seat to one tote to hold all the toys our grandchildren leave at our house. Simply labeled, one tote holds all my sewing supplies. I estimate I could store all my arts, crafts, and painting supplies in 20 totes. That sounds like a lot, but a couple of totes already have empty Kleenex boxes and tissue rolls. I could use totes inside my pantry, in the laundry room, in each closet, and more places inside and outside of the house. I hope you find uses for all of yours. Jewell

Instead of spending money trying to 'transform' the plastic totes, I would suggest that you donate them to a family shelter, or family services non profit agency. Your otherwise unused bins will be put to good service.

Often when folks need to flee quickly to safety, they have only garbage bags to pack their belongings into.

I agree, I would just donate them! I had a lot leftover after I sold a lot of babies clothes and I donated them to Goodwill.

Organize closets cover them with contact paper

We had some different sizes so we put a smaller one into a larger one and placed the pieces of foam insulation between them to make winter shelters for the rescue cats. You need to cut holes in one side for them to get in. Then add some old towels or blankets.