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| posted Aug 6, 2007 10:32:48 AM | To All |
Here's a good New York Times article on the uphill battle to educate people about bringing their own bags:
Greening Up by Cutting Down on Plastic Bags
People's attitudes need to change and we need more campaigns to educate the public about the downsides to plastic bags.
So you get an idea of how hard that is though, check out what one woman said:
“I would never be convinced to bring my own bags. Never,” Kathy Young of Dix Hills, N.Y., said recently as she pushed a shopping cart loaded with plastic bags of groceries and her young twins, Dylan and Sarah. “I can hardly remember what I need to get here, let alone bring my own bags.”
WOW...
What would she do if the store stopped offering bags altogether?Edited by: GranolaJoe on Aug 6, 2007 10:33:22 AM |
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"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." -Aldo Leopold
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| posted Aug 12, 2007 5:43:57 PM | To All |
| It was interesting to read all the comments when I came across this discussion today because I am in the middle of a very good book "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. In the chapter "Polymers Are Forever - page 123" he states: " what especially shocked him were PLASTIC BAGS and the ubiquitous little raw plastic pellets. In India alone, 5000 processing plants were producing plastic bags. Kenya was churning out 4000 tons of bags a month with no potential for recycling". Wow! How I wish everyone would quit using not only plastic bags but other unnecessary plastics. After reading this book, I'm wondering if it's not already too late. I hope not. The book also stated that newspapers don't biodegrade when buried away from air and water "That's why we have 3000 year old papyrus scrolls from Egypt." Landfills are full of paper products - newspapers being a big part.Edited by: komet on Aug 12, 2007 6:10:19 PM |
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| posted Aug 13, 2007 9:50:08 AM | To All |
On Aug 12, 2007 5:43:57 PM komet wrote:
It was interesting to read all the comments when I came across this discussion today because I am in the middle of a very good book "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. In the chapter "Polymers Are Forever - page 123" he states: " what especially shocked him were PLASTIC BAGS and the ubiquitous little raw plastic pellets. In India alone, 5000 processing plants were producing plastic bags. Kenya was churning out 4000 tons of bags a month with no potential for recycling". Wow! How I wish everyone would quit using not only plastic bags but other unnecessary plastics. After reading this book, I'm wondering if it's not already too late. I hope not. The book also stated that newspapers don't biodegrade when buried away from air and water "That's why we have 3000 year old papyrus scrolls from Egypt." Landfills are full of paper products - newspapers being a big part.
Ok, that just makes me feel sick to my stomach  |
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| posted Aug 13, 2007 3:18:13 PM | To All |
| I know it seems depressing but when people just become aware and discontinue putting their heads in the sand, I still believe things can change. People that care just have to make a lot of noise. |
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| posted Aug 13, 2007 7:14:28 PM | To All |
There's an interesting discusson about plastic bags going on on the Salon website. Here's the link:
http://letters.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/view/index.html
It's an interesting follow-up to our discussion here. |
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| posted Aug 22, 2007 12:28:03 PM | To All |
There was a day (20 years ago) when plastic bags were not recycled. Now I simply put them in my recycling bin. As long as they are recycled, I think it's OK to use them. I prefer to use a clean plastic bag over a dirty reused bag. |
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| posted Sep 12, 2007 8:39:22 AM | To All |
| I still get caught between the fact that I reuse and recycle plastic bags, but paper bags are made out of PAPER; are they really all recycled? |
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| posted Mar 10, 2008 4:47:26 PM | To All |
An article on Maui quoted someone saying that hey, we tried plastic bags, in retrospect, not such a good idea. So time to stop using them. About to become law here. Every store on Maui immediately offered shopping bags, Safeway, Foodland, Hawaiian moons. We even offered our own Aquacranial canvas bags. Really nice ones available online.
Everyone choosing to not use plastic bags could make a huge difference.
Maybe 20 years ago I went door to door with a petition to make DelMar CA the first city with no smoking in public spaces - people laughed in my face and slammed doors. Yet today, it is common practice.
Simple changes change the world. |
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| posted Mar 21, 2008 8:03:12 AM | To All |
| Ok, I was thinking about this yesterday, as a matter of fact. I've recently decided that I should start learning and becoming aware of our family's consuming habits. I live at least 35 miles from the nearest supermarket, so I save my trips for groceries for once a week, which means that I end up spending at least $150 to $200 on food for our family. That's a lot of food which end up with a lot of bags. I looked at them piled up on my counter feeling sort of ashamed of myself and imagining how many people at that moment was piling up bags on their kitchen counter. Soooo bad!! Since I am sort of new at my awareness, can you guys give me some suggestions as to how I can hold 75+ items in place of plastic bags? I see the bags that they sell for a dollar, but I would have to buy 20 of them. Any suggestions are very welcome. |
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| posted Mar 27, 2008 12:02:14 PM | To All |
I think the price of reusable bags are worth it. I got some that roll up and fit in my purse so I can tote them along. I live in the city, so I max out at about 4 bags anyway. But if I drove to the store and filled up my car, I would just always carry the reusable bags around in the car. Also, some is better than nothing. Sometimes I forget bags when I go to the grocery store, but I've also made it a habit to not take a bag when i buy a single item elsewhere, like a toothbrush at the drugstore. I just put it in my purse!
Whole Foods recently stopped offering plastic bags, period. I'm not sure if that's nationwide but i hope so! |
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| posted Mar 28, 2008 11:22:38 AM | To All |
On Mar 27, 2008 12:02:14 PM Cherre wrote:
Whole Foods recently stopped offering plastic bags, period. I'm not sure if that's nationwide but i hope so!
Not yet, unfortunately. They still offer paper and plastic at my local Wild Oats (owned by Whole Foods), but they do offer reusable bags for purchase at checkout too, as opposed to just having them up in the aisles.Edited by: GranolaJoe on Mar 28, 2008 11:23:30 AM |
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| posted Mar 28, 2008 12:12:47 PM | To All |
| When I forget to bring bags, I just buy a few more at the checkout. The extra expense makes me remember the next time. I try to remember to put them in the car as soon as I empty them out at home. It's just a matter of getting into a new habit. Clean freaks can get cloth bags and WASH them. What a concept! |
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| posted May 6, 2008 11:30:29 AM | To All |
| Sometimes, when I forget my bags in the car.. or at home. I just skip the bag altogether and pile the groceries in my car and then put them in bags when I get home. |
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| posted May 6, 2008 2:25:37 PM | To All |
On Mar 21, 2008 8:03:12 AM LoraP wrote: Since I am sort of new at my awareness, can you guys give me some suggestions as to how I can hold 75+ items in place of plastic bags? I see the bags that they sell for a dollar, but I would have to buy 20 of them. Any suggestions are very welcome.
Lora,
One inexpensive way to build a collection of reusable bags is to hoard freebie canvas bags.
My shopping collection includes bags from my children's preschool, the Bank of Bermuda (DH gets one at a conference he goes to every year), Sur La Table (free one for shopping there the day they opened), a few environmental groups (send a donation, get a sack), beach totes my kids got as partty favors, and a beer brand that happened to be handing out bags the day I bought a 6 pack.
I also bought 5 mesh bags, which expand to hold 40 pounds of stuff each (got those from Reusablebags.com), and 3 of the dollar bags our Wegmans started selling (though these bags aren't really that durable, and weren't worth the investment).
You can also reuse the plastic store bags week to week, at least while you build a collection of non-plastic totes.
alli |
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| posted May 6, 2008 3:57:21 PM | To All |
thanks alli
Since my last post I've managed to take a huge amount of plastic bags back to the store to recycle them, instead of throwing them away. Better yet, I have bought about ten bags and I keep them in my car at all times. I've forgotten a few times, but I'm learning a new habit. It's is easier than I thought it would be! Now if I could get DH to do it.....errrrr! I have talked him into at least saving the bags to give to my to recycle. Soooo, we're making progress. One baby step at a time. |
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| posted May 14, 2008 11:09:01 AM | To All |
Plastic bags (made from HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE) are very recyclable. Companies like AERT and Trex purchase these on the open market. Of course, there are many other applications beyond those 2 companies, but they are the largest. Unfortunately, some waste haulers do not recycle these bags. One good reason is that they jam up the sorting machinery at the recycling plants - I am not kidding - I have seen photos and heard about them having to shut down every few hours to clean them out! Collection of bags is the root of the issue. If you can bring them back to the store that you got them from, then they have a good shot at being recycled at a company like Trex.
By far the best recycleable plastic is PET (Pepsi bottles), but again the issue is the collection system. In the US, only 24% of PET is recovered per year (Assoc of Post Consumer Recyclers). However, the rates are much higher in states with deposit laws. Contact your legislator and get a deposit law for your state. Also, PET can be "rebuilt" in different processes to appear like a new or virgin material.
Paper bags are recyclable, but the weight of transporting them makes them less economically recyclable to plastic bags.
Disclaimer: I sell machines for recycling plastic. |
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| posted Jun 12, 2008 6:47:16 AM | To All |
hey! check out etsy.com and search "grocery totes" or something like that. you'll get a lot of different options, all of which are handmade, many from recycled/repurposed materials.
toss them in the washer when they get scuzzy and they're good as new. you're helping the environment AND the handmade community |
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| posted Jun 19, 2008 5:02:35 AM | To All |
I started taking my own cloths bags to all the grocery stores I shop, not just the health food store, and I got some nasty comments by a bagger there. Now I make sure to never forget them! LOL
Hubby gives me a hard time because he says he likes to have plastic bags to take his lunch to work in,etc and I've challenged him to use a reusable bag (which he hasn't). At least I've gotten him to remember to put them in the recycling. My neighbors don't recycle and it makes me sick to see what they're throwing away (cat litter plastic containers, laundry detergent containers, etc). We've managed to usually cut our garbage down to 2-3 bags a week for a family of four, when my neighbors have 2-3 cans that are overflowing for a family of 2.
I don't always like the negativety I get from him or the baggers, but it helps when another shopper comes up to me and asks where I got all of the coth bags from. A lot of big stores in my area are offering their own logo bags for sale, but they are cheaply constructed and made from questionable materials.
I just can't stand the thought of even using the plastic bags in small garbage cans in my home, but haven't been abe to get hubby to that one go yet! |
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When I buy in Bulk from wholesalers, I just get boxes instead.Edited by: chinchillables on Jun 4, 2008 10:37:33 AM
