Plastic Bags

[Trekkie]

I live in South Africa and here you are charged for plastic bags.

Most of us use bags similar to these for month-end grocery shopping. They''re cute, comfy to carry and come in a range of different colours. Some of them are even insulated, which I think is awesome!

It is a trade-off though. Yes, in the last 5 years (since legislation was passed), I have seen a marked decrease in plastic bag litter. However, this has led to huge job losses as many people who were employed as bag packers have lost their jobs because people now just carry their items by hand or throw them in a bag themselves. Also, crafters used to create the prettiest things from used plastic bags. I know of families who used to depend on income derived from a gran or mother who would weave mats and other innovative goodies from plastic bags but can no longer do so, because this formerly free material must now be paid for. In a country with rampant unemployment, this is a great concern.

But I tell myself that the reusable baggies are creating jobs too... And it''s my small attempt to be kind to the earth.

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 6/10/2010 2:57:15 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Kama....I''m calling B/S on you my dear. When you brought me those lovely treats from Canada (mmm aero bars and ketchup potato chips....) they were in *gasp* a plastic bag from the convenience store!!!

OMG ketchup chips!!

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 6/10/2010 8:52:47 PM
Author: monarch64

Date: 6/10/2010 6:13:55 PM
Author: waterlilly

Date: 6/10/2010 1:21:55 PM

Author: karpouzi

I think most people use the store''s plastic bags because it''s more convenient to do so. I don''t see what''s hard to understand about that.



Really, if you eat meat or drink bottled water or soda or do any of a number of things that are much worse for the environment than using plastic bags, you give up your right to judge people for forgetting their reusables.

I mostly use the plastic bags, only because I can barely remember my purse when I leave the house never mind my shopping bags (which I''ve bought plenty of).


However, I think you are mistaken karpouzi, I believe those plastic shopping bags are a MAJOR environmental enemy. Not just in the resources it takes to make them, but the amount of litter they produce(ever driven by shopping centers that have ''shopping bag'' decorated trees?) the harm they cause to wildlife on land and at sea, and the amount of time it takes for them to break down. Something like over 100,000 deaths of sea turtles and other marine species are traced back to ingested plastic bags each year...


If there is ONE thing that people can do (I kick myself all the time for being so absent minded about it myself) it is to stop using those damned plastic bags.


Sorry folks, it does NOT matter that you reuse them for something else in your home - the end result is the same = landfills.

WL--it is pretty tough to train yourself to remember the reusable bags for sure. That''s kind of what I''m going through right now and one of the reasons I started this thread today. SO is a HATER of the plastic bag, and he really likes to pack his own groceries just the way he wants them in as few reusable bags as possible which he says comes from living in large cities and having to deal with groceries and public trans. I have tried doing the reusable thing in the past with limited success and now I''m kind of being forced to get with the reusable program because he and I shop together a lot. I''ve learned a lot today about people''s experiences with this issue and I''m trying to get a more seamless ritual together as far as remembering to put them back in my car or bring them with me when I walk to the store, etc.

What I found pretty disturbing was reading about how the bags are somewhat biodegradable, or photodegradable (I think? Might have misread that)and that they break down into smaller pieces which are then ingested by the animals that people end up eating! Eek! That''s just crazy to me. Even if we''re still recycling the plastic bags (we''re also guilty of this, we re-use them as wastebasket liners and sometimes doggie doo bags, lunch bags, etc.)they still exist and they have to end up somewhere.

Everyone''s input has been great as usual here on PS. Deco once posted a thread about a designer reusable bag and I think it had ''I''m not a plastic bag'' emblazoned on it? I''ll try to dig it up; I wonder if those are still made.

My SIL does PR for a company that has fancy reusables. They''re $20 or $30!

Not for me, but they are attractive looking with patterns and they''re BIG.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 6/11/2010 2:28:35 PM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 6/10/2010 2:57:15 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Kama....I''m calling B/S on you my dear. When you brought me those lovely treats from Canada (mmm aero bars and ketchup potato chips....) they were in *gasp* a plastic bag from the convenience store!!!

OMG ketchup chips!!

SO loves those--he buys the Heinz ones by the case at K-Mart. I have to say they''re pretty good!

 

[LGK]

I always get plastic, because I bring them into our antique mall and use them to pack people's stuff up in when they ask for "something with handles". Customers actually LOVE getting "recycled" bags and I like not having to uselessly pay for yet more plastic bags. About three of us bring in our plastic grocery bags and it is just about right for the number we go through.

(Typically we pack antiques up in paper bags without handles, or in boxes we get 2nd hand, but we do get a *lot* of elderly people who have a hard time navigating the stairs, and they often ask for a handled bag so they can grip a cane or the railing better. Thus, the need for plastic ones.)

 

[sba771]

Date: 6/11/2010 10:51:56 AM
Author: bee*
I hardly ever use plastic bags. Ireland brought in a plastic bag levy years ago and we have to pay 22cent per plastic bag so it would be too expensive to buy if you were doing a big shop. It seems to have worked really well over here and most people use cloth bags.

This is us in Germany too...and I don''t know the word for plastic so I use my super cute roll up reusable ones.

 

[Amber St. Clare]

I use them for the daily cleaning of the kitty litter. I TRY to remember to bring them with me when I shop, but most times I forget. Our supermarket lets you bring them in and recycles them...

 

[HollyS]

Many grocery stores have a plastic bag return. They send the used bags to a recycling plant.

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 6/10/2010 11:39:16 AM
Author: Tuckins1
I do not use cloth bags because I would need about 20 or so every time I shop. However, I do recycle all of my bags. I do not throw them away. Most grocery stores (around here anyways) have a bag recycling program.

Ditto.

I also use some of them to line the trash cans in the bathrooms and then recycle the rest.

 

[Sabine]

Date: 6/10/2010 11:28:34 AM
Author: kenny
I use foodstore plastic bags instead of buying those bags they sell for dog poop.

So in a way they do get recycled.


Now that I think about it I guess I should buy reusable canvas bags and pick up dog poop in paper bags, which biodegrade.

I do this too. Although we end up with somewhat of a surplus, so when I get enough stacked up in our kitchen, I recycle the plastic bags in the bins they have at most stores too.

I''ve actually been wanting to switch to using at least SOME of the canvas bags, but we''re moving soon and I wanted to wait till after then to purchase them at our new store.

I haven''t read through the thread yet, so I''ll go browse, but can I ask...do stores mind if you use a bag from a different store? I often shop at Target, Walmart, and 2 different grocery stores in one week. Is it a faux pas to use bags from one store at another store?