# Paper or Plastic? Or bring your own? Which do you choose? How green are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327 "2007-04-23T16:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/21 "2007-04-23T17:43:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] That’s not ‘trash’ or ‘garbage’. It’s compost. 🙂 The city of Toronto is _trucking_ its waste to Michigan, a situation that cannot continue. As a result, it’s pushing composting big time, with city-wide collection of organics in green bins, that go to a central composting facility. Apparently the system is a victim of its own success, though; volumes of organic waste are overwhelming the composting facilities that the city put in, and they are taking it to composting facilities outside the city. I suspect the city is going to start pushing home and local composting, especially as more and more apartment buildings come onstream and start composting. It’d return nutrients to our soils locally as well, without the expense of an extra petro-fueled transportation loop. Me, as a result of this thread, I think I’m going to try vermicomposting again, and this time keep going with it. Organics and plastic bags/packaging are the two largest components of waste remaing from me; the rest is containers, cardboard, and paper, and that all gets recycled. [/QUOTE] I cannot stress enough the efficacy of composting! My wife and I do it year round, and by now our garden is mostly composted soil. We’ve only been doing it for 2 years at this local, but at least it’s not the acidic soil that is found naturally here. Back in the 50’s farmers in our area used DDT. And that stuff stays in the soil for a long, long time. The product it breakes down into also stays in the soil for loner periods of time. No cite, but we don’t want to take chanes, so our soil comes from our compost, not the natural stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/22 "2007-04-23T17:54:47Z")
Plastic. I have two dogs and I’m a responsible dog owner, which means when I walk them, I pick up dog shit. I don’t _like_ it, but I do it, which is why I have to restrain myself from physically assaulting dog owners who don’t. Anyway, plastic grocery bags are always put to this second unattractive task before they make it to the garbage. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/23 "2007-04-23T17:55:14Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] That’s a great idea but it’s a little expensive no? Do you use one bag per litter scooping? [/QUOTE] One bag per scooping, but it is a **used bag** that was going to be discarded anyway. After it held a sliced onion, no way am I putting anything else (edible by humans) in it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/24 "2007-04-23T18:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] One bag per scooping, but it is a **used bag** that was going to be discarded anyway. After it held a sliced onion, no way am I putting anything else (edible by humans) in it! 😃 [/QUOTE] Gotcha 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/25 "2007-04-23T18:04:53Z")
We use our own bags when we remember to bring them, which is most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/26 "2007-04-23T18:06:09Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I cannot stress enough the efficacy of composting! My wife and I do it year round, and by now our garden is mostly composted soil. We’ve only been doing it for 2 years at this local, but at least it’s not the acidic soil that is found naturally here. [/QUOTE] Man, I wish I had somewhere to PUT the compost, that’s my problem. We’re in an apartment with about six containers for herbs and flowers in the back, which is otherwise covered in concrete. The front is grass (grr. I hate grass) and ground ivy, which would probably wither away and die if there was an actual nutrient presented to it (probably the only thing that would kill it, actually!) So I have all these loverly kitchen scraps and nowhere to put them. Anyone live in Rogers Park and have a compost pile we could add to? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/27 "2007-04-23T18:09:07Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] I ask for paper because I hate trees. [/QUOTE] Damnit I came in to say precisely the same thing. Trees piss me off. :mad: Always standing there staring at me. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/28 "2007-04-23T18:14:08Z")
The stores I shop at don’t offer paper bags. I get plastic bags at one store, and boxes at the warehouse type store store that charges for plastic bags. We re-use the platic bags for lining the small trash containers around the house. We always plan to take some plastic bags to warehouse store, but rarely remember. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/29 "2007-04-23T18:20:10Z")
[QUOTE=Tahssa] Damnit I came in to say precisely the same thing. Trees piss me off. :mad: Always standing there staring at me. [/QUOTE] I know! Jeez!! Creating all that oxygen and stuff. Damn them! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/30 "2007-04-23T18:20:52Z")
We recently switched from plastic to bags made from recycled cotton. They’re really huge and I love them. They only credit us $.02 per bag at our supermarket, but that’s okay. We use our leftover plastic shopping bags for the kitty litter (we double them if they’ve got holes). I still wrap meats in a plastic bag before putting into our cotton bags so the juices won’t spill. When we go to Trader Joe’s we sometimes ask for paper bags, because they (1) have handles, and (2) are useful for storing the paper that we recycle. We drop the entire paper bag off at the recycle center. I’ve never composted. Perhaps I should look into that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/31 "2007-04-23T18:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=Tahssa] Damnit I came in to say precisely the same thing. Trees piss me off. :mad: Always standing there staring at me. [/QUOTE] “I’m not a vegetarian because I like animals. I’m a vegetarian because I hate plants!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/32 "2007-04-23T18:42:16Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Man, I wish I had somewhere to PUT the compost, that’s my problem. We’re in an apartment with about six containers for herbs and flowers in the back, which is otherwise covered in concrete. The front is grass (grr. I hate grass) and ground ivy, which would probably wither away and die if there was an actual nutrient presented to it (probably the only thing that would kill it, actually!) So I have all these loverly kitchen scraps and nowhere to put them. Anyone live in Rogers Park and have a compost pile we could add to? [/QUOTE] I’ve always liked the “Midnight Fertilizer” approach:[ol][li]Wait until your compost is brown and crumbly and ready to be spread on the soil. (No visible food fragments!)[_]Select a public area, such as a traffic island, boulevard, or park, that looks like it could need some help.[_]Case the joint at several times of day.[_]Gather a bucket, gloves, and an optional pitchfork.[_]Dress in dark, anonymous clothing.[_]Go to your target soil around midnight.[_]Aerate the soil by poking holes in it with the pitchfork.[_]Spread the compost around.[_]Leave while giggling madly. 🙂 [/ol]This should get rid of your extra compost while improving your local soils. [/li] Oh, you mean a place to put the stuff while it turns into compost? I put my worm composter in the closet beneath the coats. Coolest part of the apartment. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/33 "2007-04-23T18:47:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Oh, you mean a place to put the stuff while it turns into compost? I put my worm composter in the closet beneath the coats. Coolest part of the apartment. [/QUOTE] I mean both, actually. But I love the idea of being a renegade composter. Can you suggest a super-hero name and costume for this endeavor? No capes! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/34 "2007-04-23T18:53:17Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I mean both, actually. But I love the idea of being a renegade composter. Can you suggest a super-hero name and costume for this endeavor? No capes! 😃 [/QUOTE] Names: The Green Man! - Compost Man! - Smelly Pile of Earth Man! - Steamig Pile of Nutrient Rich Compost Man! I love the idea of renegade composting too. BTW - You can put your compost on Freecycle. Or even Craigs List. Ad: Free tot a good home. A huge pile of steaming nutrient rich compost. You pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/35 "2007-04-23T19:14:26Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I mean both, actually. But I love the idea of being a renegade composter. Can you suggest a super-hero name and costume for this endeavor? No capes! 😃 [/QUOTE] “The Midnight Fertilizer”! Swoops down and makes the flowers grow! But don’t cross him, because he _can_ make the bodies disappear! (You _can_ compost meat, but it’s an order of magnitude ickier than dealing with only plant matter.) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/36 "2007-04-23T19:30:01Z")
Actually the City of Toronto is about to stop sending it’s garbage to Detroit and begin sending it to a land fill they purchased in my fair city. The citizens of this fair city are indeed miffed to say the least, however there was little they could do about it. It was a real estate transaction that was kept very hush-hush until it was too late! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/37 "2007-04-23T19:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Names: The Green Man! - Compost Man! - Smelly Pile of Earth Man! - Steamig Pile of Nutrient Rich Compost Man!. [/QUOTE] Unless I’ve been completely wrong about **WhyNot** , she’s not likely to be anything “Man” unless the disguise is so complete it includes a change of gender. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/38 "2007-04-23T19:39:14Z")
[QUOTE=elbows] Actually the City of Toronto is about to stop sending it’s garbage to Detroit and begin sending it to a land fill they purchased in my fair city. The citizens of this fair city are indeed miffed to say the least, however there was little they could do about it. It was a real estate transaction that was kept very hush-hush until it was too late! [/QUOTE] My apologies. I do not like secret transactions at all. We should be reducing, reusing, and recycling much more fiercely than we are. I’d support mandatory packaging takeback and design regulations as well. (Why can’t I get my spiral light bulbs in a simple cardboard box instead of those damned indestructible plastic hang-on-the-hook packages that I have to cut open with scissors, wrecking the scissors and gashing myself on sharp plastic?) ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/39 "2007-04-23T19:58:54Z")
We use our own bags, but I end up buying (biodegradable) bags for picking up dog poop :rolleyes: . This annoys me greatly, but I haven’t figured out another solution and I figure at least they’re biodegradable. Maybe I can stop feeding the dog. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327/40 "2007-04-23T20:32:11Z")
I have a few canvas grocery bags. I rarely buy more than two bags worth of stuff, but I have more than that so I can keep a couple of empties in the car on a rotation basis, for those unplanned grocery stops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-or-plastic-or-bring-your-own-which-do-you-choose-how-green-are-you/401327.md?page=3)