I’m fairly new here so I hope nobody rips me a fresh one if this has been brought up before.
It seems pretty obvious to me that when posed this persistent question at my local A&P, plastic would be the obvious choice. Kills fewer trees, finds a use for already existing petroleum refining by-products, etc. About the only time I get paper is to wrap wine bottles so they won’t break or when I’m on vacation so I will have something to light the fireplace kindling with.
I am curious though why bringing your own cloth bag has never caught on here. Seems that would eliminate waste of any kind.
I don’t know about you, but when I shop, I usually end up filling a grocery cart and THEN some. I wouldn’t just have to carry a cloth bag – I’d need a whole freaking set of luggage!
Yeah, and you don’t have to worry about stuff being spilled in the plastic bags. Also there are many uses for them, as for wrapping smelly garbage in or using as a small garbage bag. Someone should offer a prize for the best idea of how to use them and then make the best ideas available.
… but on the other hand, paper is a renewable resource. We have a finite (if huge) amount of fossil fuel to turn into plastic bags and everything else. Plus, you can make all those nifty Martha Stewart decorations with brown paper bags. And hand puppets!
My kitchen garbage pail is just the right size so that a plastic grocery bag fits in it. I assmue it was designed that way. We double bag and then tie the handles together when it’s full.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. Anyone know of a good place to get them fairly cheap?
In the meantime, I reuse both kinds, for garbage, carrying things around, etc. so I don’t feel too bad. As long as I make it last and I don’t waste them, I figure it’s a good first step.
Great idea, which I use all the time. If you’re only picking up one or two items, do you really need a bag at all? Keep your receipt in hand if you’re worried about being jumped by the grocery cops.
Plastic bags are not accepted for recycling around here, but paper bags are great for filling up with other recyclables for our curb-side recycling collection. Also, many stores around here have paper bags with handles.
If I’m not getting a lot of stuff I ask them to not put it in a bag, but many clerks don’t seem to understand the concept of not needing a bag. A couple 2-liter bottles of cola is not that difficult to carry out to the car.
They hold more stuff(plastic bags are small and flimsy, and most stores I go to double up) and they don’t roll around in my back seat and spill my stuff out. Then I use the bags as trash bags.
Minor rant. Grocery stores seem to waaay to liberal in their use of bags. I always have to tell them to fill those puppies up!! Sometimes I feel that if I didn’t say anything, each item purchased would get it’s own bag!
In the great city of Chicago, Illinois we have the blue bag program for recycling. You put your recyclables in a blue bag and put them in the garbage. They do recycle some of it, but whether any of my stuff gets recycled, I don’t know.
Having the tote bag, I have reduced my number of blue bag trips to the garbage can by 30% or so. It’s amazing at how many bags you accumulate if you take them all the time.
I always tell the bagger “I don’t want any bags - I’m the one who has to carry out the garbage” - they seem to understand that.
My garbage is getting close to Ed Begley, Jr. levels - I have only 1 small bag or actual garbage per month.
Good points, all. When I listed “finds a use for already existing petroleum refining by-products”, I meant that no oil company’s going to drill a well because we’re running out of plastic bags. Maybe I’m wrong but my understanding is that gasoline/diesel/heating oil are usually the primary items sought from hydrocarbons and plastics are produced as byproducts of that refining process. I too am bummed my recycler won’t take them. Hopefully they do now contain some agent that helps them break down faster in our landfills. Regretably, I heard the other day on NPR that plastic forks are so overengineered they’ll last for 10,000 years in a dump. Hell, maybe Taylor, Cornelius and Dr. Zeius can use them someday.
im like barbarian. i shop with my saddle bags (plug for Chase-Harper and thier fine motorcycle accessorys) this works well, as you always know when to stop shopping, being limited by what you can haul home. when i drive the car, i like paper. it feels good, now has handles, burns well and is reuseable for lots of other stuff, including nice hats. they also seem to hold more. what i dont like about plastic bags are that you seem to amass large quantitys in a very short time, but i guess you can’t blame them for that.
