# Plastic bags vs paper bags vs reusable bags? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514 "2010-08-17T11:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/21 "2010-08-17T20:00:58Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > It’s easy to get 100 uses out of a reusable bag. Also, some of the reusables I have will hold as much as 3-4 plastic bags, and when I use reusables, the bags tend to actually get filled, rather than have just a couple of items in it. Yes, they hold much more and they stay upright in the trunk of your car. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/22 "2010-08-17T20:34:10Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Plastic bags are a huge problem and for once (unlike Jonathan Winters in _Blazing Saddles_) we can’t blame the Irish. That would be David Huddleston as Olson Johnson, not Jonathan Winters. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/23 "2010-08-17T20:46:31Z")
I mostly re-use plastic bags for cleaning out the litter box. Ever since a) I started using canvas bags regularly and b) they started enacting laws to phase plastic bags out, I’ve been hoarding them like a Y2Ker hoards ammo and bottled water. I figure at some point, they just won’t be giving them out anymore at all, and then where am I gonna put all that cat poop? I have a LOT of hoarded plastic bags. Sometimes I think I have too many, and then I think: if the Zombie Apocalypse comes, at least I’ll be able to keep the litter box clean. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/24 "2010-08-17T21:02:09Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I mostly re-use plastic bags for cleaning out the litter box. Ever since a) I started using canvas bags regularly and b) they started enacting laws to phase plastic bags out, I’ve been hoarding them like a Y2Ker hoards ammo and bottled water. I figure at some point, they just won’t be giving them out anymore at all, and then where am I gonna put all that cat poop? > > I have a LOT of hoarded plastic bags. Sometimes I think I have too many, and then I think: if the Zombie Apocalypse comes, at least I’ll be able to keep the litter box clean. So, aren’t you putting something that is biodegradable (cat poop) inside something that’s not (the plastic bag)??? My Mom (she’s 92 years old and there is no retraining her) does this and it drives me nuts. She then proceeds to use the handles of the plastic bag to tie it shut, and drops it into her 95 gallon municipal garbage canister for it to be picked up and hauled to the dump each week.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/25 "2010-08-17T22:46:52Z")
I reuse my plastic bags, too, but for those of you that also say that you reuse them, and _especially_ those who say that you reuse them multiple times, just how many plastic bags do you receive? There’s no way I could _ever_ reuse all of my plastic bags. When my bag dispenser gets full, I start throwing out the bags. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/26 "2010-08-17T23:23:37Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > to be safer wash and dry your sack. Snerk! ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/27 "2010-08-17T23:40:22Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > > > I mostly re-use plastic bags for cleaning out the litter box. Ever since a) I started using canvas bags regularly and b) they started enacting laws to phase plastic bags out, I’ve been hoarding them like a Y2Ker hoards ammo and bottled water. I figure at some point, they just won’t be giving them out anymore at all, and then where am I gonna put all that cat poop? > > > > I have a LOT of hoarded plastic bags. Sometimes I think I have too many, and then I think: if the Zombie Apocalypse comes, at least I’ll be able to keep the litter box clean. > > So, aren’t you putting something that is biodegradable (cat poop) inside something that’s not (the plastic bag)??? My Mom (she’s 92 years old and there is no retraining her) does this and it drives me nuts. She then proceeds to use the handles of the plastic bag to tie it shut, and drops it into her 95 gallon municipal garbage canister for it to be picked up and hauled to the dump each week.:smack: Right! I’ve switched to re-usable made from recycled plastic bags from Whole Foods and Jewel, and once I started really thinking about it, the whole business of using those but not switching my thinking about everything else just didn’t make sense. So now I also buy biodegradable doggie poo bags, into which I scoop the soiled kitty litter and poo. I then throw those into a diaper pail lined with kitchen-sized biodegradable trash bags. I found the larger biodegradables at Walgreens of all places. They’re a little more money, but I think they’re worth it. After all, it makes no sense to put biodegradable stuff into non-biodegradeable bags! Since I’ve switched to buying organic produce boxes every week, and doing more home-cooking too, I have a LOT less trash since I’m not buying as much pre-packaged stuff. I figure it all evens out in the end. And I get to be smug about something. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/28 "2010-08-18T00:41:19Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I reuse my plastic bags, too, but for those of you that also say that you reuse them, and _especially_ those who say that you reuse them multiple times, just how many plastic bags do you receive? There’s no way I could _ever_ reuse all of my plastic bags. When my bag dispenser gets full, I start throwing out the bags. :eek: Don’t your grocery stores have a bin at the entrance for stuffing extra plastic bags in, to be recycled into , well, more plastic bags? Around here, I’m told any kind of plastic that you can stick your finger through is also OK to put in that bin. Bread bags, Baggies, that kind of thing. It’s funny about the above poster’s 92 year old mom - my mom is 82 and the day’s trash gets wrapped up in newspaper (and often taped shut!) - then it goes into a plastic grocery bag - then it goes into the big kitchen trash bag - then into the outdoor garbage can that goes to the curb. Why? you ask? Well, don’t ask my mom - you won’t want to hear, for the millionth time, the ‘maggots in the garbage can’ story… ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/29 "2010-08-18T00:58:59Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > Plastic bags are a huge problem and for once (unlike Jonathan Winters in _Blazing Saddles_) we can’t blame the Irish. > > That would be David Huddleston as Olson Johnson, not Jonathan Winters. [Aww, prairie shit](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWmf3Waio9E), you’re right. The perils of memory! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/30 "2010-08-18T01:01:36Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > We no longer have what they used to call **witches’ knickers** - torn plastic bags everywhere streaming in the wind from trees and shrubs. I quite like that. What a cool name. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/31 "2010-08-18T01:03:06Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > > [@Balthisar](#): > > > > I reuse my plastic bags, too, but for those of you that also say that you reuse them, and _especially_ those who say that you reuse them multiple times, just how many plastic bags do you receive? There’s no way I could _ever_ reuse all of my plastic bags. When my bag dispenser gets full, I start throwing out the bags. > > :eek: Don’t your grocery stores have a bin at the entrance for stuffing extra plastic bags in, to be recycled into , well, more plastic bags? Around here, I’m told any kind of plastic that you can stick your finger through is also OK to put in that bin. Bread bags, Baggies, that kind of thing. I don’t know. I’ve never noticed. Usually I’m staring angrily at the automatic doors that don’t recognize that not everyone is a shorty with a small pace, and thus refuse to open until I’ve stood there like an idiot for at least one second. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/32 "2010-08-18T01:13:50Z")
I have been using the same set of reusable canvas bags for over 20 years. I have four now, and I think that I rotated in at least two new ones at some point, but they have served me well for many hundreds of trips to the grocery store. I have one in my tote today because I plan to stop off and pick some stuff after work. The thing that really makes people look twice is that I reuse my ziploc bags. I bring my breakfast to work every day in two ziplocs, one labeled “cereal” and one labeled “fruit”, with their original use dates. My record for continuous use of one (cereal) bag is 169 days. Of course, I live in San Francisco, where my efforts at bag recycling are pretty typical. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/33 "2010-08-18T02:02:32Z")
I wash out my plastic ziplock baggies (if they’re reasonably clean, no spaghetti sauce) and let them dry on the end of wooden spoons. Pain in the ass, but it’s at the point where I HAVE to do this, picturing the huge plastic bag island floating in the ocean. Plus I only have to buy a box of baggies rarely. The funny thing is, the store sells their own reusable tote bags for about a dollar. They say they can’t keep them in stock, they sell thousands and thousands. But I seldom see the cashiers putting groceries into these bags. They must all be out in the customers’ cars or left at home. I get nylon carry bags, unasked for, from the SPCA, with pictures of kitties and puppies, so I have a car full of those to carry stuff in. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/34 "2010-08-18T03:28:49Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I don’t recall seeing that phenomenon around here, and plastic bags are provided by virtually every store. No offense, but are your countrymen dedicated litterbugs? It seems like a good number of roadside plastic bag littler is from garbage trucks, etc. Not actual littering with intent This is the problem with plastic bags- they are quite recycleble when collected together, it’s getting them together and to the recycling plant that’s the problem. Also, when they do get loose, they take a long time to degrade. Paper bags can turn into mush after one rainstorm. I usually use my shopping bags, but once in a while I don’t have one or buy too much. Thus, my intake is about even with my use for the litter box. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/35 "2010-08-18T22:24:03Z")
Similar to others in this thread, almost all of the time I reuse the ordinary no-handles paper grocery bags for subsequent grocery trips. I double them up before I reuse them. When those bags get torn or dirty I just throw them away and get new ones on the next trip. I don’t keep track of how long they last, but it’s definitely months. Occasionally I do get the plastic bags just to use them for trash. If it is raining, then I get the plastic bags even if I do have plenty at home. I NEVER just throw them away unless they’re ripped and unusable (which is really pretty rare). I tried to reuse the plastic produce bags, but that was a real pain. I do keep a small stash of bags from buns, rolls or bread because I know they’re clean inside (unlike the used produce bags). ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/36 "2010-08-19T00:36:35Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > > [@Gary\_T](#): > > > > And this is problematic/weird/undesirable how? It seems perfectly reasonable to me that someone would like to carry those bottles in a bag, easily with one hand. Without a bag takes two hands or quite an awkward position for one. > > It’s not all that awkward to carry it with one hand. She walked about 100’ back to her car. IMO it was mindlessly asking for a bag for roughly 20 seconds of minor inconvenience. If she wants to pay an extra 22 cents for that convenience then at least she’s thought about it. I’ve also seen people get a few items in a bag and then throw it out in the can just outside the door. In that instance it was the clerk who was mindlessly putting the item in the bag. It’s also possible that she has a dog. I live in an urban area (no lawn for the dog to relieve herself). So we can basically tell when it’s time to go grocery shopping when we’re out of plastic bags. It’s a single reuse kind of thing, but it’s better than nothing (and otherwise we’d be buying plastic bags for the same purpose). So I will confess to having asked for bags for something I could easily carry. I’ve also asked for an extra bag or two if the dog has depleted the supply in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/37 "2010-08-19T06:08:29Z")
For those people who need plastic pags for animal waste, why don’t you use the bags that bread and some other groceries come packaged in? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/38 "2010-08-19T08:33:58Z")
How about this age-old alternative to shopping bags: [The shopping basket](http://www.levaria.de/images/product_images/popup_images/3306_0.jpg) Really, I don’t see any downside to using a basket and do it every time I go shopping for groceries. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/39 "2010-08-19T10:39:48Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > So, aren’t you putting something that is biodegradable (cat poop) inside something that’s not (the plastic bag)??? My Mom (she’s 92 years old and there is no retraining her) does this and it drives me nuts. She then proceeds to use the handles of the plastic bag to tie it shut, and drops it into her 95 gallon municipal garbage canister for it to be picked up and hauled to the dump each week.:smack: I do this exact thing–except I take my tied-shut bag full of poops, place it in yet ANOTHER 45-liter plastic bag, and trot it downstairs (no garbage canisters used in my apt. building–we have an enclosed cage-type area where we place garbage) on garbage day. Cat poops are biodegradable, but not when they are enclosed in crunchy EverClean clumping kitty litter. And pee turns into just big ol’ clumps of EverClean litter, too. So now I have biodegradable cat poops inside non-biodegradable cat litter, inside smallish plastic bags (I have 3 cats, so clean frequently) collected inside another large plastic bag. And, due to the recycling guidelines of my location in Tokyo, I… (wait for it!) put this out on BURNABLE trash day! Along with CD cases, toothpaste tubes and other plastics that don’t carry the “recyclable” mark on them. Word is they’ve turned up the heat in the furnaces, and so now consider all of the above ‘raw’ or burnable trash, not recyclable. > [@dtilque](#): > > For those people who need plastic pags for animal waste, why don’t you use the bags that bread and some other groceries come packaged in? I try to use them whenever possible, but I have 3 large, well-fed cats, and most of the bags you reference would hold maybe one or two cat poops–foods are packaged in much smaller portions here–so I’d end up wrapping individual poops–a process akin to creating endless smelly wedding party table favors–and would run out of bags. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514/40 "2010-08-19T12:26:06Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > For those people who need plastic pags for animal waste, why don’t you use the bags that bread and some other groceries come packaged in? I don’t eat three loaves of bread per day! 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-bags-vs-paper-bags-vs-reusable-bags/550514.md?page=3)