# Why all the tears in plastic bags? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681 "2009-04-29T00:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/1 "2009-04-29T00:12:02Z")
Today I had to go through three plastic bags (I take my lunch to work in them) before finding one that did not have a good sized tear or hole in it. It doesn’t matter if I get it from a grocery or a Quickie Mart or wherever, most have or quickly develop a tear. How come? This didn’t used to be the case. Why so many these days? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/2 "2009-04-29T00:15:14Z")
A lot of bags these days have holes punched in them to reduce the danger of suffocation. Those create weak points, which could be the reason. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/3 "2009-04-29T00:28:00Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > A lot of bags these days have holes punched in them to reduce the danger of suffocation. Those create weak points, which could be the reason. OK, I can see it. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/4 "2009-04-29T00:39:32Z")
I have noticed neither the tearing nor the holes. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/5 "2009-04-29T00:42:21Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I have noticed neither the tearing nor the holes. Clearly you shop at higher class emporiums than I. ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/6 "2009-04-29T00:48:46Z")
This could be the same effect as the one who asked “How come eggs don’t crack into as many pieces when I crack them open nowadays?”… you may just notice tears more now that you’re older? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/7 "2009-04-29T00:52:14Z")
> [@Casserole](#): > > This could be the same effect as the one who asked “How come eggs don’t crack into as many pieces when I crack them open nowadays?”… you may just notice tears more now that you’re older? Possibly, but I never used to have to hold together plastic bags to get my lunch to work. Now, often I do. I suppose I could be eating heavier meals, thus causing those tears and holes, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/8 "2009-04-29T01:19:56Z")
Bags you get at the grocery store probably are a bit more thin than they used to be. Over a decade ago I worked grocery and we all noticed (and were annoyed by) the change. On top of this, clerks are pushed to use no more bags than necessary. A 6-pack of beer or a carton of milk should be instantly double-bagged, but this almost never happens anymore. At least a small tear is almost guaranteed at one of the four pressure points. I’m sure this varies by location, store, supplier etc. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/9 "2009-04-29T01:24:24Z")
Switch to a reuseable, washable nylon bag, or a recycled and recycleable grocery bag. I carry a couple of these with me nowadays and am always finding uses for them, or loaning them out to others. They’re easy to throw in the laundry if needed, and very handy. Also, no more of that annoying crinkly sound, and they’re way easier to carry your groceries in, anyway! Part of the reason I switched is for what you mentioned, I noticed the same thing with the plastic bags having tears in them after 1 use. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/10 "2009-04-29T01:41:01Z")
I use them to contain my home made bread. Walmart bags are distinctly more hole-resistant than those from Safeway or Albertsons. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/11 "2009-04-29T12:30:48Z")
Holes happen. The lower quality the bag the more easily they fall apart. I sort them as I unpack purchases and the ones with a torn hole show up in clusters from the same trip so the whole pack of bags often have a damage spot. That would indicate a manufacturing problem or that someone damaged the stored bags before use. you will sometimes here the clerks telling people that they got in a batch of bags that rip or they all have holes in the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/12 "2009-04-29T15:12:29Z")
> [@Discipline](#): > > On top of this, clerks are pushed to use no more bags than necessary. I wish. At my supermarket, even item seems to get a separate bag. At one point they had a disaply up about how their bag is strong enough to hold four 2-liter bottles, but do you think that meant they actually would bag that many in one bag? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/13 "2009-04-29T15:26:03Z")
Bags from Target are superior to all others. I prefer to carry my lunch to work in the nice brown paper bag with handles that you can get from Starbucks when you buy a pound of coffee. They are the perfect size, and reusable, and don’t have holes. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/14 "2009-04-29T15:39:02Z")
When I was younger I noticed a change in rippage when recycled plastics became more the standard rather than the exception. I always figured either the bags were thinner or the reconstituted plastic was somehow less durable or was more brittle. Is there any truth to my childhood hypothesis? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/15 "2009-04-29T15:52:23Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I wish. At my supermarket, even item seems to get a separate bag. At one point they had a disaply up about how their bag is strong enough to hold four 2-liter bottles, but do you think that meant they actually would bag that many in one bag? Nah. That’s probably as much in consideration for little old ladies as for the bags. When a relative worked for a grocery, she said that the rule was that no bag should weigh more than 5 pounds unless absolutely necessary (such as for a gallon of milk, where the customer had already demonstrated their ability to carry that much weight by putting it in their cart). As for holes, my bags seem to do pretty well. I use them for most of my small trash cans in the bathrooms and bedrooms, so I weed out those with big holes. Maybe 20% seem to have problems. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/16 "2009-04-29T18:01:23Z")
I initially read the thread title as “tears” like those that come from one’s eyes. From that perspective, the thread title sounds like country music. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/17 "2009-04-29T20:30:05Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I initially read the thread title as “tears” like those that come from one’s eyes. From that perspective, the thread title sounds like country music. I hadn’t looked at it like that, but I’ll work on the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/18 "2009-04-29T22:04:21Z")
It’s almost surely a combination of thinner (hopefully recycled) plastics, careless packing and overuse. But.. > [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Switch to a reuseable, washable nylon bag, This is the takeaway from this thread. No more plastic bags. The US usage of plastic bags requires 12 billion barrels of oil _every_ year. There’s just no need. Time for us all to ditch the bad bag habit. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/19 "2009-04-29T22:46:45Z")
Recycled plastics typically go into black or other darker colored products to hide the mixed colored nature of the source material, so my guess is they are pushing the bag price so low the manufacturers are on the razors edge of blown film caliper (or gauge, or thickness) to maintain integrity through the manufacturing, packaging, distribution, initial use, and reuse of the product. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681/20 "2009-04-29T22:48:42Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > This is the takeaway from this thread. No more plastic bags. The US usage of plastic bags requires 12 billion barrels of oil _every_ year. There’s just no need. Time for us all to ditch the bad bag habit. Seattle is trying to encourage that with a tax of $0.20 per bag. Of course, opponents of that tax have pointed out that a canvas or nylon bag requires more than 100 times the material of a flimsy disposable one. Thus, you will have a short-term increase in resources used and it might take a very long time to get the equivalent number of uses out of the reusable bags. (I shop about twice a month. To get 100 uses out of a reusable bag will take me 4 years). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-tears-in-plastic-bags/494681.md?page=2)