Community Chat

[KingstonsMom]

@Kachina624 

Ours are free and they're the thick paper bags (no handles) of yesteryear, LOL!

I do fold them and put in our laundry room (no roaches) for reuse.

Among other things, I reuse several every year to cook our turkeys in.

[new nickname 4]

Why are grocery/store plastic bags bad, but trash bags are good?

Why are diapers still allowed when it is better for babies to use cloth?

Why are diaper whipes not banned, or facial wipes?

[handygal2]

I reuse the plastic grocery bags, as kitchen garbage bags. So there’s no waste here.

When they stop giving us the plastic bags at the grocery store for free, I’ll still need to use plastic bags for my kitchen garbage. The only difference is, I’ll now have to buy them.

So in my particular case, how is this saving the environment? It’s just another tax: the “bag tax.”

[millieshops]

Last year the NY country where I live instituted a 5 cent charge for the plastic bags used for check-out although there are still free plastics for produce.  No, the stores can't just move to paper -  they're 5 also.

In the beginning, it looked as if it was having minimal effect.  Lots of people paid for the bags, but people who had smaller orders often refused the bag(s) and just carried their groceries in their arms.  Quickly, though, a huge % of shoppers began to remember their totes and the number of bags used went down significantly.  

The only time I now pay my 5 cents is when I underestimate how many bags to carry in.  I no longer have a stash of bags -  enough to reuse, but not enough that I have bags full of clean ones for recycling.

It's only a small thing, but if every county or state did this, it could be big.  I work on the theory that we can't do everything perfectly for the environment, but we can act responsibly every day in some way.  This one is easy.

[KingstonsMom]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

Reading this thread, I come away feeling very confused about how to proceed in the most environmentally-safe way. I bet I'm not alone. Consolidating all of this and making it easier wherever possible would go a long way in helping us.

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@suzyQ3 

I agree, everything we can do, no matter how 'small' will help in the long run.

[chrystaltree]

I think youare missing the point.  It's the fact that they are disposable and they are not biodegradable and they end up in our rivers, streams, oceans, sewer systems.  They end up in parks, beaches and playgrounds too.  The number of uses doesn't change that.

[SilleeMee]

Reduce and reuse...recycling is not working. I wish there was a solution to this global problem with plastic. When I was in college, many years ago, one of my professors said that the world will one day be blanketed in a layer of plastic beneath our feet...he said that layer of plastic will someday earn its own geological time period ..."The Age of the Humans".

[January121]

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@Cakers3 wrote:

@bonnielu   You can get crates to store your items that may spill to keep them safe and stable.

How did we manage with just paper bags?  We did.

And now reusuable bags are wonderful; a quick wipe if something leaks and good to go again.

It's all about convenience now; people really need to understand that these bags have caused serious harm to our environment; to wildlife; and even to humans.

A little extra effort will benefit all of us.

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@Cakers3  .... I totally agree with you 😆

[Nataliesgramma]

I love using the cloth bags that I got at the grocery store for 1.00 each.

Holds more without squishing... I even take them to Wamart and Target.

[lovescats]

I think it is more than just plastic bags.  People just throw anything anywhere candy bar wrappers, fast food containers, cigarette butts.   the people next door to me empty their car ashtray in the gutter and have cigarette butts going up their steps.