Comments on: Phoenix Looks at Tossing Plastic Grocery Bags

By: cinderflower

cinderflower — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:30:18 +0000

okay. i have absolutely no problem getting enough totes to put my groceries in and get them home on the bus–plastic, cloth, mylar, i couldn’t care less. what i’m concerned about is whether they’re going to stop manufacturing all plastic bags–specifically the ones used for garbage. because if so, won’t that mean that people will still throw away trash in plastic bags and the plastic will clog the landfills and have a halflife of 50 gazillion years? in that respect, all that has happened is that “free” plastic (yes, i know some stores charge and i have even bought a couple of pounds of bags for $1.50 but that’s still “free” compared to buying Hefty bags) has been removed from the ecosystem? and what about plastic diapers and urinary incontinence pads? and those plastic backed paper chux for hospital beds? do i have to stop using all those? how would any of this really work? it seems to me that if grocery stores gave away free Depends and then stopped manufacturing them, fine, but if people still used them when they paid for them, it really wouldn’t solve much of a problem. personally, i don’t have a baby but i honestly don’t see a lot of people returning to cloth diapers if they have the option of not using them. they’re disgusting when you have to soak them yourself, not nearly as sanitary, babies get rashes from them, and i can hardly see women staying home all day just to wash and dry diapers because that’s what women used to do all day if they had more than one child.

i like to be as “green” as possible but i am concerned about getting rid of my garbage in the least disgusting way possible. (btw, i don’t buy anything in plastic containers like soda or juice. if i have to buy a drink, i get a glass bottle and rewash it and put water in it in the refrigerator. etc etc blah blah blah i don’t need to go on and on about my personal habits. suffice it to say that i am quite conscious of the environment.)

By: sambonder

sambonder — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:10:43 +0000

I just bought a really cool reusable bags from a company called inyourfacegreen.com . Their bags are 100% cotton and fit approximately 2-3 plastic bags. I got them last week and I used the bags at Target, Wal-Mart, and other grocerie stores. I even got five cents for each bag at Basha’s. I swear …when I use the bags I feel like I am making a difference. The bags have cute sayings like “Girls Gone Green” (I use that one for shopping excursions to the mall) and “Plastic or Plastic. Neither” (I prefer to take this bag to the grocery stores).

By: texanbok

texanbok — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:29:35 +0000

I lived in South Africa last year, and they charge you 5c per plastic bag. And this is a country where the majority of the population are low income earners, yet they still charge this fee. At the end of the month , it is amazing how you think twice before throwing away your grocery bags.

By: steve1919

steve1919 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:21:02 +0000

I went to Ikea and picked up one of their blue bags (recyclable plastic). It cost 57 cents and I can easily carry 20 pounds of groceries with it. It has two sets of handles (hand & shoulder). I think I’ve used the same bag at least 20-25 times so far.

By: elandora

elandora — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 04:37:20 +0000

I really hope they do this– changes have to come from above. If we have plastic bags nothing will change, but if reusable is the only option, people will do it. And most people are pretty happy to do environmentally-friendly stuff, just less likely to do it if there’s an “easy” option like disposable bags. After I saw “An Inconvenient Truth” I got my mom to switch to canvas bags. There’s even a reusable option for produce bags. I found info here- http://www.circleoflifefoundation.org/action/arts/bag/index.htm and made my own less fancy version out of tulle and ribbon (strips on the side to reinforce the stitching). The drawstring on the top’s not necessary– I just tie it in a knot.

By: greenmom

greenmom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:43:59 +0000

Hi~ I started using reusable bags 3 years ago. Someone told me “if we don’t make the trash, we won’t have to worry about where to put it”. I thought that made so much sense. We still have plenty to recycle, milk jugs, soda cans, news papers etc… I got my bags from greensak and love them. It is just too easy not to do.

GreenMom

By: celesteartist

celesteartist — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:23:40 +0000

I live in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. Our store has the stacking plastic bins available for shopping. They have canvas handles, are a light as a feather, and are amazingly easy to use. They also pack allot of groceries or other items. I leave them in the trunk of my car and use them in every store I go to. I have even used them to buy all my nursery plants. They can be rinsed with a hose and are totally recyclable if they ever do wear out. The grocery store also gives incentives to use them…although saving the environment is incentive enough for me.

Celeste Resinger

By: carla

carla — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:31:55 +0000

Here in Texas there’s a grocery chain, Central Market, that does accept plastic grocery bags for recycling. Central Market is a subsidiary of a larger chain, HEB.

This site does indicate that Walmart also accepts the bags.

Carla

By: reevesderek

reevesderek — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:26:45 +0000

Good question! I’m curious of the same. I notice Whole Foods carries an unusual type of plastic bags. I believe this is similar to the type of plastic that you are speaking of, mommybar. I don’t think these are recyclable, but rather they were made of recycled material. I could be wrong, but that’s what I have gathered from online articles. I recently made the switch to reusable canvas or nylon bags. Whole Foods has a great deal on these. While most stores seem to sell these for 5 to 15 dollars, Whole Foods sells them for just a dollar apiece. They’re a decent size too. I’m not one of those Whole Food “nuts,” but stop in every once in a while. It’s worth is for those bags alone!

By: mommybar

mommybar — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:09:39 +0000

I had always thrown out the plastic garbage bags, or saved them and used them for throwing out other garbage. Recently I started noticing plastic shopping bags with #2 recycling logo, which imply to me they are recyclable. The bags look the same to me. Are these really recyclable?