Minnesota Newspaper Goes Green with Biodegradable Bags

The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis began distributing its newspapers in biodegradable plastic bags today, reports Editor and Publisher. It is the first major domestic newspaper to do so.

The bags are made by GP Plastics, based in Dallas. They feature water-soluble inks and non-lead-based color concentrates. They degrade in two to three years in a landfill and within a few months when they are out in the environment as litter. Because the bags are conventional plastics, they can also be recycled.

GP’s CFO Mike Skinner praised the Star-Tribune in a statement. “The folks at the Star-Tribune embraced the concept of oxo-biodegradation from the start,” he said. ”Over the next several months, many of our customers nationwide will convert to PolyGreen bags; however, this day belongs to the Star-Tribune, as it’s not often you have the chance to lead the way.”

Use Earth 911 to find a location in your area where you can recycle your newspaper bags.

As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.

2 Archived Comments

  1. Abril Vazquez

    posted on March 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am

    I love the idea of recycling and a friend and i are auctually doing a recycling project at our high school!

  2. michael

    posted on July 1st, 2009 at 10:02 am

    I also flush my dog’s poop down the toilet with a flushable doggy waste bag. Most eco-friendly way to get ride of dog poop.

    The company is called Flush Doggy.

    There are flushable dog poop bags. The best answer probably because dog poop can get treated just as your poop is.

    FlushDoggy, is a fully biodegradable, flushable(water soluble) dog waste bag that is very eco-friendly.

    Dog doodies are best to be flushed down the toilet and degrade naturally , just as our own doodies. Stop destroying our earth and start educating the public, one poop at a time. Be a responsible owner and go green for our pets.

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Earth911 is an environmental services company that addresses solutions for products' end-of-life for both businesses and consumers.