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Post by gale w on Jan 30, 2018 0:31:43 GMT
Also the reusable bags I use do not harbor bacteria. But I do hand wash them once a month. I have also put them in the wash on gentle cycle and line dried. Most of my bags are 3 years old. I buy new when needed, usually about 5 years out they begin to wear down. However would you know they don't harbor bacteria? Do you have them tested?
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Post by myshelly on Jan 30, 2018 0:41:43 GMT
There was a ban in Dallas, but it only lasted a few months.
You would have thought the world was ending because stupid old biddies couldn't get their bags at the store.
So ridiculous.
There are few things on this earth I find more wasteful than plastic bags. Completely and utterly unnecessary.
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Post by epeanymous on Jan 30, 2018 0:44:37 GMT
They are not banned here (Germany) but you have to pay for them, and they are 15-50 cents each. I always carry a calico tote or two with me, so I don't have to buy any. I also try to buy my fruit and veg loose, and not put them in plastic bags, unless they are messy. As to garbage bin bags - we have a great recycling system here, so we would rarely use more than one bin bag each week. That's a lot less than the number of bags I'd be bringing home for a week's worth of groceries. That's how it works here too (Seattle). The bags aren't banned, but you do have to pay.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,642
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Aug 29, 2014 18:57:20 GMT
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Post by hannahruth on Jan 30, 2018 5:37:27 GMT
We have had plastic shopping bags banned in South Australia for 10+ years and it really it is not hard to take a reusable bag shopping.
Bags can be bought should you not have one and they can be recycled back through the supermarkets.
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inkedup
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,837
Jun 26, 2014 5:00:26 GMT
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Post by inkedup on Jan 30, 2018 5:44:45 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic.
In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 12:05:50 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic. In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage. Given our city’s recycling program, we use one kitchen-sized garbage bag every two weeks. I’m at the grocery store almost daily. There is no way I could produce enough garbage to warrant bringing my groceries home in plastic.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jul 1, 2024 14:25:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2018 12:16:28 GMT
Plastic bags still run rampant in my city. Ann arbor is the only city in Michigan that has done a plastic bag ban I think. I could be wrong. I remember when some of the first articles came out about it and people went nuts.
I wish the bags would be banned. Nearly every chain sells their own reusable bag now. I have a bunch for our larger trips and only use plastic bags for meat. All other times I go, I try to remember to take one or two with me or use their paper bags. I do collect the plastic bags I can't avoid and reuse for bathroom or Kitty litter and take them back to the store for their recycling.
We don't use straws when offered at restaurants. There's a few places that stick straws in the drinks before they bring them to you. We don't eat at those places often so we forget to request no straws.
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inkedup
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,837
Jun 26, 2014 5:00:26 GMT
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Post by inkedup on Jan 30, 2018 12:45:16 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic. In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage. Given our city’s recycling program, we use one kitchen-sized garbage bag every two weeks. I’m at the grocery store almost daily. There is no way I could produce enough garbage to warrant bringing my groceries home in plastic. I guess I should have explained my family's shopping and garbage habits in more detail 😂 I used reusable shopping bags for the vast majority of my shopping before the plastuc bag ban went into effect. I did/do forget my bags at times, but the bags I collected were recycled in my home. I used them to line the small garbage cans in our restrooms and bedrooms. Now, I use bags that I purchase, which I never had to do before. In our home, the ban hasn't really reduced plastic bwg usage. It's merely shifted how those bags are obtained. Generally, we have 2 or 3 bags of recyclables for every one bag of regular garbage. We make a conscious effort to recycle and limit the amount of waste we produce.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
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Post by mallie on Jan 30, 2018 14:48:04 GMT
Here is what cracks me up. We sell reusable bags at our store. They are EXCELLENT quality, super sturdy. Last for a long time. They cost a whopping 99 cents. We sell them in huge quantities.
Here is the best part -- shoppers always INSIST that we put their reusable bags into a plastic bag.
EVERY. FREAKING. TIME.
As a practice, we always ask if they want their REUSABLE bag in a plastic bag. And the answer is always, "Yes, of course! Why wouldn't I?"
I had a "lady" call me a stupid idiot for asking her if she wanted her reusable bags in a plastic bag.
When they are purcahsing other items, they NEVER want any other purchases put into their reusable bags.
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Post by myshelly on Jan 30, 2018 15:11:22 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic. In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage. You could just stop using the plastic liners.
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Post by utpea on Jan 30, 2018 16:07:25 GMT
There are few things on this earth I find more wasteful than plastic bags. Completely and utterly unnecessary. But they are so useful when you clean the kitty’s litter box!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jan 30, 2018 16:15:03 GMT
no, they're not but I kind of wish they were. I drive through the desert to/from work, and plastic grocery bags and that sort of trash is one of the main things that blows around-- they catch on the fence, they get stuck in the trees, brush, and on the cacti, and it looks HORRIBLE. I do get them (sometimes) when I go to the store, but we re-use them for picking up the dog poop and cleaning the litter boxes, so they do get used. Plastic bags cannot be put in with our recycleables, but any extras I have, I take back to the store where they have a recycling bin specifically for plastic bags.
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Post by MissBianca on Jan 30, 2018 16:40:44 GMT
I’m a little late to the party but on straws lots of places around here are ditching the plastic straws and going to paper straws. They are heavy cardboard and usually last as long as the drink does. So not completely gone but at least they are recyclable. I hate plastic shopping bags and try to remember to bring my own as often as possible but many times I hit the store on a whim after other errands. Plus my grocery store had made it more difficult to use reusable bags. They replaced half of the regular conveyor belt registers to the rounders like Walmart has. I hate it because it forces the cashier to bag immediately and there is no place to put my big canvas bags. We are trying to actively reduce our global footprint since I have a large family. Thankfully my kids are on board with it as they are good stewards of the environment. It’s little things like we switched from Cobani yogurt to Oui yogurts because they are in glass jars. We don’t buy single serving snacks bags, I buy bulk and divide. We use paper sandwich bags if I make their lunch. I compost a lot too. And I also bought reusable produce bags, we can weigh our stuff and put the sticker on the bag in the produce dept.
I wish my butcher would go back to wrapping meat in paper instead of plastic and styrofoam. I try to buy in bulk from him when I can because it’s twice the meat in half the packaging.
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Post by malibou on Jan 30, 2018 17:37:42 GMT
On the day the bags were no longer free in CA, I was at Target behind an old man that had a cart full of individual cans of cat food. Seriously there must have been at least 100. Anyway, he was outraged at having to buy bags, so he just reloaded the loose cans in his cart and headed out to his car. I was so glad to be purchasing one item so I could go see this guy load his car. I got out to the parking lot, and he was standing there looking between the cart of cans and his empty trunk. I think it was dawning on him that he had cut off his nose to spite his face. He was clearly going to have to haul all of those individual cans inside once he got home. I felt badly for him, and went and got a couple of bags from my car and went to help him. When we were done, I suggested that he keep the bags in the car for next time. He said he would and sincerely asked for tips on remembering to bring them in with him.
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inkedup
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,837
Jun 26, 2014 5:00:26 GMT
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Post by inkedup on Jan 30, 2018 17:44:09 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic. In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage. You could just stop using the plastic liners. Yes, I could. But I'm sure a germaphobe like you understands why I like having liners in restroom trash cans and cans that hold diapers. Thanks for your interest in my garbage, though!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jan 30, 2018 17:44:40 GMT
I do use reusable grocery bags for most grocery trips- and I guess I do agree with the concept of buying small trash bags is a small inconvenience compared to the prospect of having less plastic bags floating around in the air. I do have to say, though, that the person bagging groceries is the one who decides to put two-three items in a bag and not anything more. I don't ask for 10 plastic grocery bags per trip, and would prefer NOT to have three items in one bag. That's one of the reasons I LIKE the reusable grocery bags; they can actually be packed more like a paper grocery bag can.
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Post by myshelly on Jan 30, 2018 17:49:56 GMT
You could just stop using the plastic liners. Yes, I could. But I'm sure a germaphobe like you understands why I like having liners in restroom trash cans and cans that hold diapers. Thanks for your interest in my garbage, though! Not really. I didn't use them.
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Post by lucyg on Jan 30, 2018 18:49:30 GMT
Yes. In theory, I agree that we all need to reduce our usage of plastic. In reality, however, this ban has caused me to actually purchase trash bags for the small trash cans in my home instead of recycling plastic bags from the grocery store. In our home, at least, this hasn't really reduced our plastic usage. Given our city’s recycling program, we use one kitchen-sized garbage bag every two weeks. I’m at the grocery store almost daily. There is no way I could produce enough garbage to warrant bringing my groceries home in plastic. jeez, doesn't your kitchen trash start to stink after a while? I wondered the same thing above when someone posted she uses one bag a week. But two weeks? I take out the garbage every couple of days, whether it's full or not. I cook every day and there's always food scraps that don't go into the disposal. But I'm using paper grocery bags as a liner inside the plastic kitchen trash bag, which only gets changed every so often when it starts looking ick.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 19:02:23 GMT
Given our city’s recycling program, we use one kitchen-sized garbage bag every two weeks. I’m at the grocery store almost daily. There is no way I could produce enough garbage to warrant bringing my groceries home in plastic. jeez, doesn't your kitchen trash start to stink after a while? I wondered the same thing above when someone posted she uses one bag a week. But two weeks? I take out the garbage every couple of days, whether it's full or not. I cook every day and there's always food scraps that don't go into the disposal. But I'm using paper grocery bags as a liner inside the plastic kitchen trash bag, which only gets changed every so often when it starts looking ick. Food scraps and anything else that would be stinky go into our green bin recycling. There's not a whole lot here that can't be recycled - even diapers, pet waste, and feminine products go into green bins.
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Post by lucyg on Jan 30, 2018 19:10:44 GMT
oh, that makes sense. And I don't garden so I don't compost. I didn't think about that, either. Dalai Mama
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Post by katlady on Jan 30, 2018 19:13:09 GMT
We cannot put yucky stuff in our recycle bin. No food scraps, no pet waste, etc. Only “clean” paper and plastic. I keep one of the produce bags in my sink and scrap food waste into it as I cook and clean. At the end of the day, that bag goes outside into the big trash can. I don’t like to keep food waste in the house overnight because we have an ant problem.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jan 30, 2018 19:24:35 GMT
jeez, doesn't your kitchen trash start to stink after a while? I wondered the same thing above when someone posted she uses one bag a week. But two weeks? I take out the garbage every couple of days, whether it's full or not. I cook every day and there's always food scraps that don't go into the disposal. But I'm using paper grocery bags as a liner inside the plastic kitchen trash bag, which only gets changed every so often when it starts looking ick. Food scraps and anything else that would be stinky go into our green bin recycling. There's not a whole lot here that can't be recycled - even diapers, pet waste, and feminine products go into green bins. How often is your green bin picked up if you don't mind my asking. Our service alternates recyclables and compost, so items can sit for up to 2 weeks. It makes it harder to add items that will be really stinky in that amount of time.
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mimima
Drama Llama
Stay Gold, Ponyboy
Posts: 5,039
Jun 25, 2014 19:25:50 GMT
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Post by mimima on Jan 30, 2018 19:26:53 GMT
oh, that makes sense. And I don't garden so I don't compost. I didn't think about that, either. Dalai MamaI don't either, but compost goes into out Yard Waste and is picked up biweekly.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 19:31:34 GMT
oh, that makes sense. And I don't garden so I don't compost. I didn't think about that, either. Dalai Mama I only backyard compost in the summer. Even then, though, my meat scraps, the bag my flour comes in, etc, all go into the green bin for city pickup.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
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Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 19:33:52 GMT
Food scraps and anything else that would be stinky go into our green bin recycling. There's not a whole lot here that can't be recycled - even diapers, pet waste, and feminine products go into green bins. How often is your green bin picked up if you don't mind my asking. Our service alternates recyclables and compost, so items can sit for up to 2 weeks. It makes it harder to add items that will be really stinky in that amount of time. Our green bin is weekly. We have a smaller, lined bin we keep under the kitchen sink and that gets put into our bigger, and now raccoon-proof bin that we keep outside. Our regular recycling and garbage pickup is every other week. We also have yard waste collection (which is separate from our green bin) in the summer and they pick up Christmas trees until the middle of January.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jan 30, 2018 19:36:55 GMT
oh, that makes sense. And I don't garden so I don't compost. I didn't think about that, either. Dalai Mama I only backyard compost in the summer. Even then, though, my meat scraps, the bag my flour comes in, etc, all go into the green bin for city pickup. Here a lot of municipalities will only take yard waste in our green bins. Ours takes food waste, but it's restricted in some areas because of wildlife concerns (mostly bears)
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Post by gale w on Jan 30, 2018 19:39:03 GMT
Given our city’s recycling program, we use one kitchen-sized garbage bag every two weeks. I’m at the grocery store almost daily. There is no way I could produce enough garbage to warrant bringing my groceries home in plastic. jeez, doesn't your kitchen trash start to stink after a while? I wondered the same thing above when someone posted she uses one bag a week. But two weeks? I take out the garbage every couple of days, whether it's full or not. I cook every day and there's always food scraps that don't go into the disposal. But I'm using paper grocery bags as a liner inside the plastic kitchen trash bag, which only gets changed every so often when it starts looking ick. I was wondering that too. We actually burn most of our trash (we live out in the country) but also recycle. There are some things that can't be burned or recycled and that's picked up weekly but in the days before it's picked up, it stinks. I can't even imagine it after 2 weeks. Trash usually gets burned every 2-3 days, sometimes 4. Depends on the weather. eta: there's no green bin recycling (never even heard of it) here and we don't compost food anymore. We did for a while but it seems to attract critters no matter what we tried to keep them away. We do have chickens though, so some food waste goes to them. But I won't feed them rotten or moldy food or anything gross like that.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 19:40:39 GMT
I only backyard compost in the summer. Even then, though, my meat scraps, the bag my flour comes in, etc, all go into the green bin for city pickup. Here a lot of municipalities will only take yard waste in our green bins. Ours takes food waste, but it's restricted in some areas because of wildlife concerns (mostly bears) We've had green bin recycling for over a decade and, after multiple attempts, they've just come up with a bin that will keep the raccoons out. For now.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
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Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jan 30, 2018 19:42:20 GMT
jeez, doesn't your kitchen trash start to stink after a while? I wondered the same thing above when someone posted she uses one bag a week. But two weeks? I take out the garbage every couple of days, whether it's full or not. I cook every day and there's always food scraps that don't go into the disposal. But I'm using paper grocery bags as a liner inside the plastic kitchen trash bag, which only gets changed every so often when it starts looking ick. I was wondering that too. We actually burn most of our trash (we live out in the country) but also recycle. There are some things that can't be burned or recycled and that's picked up weekly but in the days before it's picked up, it stinks. I can't even imagine it after 2 weeks. Trash usually gets burned every 2-3 days, sometimes 4. Depends on the weather. eta: there's no green bin recycling (never even heard of it) here and we don't compost food anymore. We did for a while but it seems to attract critters no matter what we tried to keep them away. We do have chickens though, so some food waste goes to them. But I won't feed them rotten or moldy food or anything gross like that. This is what goes into our regular garbage, everything else is recycled: Liner bags (cereal, cookies, crackers) Black plastic food containers, cutlery, lids Hot drink cups (recycle non-black lids and sleeves) Cold drink cups, straws (recycle lids) Plastic bubble wrap Laminated plastic film (stand-up pouches, snack food bags) Dryer and disposable mop sheets, baby wipes, make-up pads, cotton tipped swabs, dental floss Plastic or foil wrappers, aluminum foil Drink pouches, straws Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, wood chips, pencil shavings Hair, pet hair, feathers, nail clippings, dryer lint Candles and wax, cigarette butts and ashes Gum packages, blister packs Light bulbs (not CFLs), dishes, drinking glasses Metallic gift wrap and bows Ribbons Wooden fruit crates Broken mugs, dishes
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jan 30, 2018 19:57:02 GMT
I assume your system is similar to Toronto's Dalai Mama I looked at their website and it's so nice that you can put your compostable in plastic and it mechanically separates it. It would make a huge difference in our ability to add more stinky items to the compost bins. We tried the biodegradable bags, but they wouldn't hold things like meat scraps for the two weeks.
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