Are we dumb? A plastic bag story...

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

03/19/2008 12:22:49 PM · #1

The old way:

You go to the grocery store, the bagger, unconcerned, double bags 3 items and moves on to another bag. By then end of a "small" shopping trip you have 10-20 bags, most double bagged. Just to get a pile of groceries from the store, to the car, to the kitchen. In my case, an upstairs apartment and terrible parking caused special difficulties. Refusing to make several trips my boyfriend and I piled on loads of bags in our hands struggle to shut the trunk lifting the groceries high above our heads (because if we put the bags down all is lost and we must reorganize again). Then we grunt and moan, pop a few eye vessels as we make the walk to the apartment, up the stairs, struggle to open the door (all without putting anything down). Then what? The bags get crumbled in a ball and thrown under the sink never to be seen again and get thrown out when it overflows, to then pollute some area we don't care about cus heck, it's not in our kitchen!

The new way:

Bring 3-4 tote bags to the store (most grocery stores have them for sale for about a dollar!!). Fill them with groceries. We each get a tote bag on each shoulder and it's a breezy walk to the apartment. With hands free and no plastic bag marks and numb fingers.

So... why did we do it the old way for so long? Were we insane?? DUMB? Careless? No... we just didn't even think about another option. Silly isn't it?

That is until my favorite band, the Ditty Bops, started a campaign to reduce plastic bag usage. They were wearing plastic costumes at all of their shows (hot and gross!) in support of their petition. Please sign the petition and find out more!

SIGN PETITION HERE

For fun... Video they made about going to the market! These girsl are so cute.

Anyhow. Please keep this thread going. List any stories or ideas you have about all of the silly things we do that are wasteful and we just don't realize! I'd love to know what else can be done!

No thread is complete without photos...

Original Context Here

frisca

Nikon D70

03/19/2008 12:26:51 PM · #2

I have used the cloth totes for a few months now, and it is a much more pleasant and satisfying shopping trip when you only have 3-4 totes and not zillions of bags. I used to use the bags to pick up dog poop, but I thought better of that too, and now buy relatively inexpensive biodegradable poop scoop bags.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

03/19/2008 12:30:34 PM · #3

There is SO much overpackaging on SO many products. Difficult and annoying to open as well as incredibly wasteful. Pisses me off!

Tez

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/19/2008 12:35:23 PM · #4

i haven't used a plastic bag for months... kudos to south africs for banning them.

Bebe

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/19/2008 12:38:31 PM · #5

I have rarely used plastic bags for over a year now, and even before then I was trying not to. I did use paper for years, but the totes are very convenient now and so much better.

Many European countries haven't had our kind of plastic bags for more than 15 years - if you need a plastic bag you pay for it, and it's a good quality one that gets reused over & over.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

03/19/2008 12:40:12 PM · #6

Originally posted by frisca:

Yea, I use them for trash bags in the bathroom. Even going to the grocery store with reusables I still get so many just from other places, blockbuster, CVS. When I say I don't need a bag they almost always ignore me or look at me like I'm stupid and have just said something ridiculous.

Lydia

Canon EOS-6D

03/19/2008 12:41:07 PM · #7

The ironic part of the plastic bag problem is that the reason they started using them is that they were supposed to stop the necessity of double-bagging with the highly degradable paper sacks we'd all been using.

Now they double bag with the plastic that never rots.

Noone will take them to recycle since they bind up the recycling machines (which is why you see separate recycle bins for them -- they go to the land fills).

At least when they cut down a tree for paper bags, they're require to plant more trees to replace them... and young trees give off much more oxygen than older trees. So, was a perfect plan!

Too bad someone 'fixed' it.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

03/19/2008 12:42:28 PM · #8

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

There is SO much overpackaging on SO many products. Difficult and annoying to open as well as incredibly wasteful. Pisses me off!

agreed. It's really hard to avoid but I try! Trader Joe's is the worst with their produce! It's all packaged except the bananas.

paynekj

Pentax K10D

03/19/2008 12:42:43 PM · #9

Why not try the example of Modbury

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

03/19/2008 12:50:43 PM · #10

Originally posted by paynekj:

Why not try the example of Modbury

Wow that is cool, thanks for posting! I really liked the trailer to the movie they discussed too! FOUND HERE

rex

Canon PowerShot SD780

03/19/2008 12:51:35 PM · #11

I use the bags for lunch bags to take to work. But then they see the garbage can. If you notice Wal-Mart has put a message on their bags to please return to the store for recycling.

Anyways this is an eye opener for sure. Our problem is it would take 20 or more totes.

The US as a whole has become what I call a "Disposable Place" we are so caught up in the fact hat if we use plastic cups or forks we won't have to wash them. We are too lazy and need to take the time to clean up.

keibo84

Canon EOS-50D

03/19/2008 01:00:29 PM · #12

I think the plastic bag arguments are both true and bogus at the same time. They take longer to degrade, and thus end up piled up somewhere we don't see them, but the processes by which they are made are fairly environmentally friendly. They take very little energy and very little raw material (and maybe that's why they are so cheap and we use so many). So, if you look at it from an emissions while being produced point of view, plastic bags are good. On the other hand, they take way too long to decompose. Paper bags decompose fairly fast and people are more likely to reuse and not just throw away. The problem with paper bags is the amount of energy (thus emissions) needed to make them. There are trees cut down, very nasty chemicals used to bleach the wood, drying agents and other stuff, overall making the environmental impact of a paper bag much larger than that of a plastic bag (ignoring the biodegradability factor). Both paper and plastic have pros and cons and the only true way of reducing our impact on the environment is by using the bags more consciously and reusing the bags when possible and not over packaging at stores.

The tote bags are for sure the best option to reduce our carbon footprint.

Another thing that bothers me is how some produce in organic stores are packaged using styrofoam. Styrofoam is terrible for the environment and yet the squashes I bought last week from the "organic" store came with a little styrofoam tray underneath. I didnt' realize it at the time, but I probably won't be buying produce packaged like that again.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

03/19/2008 01:25:02 PM · #13

Originally posted by rex:

20? You feed an army? lol. Just try it, totes hold more than you think! Sometimes the grocery stores sell ones that are too small. Whole foods has some pretty decent sized totes for cheap, Trader Joe's too, if your area has them. Just get some big totes and you'll be fine!

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

03/19/2008 01:26:37 PM · #14

Like rex, if I used reusable totes, there would be so many of them it would be rather funny looking, and not very practical.

When my son was little, I used the paper bags. The handles of the plastic ones often "release" little round pieces of plastic. After fishing three or four (where in the heck he kept finding them, I have no idea). We still had the paper bags in a closet somewhere (5 years later) until a couple of weeks ago when I used them for an art project.

We rarely throw a plastic bag away. It is used over and over again, until a dirty diaper ends up in it. :)

Our grocery store also has a special bin that we can put them in for a specific recycle.

rex

Canon PowerShot SD780

03/19/2008 01:29:52 PM · #15

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by rex:
I use the bags for lunch bags to take to work. But then they see the garbage can. If you notice Wal-Mart has put a message on their bags to please return to the store for recycling.

Anyways this is an eye opener for sure. Our problem is it would take 20 or more totes.

The US as a whole has become what I call a "Disposable Place" we are so caught up in the fact hat if we use plastic cups or forks we won't have to wash them. We are too lazy and need to take the time to clean up.

20? You feed an army? lol. Just try it, totes hold more than you think! Sometimes the grocery stores sell ones that are too small. Whole foods has some pretty decent sized totes for cheap, Trader Joe's too, if your area has them. Just get some big totes and you'll be fine!

Nope we go to the grocery store once every other week. And she is about to start going once a month. So a month's worth of groceries can be a lot for 4

Message edited by author 2008-03-19 13:41:28.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/19/2008 01:32:37 PM · #16

You don't need as many totes as you think since they are way stronger you can load them up. You just need to gently teach the bagger who no longer has any sort of training on how to properly bag groceries to just keep loading it up with the soft stuff on top. For weekly groceries for a family of four, my wife uses about 6 totes. She says she could probably use one or two more, but this gets the majority of it.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

03/19/2008 01:38:35 PM · #17

Originally posted by rex:

Originally posted by escapetooz:

Originally posted by rex:
I use the bags for lunch bags to take to work. But then they see the garbage can. If you notice Wal-Mart has put a message on their bags to please return to the store for recycling.

Anyways this is an eye opener for sure. Our problem is it would take 20 or more totes.

The US as a whole has become what I call a "Disposable Place" we are so caught up in the fact hat if we use plastic cups or forks we won't have to wash them. We are too lazy and need to take the time to clean up.

20? You feed an army? lol. Just try it, totes hold more than you think! Sometimes the grocery stores sell ones that are too small. Whole foods has some pretty decent sized totes for cheap, Trader Joe's too, if your area has them. Just get some big totes and you'll be fine!

Nope we go to the grocery store once every other week. And she is about to start going once a month. So a month's worth of groceryies can be a lot for 4

I hear ya! It's def a lot easier for 2 people. We go about once a week since we eat more fresh stuff than boxed or frozen. Perhaps the best solution would be the cloth totes? The really thick recycled plastic bags that a lot of grocery stores offer take up a lot more room and don't fold up right. Thin cloth ones call ball up and sit under a seat in the car until needed. And I don't see why they'd look any sillier in a cart, car, or in your hands than a bunch of plastic bags.

CNovack

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

03/19/2008 01:42:10 PM · #18

Thought I would weigh in as well - As the Gatherer for my family of 4 I have been using the cloth bags for about a year ....and will never go back.

1 strong durable cloth bag = 4 skimpy double bag plastic bags

I used to come home from food shopping with 25 to 35 plastic bags and would alway have one or two break from tranferring from the car to the house.

Now - I only have to carry in 7 cloth bags sometimes that is bumped to 9 if I try to go for more than 14 days before shopping again.

I also use the cloth bags when at other stores too like Target.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/19/2008 01:43:52 PM · #19

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

:) Yea. A lot of times we bag stuff ourselves. One time there was plenty of room at the top of 3 of the bags to fit the rest of the stuff in. I saw the girl going for the plastic and I said "no this can fit" and my boyfriend and I started piling it into the bags. I felt like I was racing her and she grabbed the last item before I could grab it and shoved it in a plastic bag and handed it to me. I put it in of the tote bags where it would have fit nicely on its own and walked away.

I was pretty fuming, I wanted to hand the bag right back to her... I try not to be crazy about it, its just one bag. But I really felt like she did it on purpose to spite me for who knows why...

anotherday

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

03/19/2008 01:45:30 PM · #20

In Belgium it's been over 1 year that plastic bags are nolonger free in the supermarket. You can buy biodegradable ones for 3 cents, bigger ones that you can return once they have hole sin it and they give you a new one in return or tissue bags.

But you still have plastic bags in other stores, although I see the tendecy to replace them with paper bags (way to many, though, especially in clothes stores ... you buy something tiny and you get a BIG paper bag ... ).

For my supermarket shopping I use plastic "stack-and-nest" totes, very useful.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

03/19/2008 01:55:12 PM · #21

Oh yea and I forgot!!

for folks that are crafty...

Crochet Plastic bags and other plastic bag projects...

YouTube Video on making bags with recycled plastic (ironing them together)

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

03/19/2008 01:55:54 PM · #22

What's sad is that these plastic bags are such a common eyesore in South Africa,
that they are dubbed "roadside daisies" and referred to as the national flower.

Ristyz

Apple iPhone 12 Pro

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

03/19/2008 02:15:35 PM · #23

I MAKE them them pack as much into a bag as possible. Hehe. I will tell them "More items in fewer bags please". I do reuse them and never just throw them away. If I'm only getting a few items I request 'no bags'. If I buy anything that resembles a container I have them use the container as a 'bag'. Been doing this for the last couple of years. So far I'm able to reuse all of them with no surplus. I see them stuck to trees in the wind along the roadsides and I have taken to calling it the new NM State Flag. The number of new 'State Flags' seems to have reduced over the last 2 years but there are many that go shopping and load up everything in thier pick-up trucks so and the bags will sometimes dump their contents in the truck bed and fly out of the truck. The 4wd vehicles are necessary around here 'cause many live in the boonies and I will have to say that the trend towards SUV 4wds is good for the local roadside bag collection.