Release Yourself from Plastic Bags Bondage
Posted by lindseyshoe
No longer do you need to tie your hands up in knots with plastic shopping bags as they twist and turn around your wrist. Or worry about your small child or visiting children to your home in danger from plastic bags, or even try to figure out where to store plastic bags — even though you can’t really reuse them again but you hate to throw them away. Read more on why you and your family should stop using plastic bags during your shopping trips and easy tips on how you can make it happen.
We are going to take a little side trip on Greenjoyment today, as I wanted to share a very personal green achievement. Normally I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but this year I made one, that I have every intention of keeping and many very good reasons for keeping it. In anticipation of this New Year’s Resolution, I have been preparing myself and my family for a big change, the change of no longer using plastic shopping bags – releasing myself of plastic bag bondage. These are the type of bag that are commonly used by most major department stores like J.C. Penny’s, Macy’s, Dillards and even the smaller super stores of Wal-Mart, Target, Krogers, Meijer’s, and Kohls. This weekend we reached our goal, and no plastic bags entered our house from our grocery or other shopping trips.
For those who have gone green, this may seem like an easy undertaking, but for many this tasks is easier said than done and many wonder, “Why even bother?” What’s wrong with using plastic shopping bags? My eyes were opened, by several facts, the first being that I was running out of room to store these plastic bags in hopes that I could “recycle” them by taking them back to the store and dropping them off or I thought I was even doing good by using them as trash bags in my smaller size trash cans. A little bit of reading and a lot more research taught me differently.
Secondly this is what I learned about plastic trash bags:
-Plastic bags are made with oil. “Unlike paper bags, plastic bags are typically made from oil, a non-renewable resource. Plastics are a by-product of the oil-refining process, accounting for about four percent of oil production around the globe.” (Treehugger.com) Not to mention the green house gas emissions and pollution created as a result of manufacturing plastic bags.
- Plastic bags are not biodegradable. It actually takes more money to recycle these bags (when people do recycle them) than it does to create them. “It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32″ (Jared Blumenfeld, director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment as reported by Christian Science Monitor). If it costs more to recycle them than it does to produce them, recycling is not an option. This is simple economics.
Plastic bags clog waterways, causing flooding and a breakdown of the natural water resources.
Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down when they end up in landfills.
When they do break down, the chemicals used – such as oil or petroleum end up poisoning our water and ground.
They cause a danger to birds, pets, and wildlife. The handles get wrapped around necks choking them. They are mistaken for food and cause choking or suffocation.
Not just wildlife or pets are in danger – small children and infants also can suffocate from exposure to plastic bags. They are everywhere and it’s hard to keep track of them especially in the car or keep them carefully locked away in the house.
Did You Know This about Plastic Bags:
Buenos Aires, Zanzibar, Bangladesh and China are among several countries that have outlawed the use of plastic shopping bags. Ireland, Finland and Australia are among those that have enacted a “tax” on plastic bag use. In Australia, of 4 May 2009 fines will be imposed of up to $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,500 USD) on retailers using that type of bag.
San Francisco has banned the use of plastic shopping bags and other cities may be starting to follow suit – including Oakland, and Boston.
Over 380 billion plastic bags are consumed in the U.S. each year according to the EPA.
Worldwide, between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used each year.
If you want to get rid of your plastic bag bondage try these five steps that worked for my family:
-Start with cleaning out your saved plastic bags.
If you have to take them to the grocery store with you and use them to bring home groceries until they can’t be used anymore.
Or you can drop them off at many stores recycling bins designed specifically for the plastic bags.
-Contrary to popular opinion using them as carry bags or as small trash bags is actually bad for the environment. They are not biodegradable, making it harder for the trash inside them to break down in landfills and often end up flying around, in sewer drains or wrapped around a bird or other animals neck, suffocating them.
-Some stores have started offering paper or plastic again. Take advantage of this offer and take the paper. There is no charge, paper is easier to recycle – you can use them again, use them for crafting projects in your home, decorate them and use as wrapping paper for a variety of celebrations and special events or simply toss them back into your curbside recycling container.
-Take advantage of offers that provide you with cotton shopping bags for free. I have received several cotton tote bags for free from: Earthbound Foods, Power Shots, Arm and Hammer Essentials, Half Price Book Stores and Febreeze. Kroger’s also offered free cotton shopping bags to those who submitted their own design for Kroger’s tote bags. Watch for “rebate” offers like Power Shots drinks, with a receipt and two UPC codes I received a free bag. Half Price Books offered their free bags on special shopping days like Black Friday.
-Purchase one reusable tote bag during each shopping trip. Depending on the size of the tote bag they range in price from $1.00 to $4.97. Quite often, there is a donation associated with the purchase. Here a local grocery store sold bags for $1.99 and $1.00 of each purchase went to a program for the care of wildlife. It doesn’t seem too expensive if you spread out the costs of the bags during each shopping trip.
-After you bring your items in and put your groceries away take the bags back out the car. One of the hardest things is to remember to bring them with me on shopping trips. By placing them in the car after each use, I am prepared for anything from a quick run to the store to a full blown grocery shopping trip.
Some may say that now there are “biodegradable” plastic shopping bags however these are only compostable in specific and carefully designed conditions. Paper bags are also not the best alternative, they actually costs more to transport, but are easier and cheaper to recycle in many different way.
Reusable bags, whether they are cotton or made with another material are actually superior to plastic bags. They actually stand up in the car with all the items in them and I don’t have to worry about unfortunate tears and spills. If they get dirty I simply add them to the wash. We have even had fun decorating some of them so that each person can have their own bag to store items in when we go shopping. Give reusable tote shopping bags a try your next shopping trip and see how much you enjoy not having to worry about those pesky plastic bags.
Not sure where to begin going green in your family? Check out these environmentally friendly and money saving tips claim your 13 Simple Steps for Making Your Life and Home More Green or for teaching your children, read “Twenty Tips for Growing Green Children.”
Somewhat unrelated:
Dr. Weil says the following about heating foods in plastic in the microwave:
“While plastic has many terrific uses, when it comes to cooking it should be avoided. DEHA [di-(2-ethylhexyl)adipate], sometimes found in cling wrap, and other chemicals commonly found in plastic are potential endocrine disrupters, and can negatively influence hormonal activity. While studies are underway to determine the health risks associated with plastics, it is best to steer clear of using plastic and plastic wrap in the microwave, as the heat can drive plastic molecules into your food. Instead use glass or ceramic containers and cover foods with waxed paper or a paper towel. I also suggest avoiding pre-packaged foods that come in cling wrap (if you do, transfer to a different storage container once you get home).”
5 Responses to “Release Yourself from Plastic Bags Bondage”
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Ralph says:
I live outside of a small town named Seguin, in Texas. They don’t recycle, or maybe better put, they don’t make recycling user-friendly. There are no recycle receptacles, so you have to want to recycle really bad to drive all the way back to the store with bags. But we are also forced to throw away many forms of plastic bottles, cans, and glass for the same reason.
Many people talk “green” but won’t make the effort. -
Now there is a solution and much better alternative to levying, recycling and reusable canvas grocery bags for those who forgets their canvas bag at home or in the car which is called “Bioplast Biodegradable Plastics.”
Bioplast is a manufacturing company of BIOPLAST Branded Biodegradable Garbage Bags and Fridge Bags for the household markets and for the industry as well as Biodegradable Carrier Bags and Vegy Bags for the retail sector using their own patented unique formula of bacteria enzyme base substrate as against starch base as used by other manufacturers world over.
Bioplast is the only Biodegradable technology in the world using bacteria enzyme base substrate which is 100% biodegradable within 6 months after disposal as per ASTM-D 5988-1996 and EN 13432:2000/ISO 14855 standards with the lowest cost addition.
Bioplast biodegradable products are also compostable and hence enhancing the nutritive value of the remaining soil. All the ingredients of Bioplast biodegradable plastic products are food grade and non-toxic in nature therefore suitable to be in contact with food products.
Bioplast believes that this great innovation will go a long way in preserving the ecological balance around the world which has brought intelligent and affordable solution to the disposal of polyethylene plastic waste problem worldwide.
The local and central Governments must now ban all non-biodegradable plastic bags and force all the retailers to use ONLY Bioplast 100% Biodegradable bags in their stores without any charge as an alternative to reusable canvas bags for those who forget their canvas bag at home, of which will be the evidence of their sincere concern for the environment and their commitment to tackling the considerable problem of plastic bag waste and the pollution.
“What will you tell your children? Were you part of the Problem or part of the Solution?”
http://www.bioplast.com.tr -
MacKay Lass says:
Kohls will not allow you to use your own tote bag for purchases, demanding you either use plastic or purchase their brand bag. manufacturing another tote bag with an ad on the side is obviously not ecologically sound when I have a generic tote of my own. I left without a purchase and without either of their bags. I will not return until they modify their policy
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I was lucky, I was raised on a small farm with rich soils, and we really didnt have much use for plastic, that is until it became mainstream. Now I can’t go anywhere without seeing plastic as it slowly breaks down into soup. It’s not easy moving away from plastic, but the little things will add up.