I have a question about using plastic bags. It seems many of you have reusable bags that you pack you groceries in. I don't but I do re-use the plastic grocery bags to line my trash can. (can is made to 'fit' these bags. So if you don't bring home plastic what do you use to line your kitchen trash can with? I have asked a few folks and it seems that they actually buy trash can liners which seems worse than re-using grocery store bags. How do you deal with this? I warned you it was totally OT! Taria
I use my collection of canvas bags for groceries. Have for years! There are a wide variety of sizes in my group.
When my trash can liners supply is getting low, I go back to the plastic grocery bags when shopping, for a couple of trips, then switch back to my canvas bags. I also use as trash can liners, bags I get when going to Wally World, or Sears, or any shopping done.
G> I have a question about using plastic bags. =A0It seems many of you
The system here is to use biodegradable plastic bin liners. And occasionally I use a store bag. But nearly everything gets recycled: glass, metal, paper, cardboard, plastic. And I have a compost pile. So we only produce one small bag of trash per week.
Saw on TV the other day that Germany actually imports trash from other European countries. It gets incinerated at power plants and helps produce electricity. There's big money in garbage, and a different attitude in some ways. We pay a very reasonable fee to have unsorted trash collected, and we also take all the other stuff to the town's recycling center. The town then sells the bags of sorted paper, plastic etc. to a recycling plant, and the profit helps keep our utilities lower.
Another >I have a question about using plastic bags. It seems many of you
I use Wal-Mart sacks in all my bathroom trashcans, but there is no way those teeny bags are big enough for my kitchen! I have a normal, human sized trash can but I use the larger 30 gallon trash bags because we have a tendency to balance trash until right before it falls out. "We" also line the counter beside the trash can with stuff like empty milk cartons, pop bottles, etc. The bigger trash bags give me the room I need. I use bags without built in handles for this because they are just a little bigger. I tie them in a knot, makes them easier to carry.
As you can tell, I've delved into this quite deeply. I am the only person in the family who apparently knows how to take out the trash.
I had a friend who used to work at a facility that made all kinds of bags. She got them free and shared them with me. Huge. You could use them as a body bag if you had to.
The little plastic bags from the grocery store have never fit a single trash can I ever owned, so I've never been able to use them for that.
I used to get paper bags at the store to put my recyclables in, and then recycle the whole thing. Now I just use an old cardboard box, which I empty and reuse for quite a while. When it finally gets banged up, I scrounge another box.
Now that we're doing kitchen composting, too, I hardly have any non-recycling trash to throw out. Usually just one bag every couple of weeks. I almost feel bad about the garbage truck having to stop for so little. :)
I use plastic grocery bags for my bathroom wastebaskets, too. My kitchen can, though, has to have something a bit larger -- I think it's 8 gallons.
DH does this, too -- he'll do anything to keep from taking out the trash.
Even when the wastebasket is almost empty, DH uses any flat surface as a receptacle for paper trash -- used paper towels, old post-it notes, etc. Where do they get this from???
Exactly -- I do the same thing.
Ditto, though I should say that I don't really expect Bisou or Dexter to do it. ;)
Our apartment complex has large recycling bins next to the trash area. Do people use them? Mostly. I recycle all I can. And am trying to convince people to start trading books back and forth. My 4 day a week newspaper delivery fits into an old LL Bean canvas boat tote and heads to the recycle bin each week, along with any other paper and plastic ok'd for the bin.
A neigborhood VONS store has started composting its produce and floral. $2.99 for an organic soil amendment in recycle bag weighing about 50 pounds. My plants love it!
G> The little plastic bags from the grocery store have never fit a single tr= ash
I try to remember to take the reusable bags to the grocery store, so I'm not getting as many bags as I used to, but still get plenty to use them as liners in the kitchen and bathroom trash cans. I usually double bag the kitchen trash before putting it down the chute in our building. If I ever start getting low on bags, I'll simply not use the reusable bags for a shopping trip. I have a small can in the kitchen because I like to empty it often & because our condo has a small kitchen & so that I can use the grocery bags. I have to use plastic for garbage because that is the only way to wrap well enough for the garbage chute. When we were in our house & the kids were at home, I had a waste basket that was the right size for a large paper grocery bag. That worked well there, but not so well where we are now.
From Wal-Mart I purchased the mounting brackets to screw inside the doors under the sink. They are just far apart enough to hold the grocery store plastic bags to hold my smelly trash that is taken outside each evening to the BIG trash can that the city picks up once a week. Before I had so many plastic bags to recycle back at the grocery store, I used to use a dull needle and sew 3 or 4 layers of newspaper into my own "home made newspaper bags " for trash. Barbara in SC
Well, I can't bring myself to throw away a plastic grocery bag without using it for *something* first. I line the small trash cans with them. I use them for litterbox scoop duty. If they came large enough for the kitchen can, I'd never buy another trash can liner. But to answer your question, I do think re-using store bags is more environmental friendly than tossing them and buying plastic liners. :-) As I get older, I find I have turned into my grandmother and am completely unable to throw away a nice plastic sack. Even bread sacks. I fold them neatly and put them in a drawer. And let's not even talk about boxes. I can't throw a nice lidded box away to save my life. If I do, I end up getting it out of the trash. I never did that when I was young.
One of the things I enjoy re-using is the heavy plastic sacks that come inside cereal boxes. (Thus far, I haven't found a way to make my own Cheerios but it could happen.) The cereal box sacks are clean and they are very sturdy. I use them to store the bread I've baked. They are especially great for pounding if you have a tough steak that needs mauling or crackers that need crumbing for a topping. Polly
"Sherry" Well, I can't bring myself to throw away a plastic grocery bag without using it for *something* first. I line the small trash cans with them. I use them for litterbox scoop duty. If they came large enough for the kitchen can, I'd never buy another trash can liner. But to answer your question, I do think re-using store bags is more environmental friendly than tossing them and buying plastic liners. :-) As I get older, I find I have turned into my grandmother and am completely unable to throw away a nice plastic sack. Even bread sacks. I fold them neatly and put them in a drawer. And let's not even talk about boxes. I can't throw a nice lidded box away to save my life. If I do, I end up getting it out of the trash. I never did that when I was young.
I try to remember to bring my reusable bags to the store. I just made a new one using fiberglass window/door screening. It's kind of cute and I've had a couple of compliments at the check out counter. We don't have public trash pick up so every Saturday we drive to the transfer station/recycling plant with our stuff. They have a small area to place items that are still good and I go shopping there all the time. Some of my "finds" are: an almost new $150 Igloo dog house for my new pup, a new umbrella stroller, 5 new hard cover Southern Living cookbooks, a new set of patio glasses still in their original wraps, a beautiful Nativity set, a big bag of large print books that I brought to a nursing home, a stack of clear plastic pages (for templates), an unopened box of scrapbooking supplies with a $59.95 sticker on it, a never opened box containing a huge cordova duffle bag (I use it to store my quilting machine frame). I find like-new toys all the time, which I wash and bring to work to give out at the food pantry I run.
My life is so dull and boring that I actually look forward to my weekly "shopping" trip to the recycling plant :) and it keeps items out of the dump. This week someone had left off a beautiful baker's rack, but it was scoffed up just before I could get it.
Because of our 2 large compost bins and almost everything else getting recycled, we don't have much "other" stuff to throw out. We use large black trash bags to line the "in the house" trash can, usually one a week is more than enough to hold everything.
We use left over grocery store type bags to give out the food at the food pantry, some of my clients have the reusable canvas bags, but most just recycle the plastic ones.
In my own defense, Roberta, the 8-gallon bag has just as much hanging on the outside of the wastebasket as there is inside. But since DH likes to keep cramming things inside past the point of "full", I need the extra -- and I use part of the extra to tie knots to keep everything contained in the outside garbage.
I reuse the plastic bags for throwing out the dog's potty pad, sometimes to carry things over to Mom's (hey, I've got at least two of the great big Walmart/Pamida bags full of the little WalMart/Pamida/ Hyvee bags stuffed in the hall closet). I've gotten the reusable WalMart bags but seem to forget them most of the time when I'm going to the store (getting a bit better about it, now I just have to remember to give them to the clerk before she bags my stuff).
The small bags will fit my bathroom trashcan. They won't fit my kitchen bin though. I could probably go with a smaller can and just take it out on a daily basis but I'm too lazy (yeah, I know...I need the exercise). Gotta love those stretchy trash bags though. :)
I was going to say something else but can't remember what it was now.
Unfortunately, in some communities here in the US, recycling is seen as a liberal vs. conservative political issue, with stereotypes rampant on both sides. Even in communities where recycling is embraced, we're WAY behind you in Europe. (This was brought home to me recently in my search for bokashi.
In my community we have a slogan: "Reduce / Reuse / Recycle" We have to buy garbage bags (cheap) at the local grocery stores... town won't pickup unless the "garbage" is in one of these biodegradable bags. We also have bins we put out of all recyclable material (cardboard/paper/plastics/metals/etc.)... they pick it up & send it to the recycling dept. Personally, we have a garden, and all veggie scraps, grass clippings, etc. go into the compost bin to make new, fertile soil. We also use fabric bags to hold our groceries (get a nickle off for every bag we bring in that's used for our purchases.) The plastic from other stores and covers from the newspapers, etc. go right into the recycle bin.
{Our town's landfill is close to full & to keep it going longer we recycle everything possible.) Even bigger stuff that is still useable goes to an area where others can "browse" and take home anything there that they can use (FREE!) You just have to have a "dump pass" -- costs $10 per year for town residents .... we've found a lot of goodies there - including a 1895 Singer treadle which former owner electrified!!!! A good "dump day" for us is when you bring back more than you brought in!
Our local library also has a yearly book sale. Folks donate old/used books, CDs, DVDs, etc. that they no longer want. Prices are cheap, and all profits go back to the Library to buy new books. It's usually the weekend after school lets out for summer vacation, and it's held at the Jr. High School gymnasium. I always go and find lotsa treasures: quilt pattern books, books for the grandkids to read during the summer.
We also pay an extra nickle a bottle/can for soda, 15 cents for wine/liqueur bottles. We turn the empties back in and get our money back.... saves bottles & cans from littering the parks, roadways, and beaches.
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