Comments on: Plastic Bags Tough to Recycle, Tougher to Ban http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/ Make Everyday Earth Day Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:07:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: kaylaaafitz http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-18199 kaylaaafitz Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:00:46 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-18199 I witnessed a brilliant waste-reducing idea just the other day that was previously unprecedented to me: I was waiting in the car as a friend of mine ran into a local grocery store to buy a couple of limes. An adorable, frail, middle-aged woman was exiting the store with a shopping cart filled to the brim with groceries. However, this plethora of vegetables and dairy products was not bagged. By this observation, I was surprised. How often is it that one does such a large amount of shopping and leaves without the infamous white, logo-covered, plastic bags? I was impressed by her lack of acceptance of plastic, yet I was also concerned. I tried to imagine this woman making 12 or some-odd trips up and down her drive way, then up and down the stairs, arms full of individual, bobbling items. Tedious and tiring. Then, she opened her trunk. Her trunk was home to a tiny canvas bag containing knotted, plastic bags. She then, proceeded to bag her groceries. Reusing plastic bags from groceries, for groceries? We had an environmentally concerned genius on our hands. One does not have to go out and spend even a couple of dollars on enough decorated canvas bags to harness ones weekly grocery shopping – just use the bags from the time before! Store them in the trunk. Recycle them when, or if they break, using the proper facilities. Who would have thought an American would have such an absence of laziness? Enough of an absence to not have the clerk bag their groceries, but to bag them, themselves. This gave me a warm, fuzzy, environmental friendly feeling. Just as I turned my head from the adorable, frail, middle-aged woman, my friend came out of the store with two miniscule limes in a plastic bag… I witnessed a brilliant waste-reducing idea just the other day that was previously unprecedented to me:

I was waiting in the car as a friend of mine ran into a local grocery store to buy a couple of limes. An adorable, frail, middle-aged woman was exiting the store with a shopping cart filled to the brim with groceries. However, this plethora of vegetables and dairy products was not bagged. By this observation, I was surprised. How often is it that one does such a large amount of shopping and leaves without the infamous white, logo-covered, plastic bags? I was impressed by her lack of acceptance of plastic, yet I was also concerned. I tried to imagine this woman making 12 or some-odd trips up and down her drive way, then up and down the stairs, arms full of individual, bobbling items. Tedious and tiring.

Then, she opened her trunk. Her trunk was home to a tiny canvas bag containing knotted, plastic bags. She then, proceeded to bag her groceries. Reusing plastic bags from groceries, for groceries? We had an environmentally concerned genius on our hands. One does not have to go out and spend even a couple of dollars on enough decorated canvas bags to harness ones weekly grocery shopping – just use the bags from the time before! Store them in the trunk. Recycle them when, or if they break, using the proper facilities.

Who would have thought an American would have such an absence of laziness? Enough of an absence to not have the clerk bag their groceries, but to bag them, themselves. This gave me a warm, fuzzy, environmental friendly feeling. Just as I turned my head from the adorable, frail, middle-aged woman, my friend came out of the store with two miniscule limes in a plastic bag…

]]> By: majikk1 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-12528 majikk1 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:25:55 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-12528 comment to ozzie1oddduck - your link goes to a page that asks for a login name and password like its a secret site - dont make this difficult for people to find out about you - thanks! comment to ozzie1oddduck - your link goes to a page that asks for a login name and password like its a secret site - dont make this difficult for people to find out about you - thanks!

]]> By: urbanfrugal http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-11806 urbanfrugal Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:57:38 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-11806 I live in Chicago and decided to accept plastic bags from stores a few months ago. I do not miss them. I still had quite a few that I reuse at home. When I go to the store, I make a conscious effort to take my own bags. It is a great feeling to walk out of a store with 2 full shopping bags for a half cart of groceries rather than half a dozen plastic bags. Plastic bags are useful but they shouldn't be one time use items, or become unsightly "tree decorations" in our neighborhoods. If half of the people in Chicago and the rest of Northern Illinois accepted fewer bags we wouldn't have to worry about banning them. I live in Chicago and decided to accept plastic bags from stores a few months ago. I do not miss them. I still had quite a few that I reuse at home. When I go to the store, I make a conscious effort to take my own bags. It is a great feeling to walk out of a store with 2 full shopping bags for a half cart of groceries rather than half a dozen plastic bags.

Plastic bags are useful but they shouldn’t be one time use items, or become unsightly “tree decorations” in our neighborhoods. If half of the people in Chicago and the rest of Northern Illinois accepted fewer bags we wouldn’t have to worry about banning them.

]]> By: ozzie1oddduck http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-10052 ozzie1oddduck Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:31:57 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-10052 Why is banning plastic bags a bad thing? If just 25% of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags a month, we would save over 2.5 Billion bags a year. Do you realize there is no other cause, of any kind, that impacts every man, woman, and child on the planet more than environmental causes. At 1 Odd Duck, we think about these sorts of things on a regular basis. Check us out at www.1oddduck.com. If you like what you see, pass it along to your friends. Common Sense 2 Global Green!! Why is banning plastic bags a bad thing? If just 25% of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags a month, we would save over 2.5 Billion bags a year. Do you realize there is no other cause, of any kind, that impacts every man, woman, and child on the planet more than environmental causes. At 1 Odd Duck, we think about these sorts of things on a regular basis. Check us out at http://www.1oddduck.com. If you like what you see, pass it along to your friends.

Common Sense 2 Global Green!!

]]> By: jzolnik http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-9939 jzolnik Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:24:14 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-9939 We will recycle all plastic bags at our facilitie if someone can convince the large stores to do so.All they care about is profit and not our green issues.We will even provide totes for their customers to return their plastic and give them a rebate.What else can you ask for.CRS. Ft Wayne, In. We will recycle all plastic bags at our facilitie if someone can convince the large stores to do so.All they care about is profit and not our green issues.We will even provide totes for their customers to return their plastic and give them a rebate.What else can you ask for.CRS. Ft Wayne, In.

]]> By: daddyivorg http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-9649 daddyivorg Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:45:45 +0000 http://earth911.com/blog/2008/02/01/plastic-bags-tough-to-recycle-tougher-to-ban/#comment-9649 Here in the UK, in The Lake District, the local authorities have made everyone recycle their household waste. We have to separate the trash into glass, paper, cardboard, glass and plastic containers. The only trash we have left is plastic packaging and food waste. The weird thing is that now we have to do this a lot of us realise how much wasted plastic there is. In one town the shops all stopped giving out plastic bags and no one complained. I don't think you have to ban something if hardly anybody wants to have or do whatever it is. Here in the UK, in The Lake District, the local authorities have made everyone recycle their household waste. We have to separate the trash into glass, paper, cardboard, glass and plastic containers. The only trash we have left is plastic packaging and food waste.

The weird thing is that now we have to do this a lot of us realise how much wasted plastic there is. In one town the shops all stopped giving out plastic bags and no one complained. I don’t think you have to ban something if hardly anybody wants to have or do whatever it is.

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