Plastic bags take between 500 and 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill.

 

And fewer than 1% of plastic bags are returned for recycling.

 

Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes each.

I've been taking my own reusable bags to Kroger for years. I also just recently purchased some bags that can be used for produce. Now, if I can just figure out a way to not need to put the large family pack of chicken breasts in a plastic bag I would be happy.

The problem is not with what it takes to produce each. It comes with the disposal. Eventually, both become trash. Paper decomposes readily. Plastic stays virtually unchanged for hundreds of years.

 

True. My point was that in the end...the time, resources and energy involved with producing paper bags is a net environmental wash with plastic bags made from recycled plastic.

Plastic is real threat.

 

It pollutes and kills a lot of marine life. But the microscopic elements of plastic after it breaks down in the ocean create food chain and life cycle chain issues.

They didn't say that they're doing away with single-use paper grocery bags. That's all my family ever got growing up, and that's what my wife and I use when we forget to take our canvas grocery bags.

 

My family too as a kid! We used to use the brown paper bags to make covers for our school books (which of course we had to read by fire light).

 

Glad they are doing it. In Europe almost everyone brings their own bags in. Stores charge you (and give you dirty looks) when you ask for a bag.

 

Guess I will have to find something else to pick up my dog’s poo.

I'm glad, I despise plastic. I recycle as many as I can since Quick list is very liberal when bagging. 2025 seems like a long time to transition.

Plastic is real threat.

 

It pollutes and kills a lot of marine life. But the microscopic elements of plastic after it breaks down in the ocean create food chain and life cycle chain issues.

 

I read that nearly all, percentage wise, trash in the ocean comes from Asia and Africa. It's a shame there isn't better control on it.

Paper bags kill require trees. Deforestation is a major issue. Pick your poison. Consumption is an issue.

My family too as a kid! We used to use the brown paper bags to make covers for our school books (which of course we had to read by fire light).

 

Glad they are doing it. In Europe almost everyone brings their own bags in. Stores charge you (and give you dirty looks) when you ask for a bag.

 

Guess I will have to find something else to pick up my dog’s poo.

 

They make biodegradable poo bags.

Edited April 5, 20197 yr by bugatti

Austin Texas has a city ordinance against grocery stores giving out these bags. You have to either buy the reusable bags or bring you own.

Plastic bags take between 500 and 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill.

 

And fewer than 1% of plastic bags are returned for recycling.

 

Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes each.

 

The bolded is the problem. People don't want to go through the effort to recycle. Also, the cost of recycling is prohibitive. That is a topic all unto itself. It's just better to used degradable products everywhere you can. By that token, if the reusable bags are plastic, they'll eventually end up in the landfill as well.

I believe that grocery stores in California have a surcharge for each plastic bag that you use, so a lot of families use reusable.

 

I could probably be a lot better about this, its not hard.

I believe that grocery stores in California have a surcharge for each plastic bag that you use, so a lot of families use reusable.

 

I could probably be a lot better about this, its not hard.

Once you go to using a reusable bag, you will never go back. It depends on the size, but for us, I would say one of our bags is the equivalent of seven plastic bags.

 

And as I noted earlier, I generally use a collapsible crate and can fit everything in it.

Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage? : Planet Money : NPR

 

Interesting story on NPR earlier this week. Of note is how the purchases of plastic bags shot up once stores started phasing out the plastic bags because more people used them for other purposes beyond just carrying out groceries. While I understand their drawbacks environmentally, the only time I don’t reuse a bag multiple times is if it tears.

Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage? : Planet Money : NPR

 

Interesting story on NPR earlier this week. Of note is how the purchases of plastic bags shot up once stores started phasing out the plastic bags because more people used them for other purposes beyond just carrying out groceries. While I understand their drawbacks environmentally, the only time I don’t reuse a bag multiple times is if it tears.

 

That's us too, we have a cloth bag hanging in the kitchen that all of ours go into. We reuse the heck out of them.