Plastic Bags‏

[desdemona]

Originally Posted by fireflyfarm

I'm doing an experiment- On March 1, 2008, I purchased a reuseable bag at our local grocery store. Each time I use it, I mark the side with a Sharpie. I'm up to nearly 100 uses so far, and the bag, although a bit grubby, is still in good shape. After 1 year, I'll see how many bags I DIDN'T use!

That is a great idea!! Seems like something to try. You could hang a small sharpie off the bag.

--des

[worthywads]

I was thinking about plastic bags while I shopped a few days ago. I used 3 reusable bags which probably prevented 5 plastic bags.

Yet at the same time I used a plastic bag for 6 avocados and one for cilantro but didn't use any bags for 3 tomatoes, 4 limes, a lemon, garlic or an onion. Who can guess what I made? A few years ago I would have put each different item in a separate bag, and it seems most people generally do.

I got 2 plastic bags with the hot dog buns and one with the loaf of bread. 2 deli meat items were wrapped in plastic then put in ziploc plastic bags. The bratwurst was plastic wrapped.

Cutting out the grocery bags only eliminated a small fraction of the plastic bag like material.

[kelly.cardona]

Originally Posted by worthywads

I was thinking about plastic bags while I shopped a few days ago. I used 3 reusable bags which probably prevented 5 plastic bags.

Yet at the same time I used a plastic bag for 6 avocados and one for cilantro but didn't use any bags for 3 tomatoes, 4 limes, a lemon, garlic or an onion. Who can guess what I made? A few years ago I would have put each different item in a separate bag, and it seems most people generally do.

I got 2 plastic bags with the hot dog buns and one with the loaf of bread. 2 deli meat items were wrapped in plastic then put in ziploc plastic bags. The bratwurst was plastic wrapped.

Cutting out the grocery bags only eliminated a small fraction of the plastic bag like material.

I totally agree with you on only eliminating a small fraction, but think about it if everyone did this it would eliminate a huge portion of plastic bag consumption. I used to use bags when I shopped but switched to reusable bags, and for my produce I don't bag any of them in plastic bags, I place them all in the same bag. Of course I wash them well before consuming the product.

If the United States would ban plastic bags our petroleum consumption would drop dramatically, not to mention the positive impact we would make to the environment.

So even though one may think What is the impact I am making if I use my own bags but still get products that contain plastic bags has a huge impact to the decrease of plastic consumption.