Are there garbage bags that are "green"?

Question

a little new to the whole green thing. i am currently using regular plastic garbage bags that are made of petroleum. i would like to cut down on my oil dependency and wonder if there is a garbage bag that is durable but breaks down in the landfill. i only really use about 1 garbage bag a week because i recycle so much and compost a ton too, so cost really isn't the issue. anything out there for us earth friendly folk?

Answer 1

Any kind of bag is not green, by definition, if we can accomplish the same thing without it, as in  garbage cans that last for decades and are ultimately recyclable.

Where a neighbourhood collaborates to get in bins that will hold several cu metres of garbage, and move them without a human hand touching them, and we never put compostables (any vegetable or animal products) in them, so we need not collect them for months, we are starting to turn green.

Answer 2

ya i have like 10 bags $3.47 for each bag though

Answer 3

I own a small grocery store in the West Town area and we use bio degradable bags from Trellis Earth for our grocery bags - made from corn.  These would be a good option for your garbage bag problem - but they are fairly small.

Answer 4

If you want a truly green suggestion, have you thought of recycling all paper, plastic and glass and for organic food making a compost heap in the backyard? It's great for fertilizer for your plants! Just a thought!

Answer 5

If you use a garbage can...you may not need to use a garbage bag. Try paper

Answer 6

Biobag is available at Whole Foods and is intended for lawn trash or kitchen trash.  It's a bag made from corn that's intended to break down much quicker than regular plastic.

Also check out ecosafe plastics.

http://usa.ecosafeplastics.com/  

They have a whole line of various biodegradable bags.

The only thing is that you shouldn't put non-biodegradable waste into biodegradeable bags.  That would actually be harming the environment more, because a plastic bag is inert but what's in it might not be. Paper/plant products are biodegradeable; metals, glass, and plastics aren't.

Hope that helps!

Answer 7

Congratulations for all your green habits!

A few people have suggested using a garbage can only and no bags and if that's an option for you, I would suggest that if you have anything objectionable -- i.e. smelly or likely to attract flies, etc. -- do what our mothers used to do before the invention of plastic bags: wrap it in several layers of newspaper and tie it up with natural string. Both the paper and the string will decompose in the landfill.

Keep up the great work!

Answer 8

Yes available in the UK. Another fairly green thing to do is use the bio-degradeable plastic carrier bags that 'green' supermarkets issue, you'll have more than one probably though!!

Answer 9

you could always get Glad, its somewhat friendly, and quality is great!

Answer 10

in the uk we have a plastic bag ban on its way thankfully. they've invented one that biodegrades in 12 months. made of corn syrup no less!?!?!?! petition for it in the us.