How does your choice of grocery bags make a difference to the environment?

Question

I bag groceries as a job and everyday, I see how wasteful people can be when they ask us to double bag plastic, or to bag their groceries in paper and hang them in plastic. Many of them don't realize how harmful to the environment this can be. Especially using plastic bags. Around here, you cant recycle palstic bags because they jam the recycling machines and we get shipments where entire crates of plastic bags have holes in them and we have to throw them away. I try to encourage customers to use paper as it is re-usuable, can hold more, easier on the environment, etc etc. Next week it is earth week and the store is giving out canvas bags that customers can bring back everytime they shop. Do you ever wonder how your choice of bags can make a difference? What do you think about this? Are there any other suggestions you have on how to help the environment when it comes to grocery bags?

Answer 1

I haul the logs that are made in to paper and cardboard.  About 95% of the logs that are used for pulp at the paper mill are not even good enough for a bird nest.  They are, tall and rotten, or small under growth, or broken chunks of logs. It is better to use all the paper you can, it keeps demand for the "garbage logs" high, so the loggers will haul it to the pulp mill and not pile it in to a slash pile and burn it.

Answer 2

Plastic fixes carbon that would otherwise be released as CO2.  If you car about global warming, you should maximize your use of plastic.

Answer 3

i really think this is important because in such a small way it can affect our environment. in the philippines, used plastic bags take up the majority of the waste generated and plastic is non-biodegradable.

in our family we reuse old plastic bags we get from supermarkets as packaging for the numerous stuff we have at our house. in our own little way we are minimizing our household waste.

i watched a program on national geographic channel that talked about packaging. there is a new kind of polymer which can replace the kind of plastic we now use. it is derived from corn and it is called poly-lactate. it can be easily degraded by bacteria. maybe it can be used for grocery bags.

Answer 4

This kind of relates to the question I asked (right above you).  I don't know why the USA can't figure out how to recycle plastic bags.  I lived in Japan, and they collected plastic bags and recycled them with no problems.  Maybe it requires different machines that we are too cheap to pay for?

Answer 5

My culture believes that before you make a decision you must think about the consequences for the next 7 generations.

The same plastic bags we use today will be in and on our earth for far longer than 7 generations.

I've been using the same cloth bags for 20 years. They're in great shape. I take them into every store I shop and use them for every type of purchase.

I feel plastic bags should be banned. If you need to walk to your grocery store, what about using a small cart so you don't need to carry anything?

Answer 6

Being old enough to remember the hoopla over save a tree kill an oil reserve first. Now after years of trips to the grocery store, having the next generation of wide-eyed youthful bag-ers ask the dumb question of the day, with a plastic bag already in there hand, DO YOU WANT PAPER OR PLASTIC?  

I invented the half paper / half plastic grocery bag, Remember  all of the useful things you could find for all those paper bags stuffed in the space between counter and the fridge,  Now you can have them back plus all the reasons you love your plastic bags

My bag is the standard issue high capacity (fewer bags) paper bag except it has the inside plastic coated ( no leaks)

and the plastic bonded liner ends up with plastic carry handles at the top,

No more mind numbing descions after spending  the last hour zoned out trying to decide whether to by the cheaper store brand or go with what you really want  gourmet  baby peas and then get hit with one more decision ( paper or plastic) ,

This bag is guaranteed to anger half the population half of the time. then again everybody gets half of what they want all of the time. except of coarse the wild eyed splinter group who are so proud of them selves as the clutch their canvas bags that shrink in the washer. Oh never mind the health food store only has paper or canvass, Uh-mm I just got an ideas for a new invention. cheerio have a good day

Answer 7

double bagging is bad,people use them as rubbish bags at home,they do not break down ever ,there is a store in Australia,who uses cardboard boxes only,no bags.even grocery stores encourage you to bring degradable shopping bags

Answer 8

if you use paper and recycle you are saving but some people use doublebags have extras for garage sales

Answer 9

Feh I say!

I'm one of those guys that asks for double bags. I haven't got a car, and I'll tell you, I'm not carrying a bottle of milk a mile in a single bag. I don't want milksplatter all over the sidewalk when it should be in my glass. And no, I'm not carrying them in the canvas bags. I have other uses for the grocery bags once we get home, such as garbage liners, waste bags for the kitty litter, wrap for leftovers, and other things. those bags are lifesavers. Besides, it's much easier to carry twenty plastic bags than ten of the canvas bags, they just don't hang from my wrists right when I have to carry a huge load of bags. Many people have the same concern here, a plastic bag is just easier to carry than a paper bag, but plastic bags tear easily, easiest option? double bagging.

Answer 10

Paper bags don't work as waste basket liners . . . and they don't fold up compactly enough to fit in the standard bag holder.  There's nothing wrong with using plastic bags as long as they get reused or recycled.  If you don't have recycling  -- I'm sorry they are reusable too.  Not to mention I'm another one of those people that doesn't have a car.  One time I bought dish soap at a store that only has paper bags.  On the way home I stopped in another store where I lost my grip and the cap broke off the bottle, spilling my soap.  Isn't that using resources too?  Think about the manufactered dish soap in a manufactured plastic bottle just wasted, the manufactured floor cleaner in a manufactered plastic packet just wasted, the manufactered mop bought in a manufactered plastic package used to clean the floor, the manufactered plastic "wet floor" sign placed as a safety precuation.  Next time you have something bad to say about manufactured plastic bags think about how much more   And if you really want to make a difference next: fix your plastic recycling center to give people more earth friendly options.

Answer 11

I don't know if you have Tesco in the US but they're the biggest retailer in the UK.  If you reuse bags they reward you with extra loyalty points, seems to work as I've seen a lot of people recently bringing their old bags with them to reuse.

There's also the 'bag for life' - a much more substantial bag which can be repeatedly reused.

Some retailers charge for bags, just a small amount but it does encourage shoppers to bring their own bags with them.

There's also bag collection points in some stores where you can dispose of old torn bags and they get taken away for recycling.

If you find you've got surplus bags then give them to charity shops, they're always on the lookout for bags.

Slightly different but something I think is a great idea - reuseable milk cartons.  Some European countries have had these for decades (way before global warming became an issue).  You buy a milk churn - metal, ceramic, glass, plastic - take it to the store and fill it with as much milk as you need.  The milk is cheaper as there's no packaging and less transportation and you can buy exactly the amount you want.