What is the point of plastic bags?

Question

I wish all grocery stores, convenience store would stop using plastic bags. They are used to carry items, and then immediately discarded and can not be recycled.

Answer 1

We should avoid recyclable bags too. The environmental impact of recycling is unacceptably high. Far better to use a reusable bag that lasts for years.

When I forget to take my reusable bags I ask the store to just leave the  groceries in the cart, and I transfer them to my car without a bag. We get a credit of $.05 per reusable bag we bring, but they also  give us $.20 if we just SAY we have 4 bags in the car. (I usually do have.)

Some 'no frills' super markets  leave out used boxes to be reused. People will bring them back repeatedly to save paying an extra .03 per plastic bag.

We are not being cheap, just responsible.

Answer 2

I used my shopping bags as bin liners.

Answer 3

They are great for carrying things, and they do double duty as leak proof garbage bags.

Answer 4

they have an amazing potential for storage!

=)

Answer 5

Plastic grocery bags can be recycled.  We take ours to the Pyramid Grocery at 51st & Harvard.  Albertsons used to take them before Pyramid took over

Answer 6

to hang from trees

http://www.turquoisebaginatree.co.uk/pag...

buy these instead:

http://www.reusablebags.com/store/shoppi...

Answer 7

to carry goods in as you said

we now have recyclable bag

Answer 8

They were mandated to save tress that is the simple answer no big conspiracy sorry. Tree huggers got their way as usual but then find something new to complain about.

Answer 9

In some ways they are more enviromentaly friendly than paper.  They are much easier to recycle than paper, and leave a smaller carbon "footprint" when shipping.  And of course they save a tree.  

Plastic bags would ideally work best if people in the US receycled more often though.

Answer 10

The most environmentally friendly option is to bring your own reusable bag (i.e. canvas bag).

If you can't or won't, plastic bags might be the best option.

Paper bags require more energy to produce and trees to be cut down, but are easily recyclable.

Plastic bags require less energy to produce, but are not recyclable.  They are reusable for other applications, but only if your area has a specific plastic grocery bag recycling program (every retail store in California is now required by law to have one, for example).

So from most to least environmentally friendly:

1) Bring canvas bag(s)

2) Plastic if there's a specific recycling program

3) Paper

4) Plastic if there's no recycling program

Answer 11

Well yes bring back paper. But my plastic bags are not discarded, they are used for kitchen tidy bags as opposed to buying tidy bags from supermarket.

Answer 12

I live in PIttsburgh and shop at Giant Eagle and they have huge plastic bag recycle bins to bring your bags from the last shopping trip.  They're always jam packed full.

They're 100% recyclable but your grocer or local recycle agent just is cheap (or lazy) and doesn't want to pay for the service. Recycling them is more pricey than just paying for new ones.

Answer 13

I agree I wish all stores would quit using plastic bags!  

Some places are actually banning the use of free plastic bags in grocery stores, including California and China and many others are discussing it such as Washington State, Virginia and Canada, but unfortunately this is not happening fast enough everywhere.

Many grocery stores offer recycling for plastic bags. But bringing a reusable canvas or cotton bag is by far the best option.  If your grocery store does not offer recycling of plastic bags you should get in touch with the corporate office and insist that they do and also insist that they sell reusable bags as well.  Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Winn-Dixie all offer recycling and sell reusable bags.

Answer 14

I ask myself this question each time I go to the store and have not figured out the answer - I often believe it's partly laziness (people don't want to be in charge of having to bring their own bag; all you have to do is keep them in your car) and part ignorance.

I use my own bag every time I go...if you are a recycler you can get a small or medium size trash can and put your recycling in that; it doesn't have to be in a plastic bag. It also depends on if you have a recycling program where you live...luckily the city provides us with a large bin just for recycling.

Basically, if everyone would just invest $10 in fabric bags ( organic cotton would be ideal) for their groceries the amount of plastic bags that litter the streets and end up in our oceans would decrease more than one can imagine. Besides, you can use these bags for other things too (overnighters, carrying other goods, beach trips, picnics, etc.

Answer 15

Recyling is the best answer or bring your own resualbe bags or no bag at all.

Abandon them all together.

I dont think paper is the answer so much as bring your own bags.

I saw a peice of art (photo) of a tree being suficated by plastic bags......then one day driving down the road I spotted my own  plastic bag tree along the highway and watched it as the year went by.. tree was trimmed so the bag diappeared.

Recycle..........