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I stopped using paper bags once my son got out of middle school. They made excellent book covers. Having said that, though, they were not very practical - we can transport far more plastic bags from vehicle to kitchen in one trip than we can paper. And when your vehicle is parked some distance from your door, this becomes an important thing.
I don't need one more thing to clean and haul back and forth. The typical reusable bags hold very little. I'd need half a dozen of them. A lot of these "sustainable" solutions simply aren't practical. And those plastic bags aren't going into landfills either. We have a dozen small waste bins around the house. If we don't have the grocery bags, we will have to buy new plastic bags. Is that what you want?
Yeah, what's up with those reusable bags? The handles break off way too easily. Most don't hold much (apparently, in an effort to not overtax the under-engineered handles). Their only advantage over plastic bags seems to be they're too heavy to be easily blown around by the wind or float. Bookbag/backpack canvas with nylon-webbed, wrap-around handles is what's needed.
Harris Teeter still offers the option. I usually request paper because they transport in the trunk of my car better. When I use plastic bags, they slide all around and the contents come out.
And those plastic bags aren't going into landfills either. We have a dozen small waste bins around the house. If we don't have the grocery bags, we will have to buy new plastic bags. Is that what you want?
If you're using them for trash bags, then yes, they are ending up in the landfills ;-)
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
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Plastic bags are dramatically less expensive than paper bags. That is the only reason that stores push plastic, if they have that option. It's purely a back-end expense savings. It's business.
My reusable bags work great. They hold A LOT, I pack them heavy and full, they save me trips to the car, I need far fewer bags... seems like the definition of practical to me. And plastic is gross. No matter how you swing it, yes, it does eventually end up in a landfill, for the next 500+ years, and that's only if they're exposed to sunlight (photo-degradation is the only way they've been determined to breakdown naturally, ever), which, in a land fill, they are not. I understand reusing the bags as trash liners, etc., but one good trip to the grocery store is enough trash-liners to last a year. I think we could do with fewer of them, for sure...
we only get paper bags and only plastic if we pick up things at walgreens/cvs last minute. We use the paper bags for recycling and they work very well,.
I love the reusable bags- the ones we get in Canada from Loblaws/No Frills are strong and large. And pretty!!
My problem is - remembering to bring them back out to the car for the next trip... and then, remembering to take them into the store once they've miraculously made it to the car. It's something I've been working on for the last 12 years.
I live in Europe and paper bags are a rarity, it's bring-your-own, regular plastic which you are urged to reuse or a plastic which rapidly deteriorates.
we still have paper up here i prefer them,,,,good to burn in the woodstove for firestarters
growing up we were poor used paper bags as book covers
We liked to use them (as kids) and as teens there were radio stations and other advertisers who
would give paper book covers away.
I have some Trader Joe's bags that are 6 years old and not only are they in great shape
but hold a lot of heavy items.
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