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Training supermarket checkout employees not to waste bags while bagging would reduce plastic bag usage by at least 10-20%. Why do a can of tomatoes and a bottle of shampoo have to go in separate bags just because one is food and the other isn't? Why does a carton of eggs have to go in a bag all by itself? It's because "my supervisor/store manager/corporate says we have to do it this way." Arbitrary and wasteful rules.
I worked in supermarkets before and during college and there were customers who would pitch a hissy fit if you put a non-food item like shampoo in bags with food items. Those 'arbitrary and wasteful rules' came into existence due to customer complaints about bagging.
Sometimes I have to scold the bagger for making the bags too light. The baggers should be able to look at the customer and realize they are not a weak, elderly woman. It is one of the reasons I strongly prefer self-checkout as I can pack the bags appropriately.
I try to use paper bags as much as possible; I'm not good at remembering my reusable bags. I also have bags of these heavier reusable plastic bags I suppose I will take to recycling at some point.
You can make larger re-usable shopping bags from those heavier plastic dog/ cat/ chicken/ horse feed bags--- cut a ring off around the open top & fold it for the handles, then fold the next inch or two around the top and sew it (for strength) and sew the handles on either side...You can get fancy and cut/fold & sew the bottom for squaring the floor, but it's not really necessary. ...You can make the bags as deep as you like, depending on how heavy you want the load and how long your arms are.
You can make larger re-usable shopping bags from those heavier plastic dog/ cat/ chicken/ horse feed bags--- cut a ring off around the open top & fold it for the handles, then fold the next inch or two around the top and sew it (for strength) and sew the handles on either side...You can get fancy and cut/fold & sew the bottom for squaring the floor, but it's not really necessary. ...You can make the bags as deep as you like, depending on how heavy you want the load and how long your arms are.
Probably not the best use for them but before they are tossed out, the bags for Purina Lion Chow and Lion Litter are used for the kitchen garbage bag, about one a week. Sure, still going into the land fill, but one less box of plastic garbage bags bought.
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Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry
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Originally Posted by jbgusa
“We solve one environmental problem only to create or exacerbate another problem.â€
Unfortunately, the true problem is people, and their propensity to trash up their environment. We saw it everywhere in our travels around the country. Everywhere people are, or were, they leave trash. On hiking trails, sidewalks, roadsides. We use to buy in bulk, and reuse containers. Now, we just toss everything. We cannot legislate people's choices to act like pigs. All we can do is train our youth to have respect for their environment. Sadly, we don'teven train our youth to respect others, so expecting parents to teach them to respect the environment seems a stretch.
Oh, probably a massive problem there. In my weekly phone call to my older brother tonight, of where I will say of how I have been unpacking the house, he will no doubt ask if I have tossed anything out. He has expressedly often said that if I did first, he dreads cleaning out my place. I assume that he will hire an estate team to get what money they can for it.....and toss the rest into dumpsters. Of course, he wasn't much help when I was trying to develop a system to sort this, either.
But isn't that the way it is with our people, if it isn't worth our time, it gets tossed in the trash. Me, unpacking has gone on for the years it has because of so many generations of stuff, so little time, and that it all must be sifted and processed out if it can.
Why? Are we so specialized that we see things like that, that sorting and processing is "That's not my job!". Is it easier to crucify those who do find the max use in materials to call them hoarders and swear we will not be like them?
Is it just the human quality?
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 09-04-2022 at 05:28 PM..
I'm going to put in a plug here for reusable produce bags. They weigh practically nothing so you can send them right through the scale at the checkout, machine-washable, and they're really good for things like potatoes, apples, citrus, tomatoes, etc. Really cuts down on the need for plastic produce bags.
I just got an Amazon order for 300 plastic Tshirt bags that I paid $14.28. Why? because I am not going to spend my time making bathroom trash liners for my garbage. I used all the grocery bags I had left, in my bathrooms. While I do believe in being a good steward of our planet, I also believe that taking care of myself is more important. If I have to carry paper bags with no closures on them from the bathroom to the garbage can outside, I will also have to spend not only time but soap and water cleaning out the larger trash can of the debris. Sorry, this senior is not about to make more work for myself, the planet will be here longer than I will.
That's an interesting perspective. I find that older people are much more apt to just throw things away. I see the kids, meaning anybody under the age of 30, seeking out package-free options, reusing containers, and just generally being less wasteful.
That's great, but I was not strictly referring to litter. The bags, as well as the plethora of convenience packaging goes into those trash cans, which are often overloaded, get picked up and go into landfills or the oceans. Floods wash poorly conceived landfills and the detritus makes its way to waterways, including roadside ditches.
The biggest problem is that the trash retrieval companies are straining under the preponderance of trash we generate. Plainly, our burdensome populations are part of the problem, but it's our choices to buy convenience packaging, and to toss what could be reused that is the factor in this post,
That's an interesting perspective. I find that older people are much more apt to just throw things away. I see the kids, meaning anybody under the age of 30, seeking out package-free options, reusing containers, and just generally being less wasteful.
I don't even see this related to age, I think it might be even more related to how you grew up.
If you are used to buying lots of processed foods vs fresh foods, you'll probably generate more trash in one week than someone who buys fresh and uses plastic bags.
That's great, but I was not strictly referring to litter. The bags, as well as the plethora of convenience packaging goes into those trash cans, which are often overloaded, get picked up and go into landfills or the oceans. Floods wash poorly conceived landfills and the detritus makes its way to waterways, including roadside ditches.
The biggest problem is that the trash retrieval companies are straining under the preponderance of trash we generate. Plainly, our burdensome populations are part of the problem, but it's our choices to buy convenience packaging, and to toss what could be reused that is the factor in this post,
That was my point. The Zoomers I know go out of their way to minimize the trash they produce. Gen Z social media is full of zero waste influencers. If I see someone drinking coffee out of a reclaimed, thrift store Ball jar, it's someone under the age of 30.
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Originally Posted by KaraG
I don't even see this related to age, I think it might be even more related to how you grew up.
If you are used to buying lots of processed foods vs fresh foods, you'll probably generate more trash in one week than someone who buys fresh and uses plastic bags.
My 85-year-old parents throw away an incredible amount of trash. I've often wondered about it because I can't figure out the reason for it. I love them deeply, but their wastefulness turns my stomach.
That's great, but I was not strictly referring to litter. The bags, as well as the plethora of convenience packaging goes into those trash cans, which are often overloaded, get picked up and go into landfills or the oceans. Floods wash poorly conceived landfills and the detritus makes its way to waterways, including roadside ditches.
The biggest problem is that the trash retrieval companies are straining under the preponderance of trash we generate. Plainly, our burdensome populations are part of the problem, but it's our choices to buy convenience packaging, and to toss what could be reused that is the factor in this post,
That's one of the things I find incredible in this incredibly unbelievable world.
Wally World use to sell powdered milk in big card board boxes.....but then they switched to big plastic bags. With the problems we have with plastic pollution, how could they?.......but they did.
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