Grocery Store to drop plastic bags. (Portland: coupons, apartment complexes, vs.)

[maxredline]

Or at least with a high percentage of recycled paper, yes.

[portlandapd]

I haven't found the need to buy any bags. I have gone to multiple conventions in which we were provided with a bag to put our convention stuff in. I just keep them in my trunk and reuse them at the store. I think cutting down on plastic film is a good idea.
Laura

[maxredline]

Originally Posted by portlandapd

I haven't found the need to buy any bags. I have gone to multiple conventions in which we were provided with a bag to put our convention stuff in. I just keep them in my trunk and reuse them at the store. I think cutting down on plastic film is a good idea.
Laura

You know, everywhere you go it seems like you get a free bag. Good idea to just stick them in the car where they're close at hand. I just haul them into the house and then forget to take them. That's kind of a waste, right there.

I need to move them out of the house and into the ride, where I have a better chance of remembering that I have them when I hit the grocers.

As noted before, the plastic bags are made from waste products, but I agree with your perspective in a sense. They don't need to be made into shopping bags; I suspect that a better use for the by-product exists.

[Lee151]

I have always asked for paper instead of plastic when I grocery shop and have never received a quality paper bag with handles from Fred Meyer. QFC, New Seasons and Thriftway do have them though.

I often got sighs or mutters when I asked for paper, IF the checker had already started with plastic I never asked them to start over so always did end up with some plastic bags and also they were the only choice at the self check outs. I am not getting sighs, mutters or cussing when I hand any cashiers my reusable bags but I do forget and leave them in the car, often.
Some do have a loop to hook on to the metal frame for the plastic bags BTW.

There are a lot of free bags out there, I work for a company that imprints logos on various bags and have sold lots of them, most are give aways. They are really nice bags. Used to be the rep for the Neela Bags I linked to above. They have bags with thermal linings, pockets for wine bottles, that fold up into tiny little packets and more. They are more expensive than the bags sold at Fred Meyer or Safeway but much higher quality.

We are in one of the test neighborhoods for food scraps to be placed in the yard debris bins and that includes meat, pizza boxes and napkins/paper towels with food waste on them. Our garbage can always was a 20 gal size (the smallest allowed) and never full because we composted already but now it is almost 100% plastic. I don't buy bottled water and a lot of other individually packaged items and the amount of plastic is still appalling.

Anyone who wants plastic bags can shoot me an email and I'll leave my giant bags stuffed full out by the mailbox.

I just keep shoving them on top of my freezer until my husband takes them to the dumpster at his work. I worked for grocery chain "S" too and have seen the recycle bin for them dumped every night in the compactor.....

Plastic bags are far cheaper for the stores. I worked at "S" when widespread use of them for grocery stores started. There were meetings telling us all how much more money the company would make and checkers who didn't push them got in trouble.

[aroseinrain]

Sometimes I miss the days when a person could just write a nasty letter and then decide not to send it.

[maxredline]

I have always asked for paper instead of plastic when I grocery shop and have never received a quality paper bag with handles from Fred Meyer. QFC, New Seasons and Thriftway do have them though.

Our Freddy's ran with the paper bags with handles for a few months, but recently switched back to the ones with no handles. Not sure why, as you note, most of the other stores use them.

[aroseinrain]

here we go....

[puerco]

Originally Posted by Lee151

We are in one of the test neighborhoods for food scraps to be placed in the yard debris bins and that includes meat, pizza boxes and napkins/paper towels with food waste on them.

We've had compost bins for a couple of years now & I really like that people can put their scraps from their produce into them. But I'm not crazy about meat going into them. Decaying meat can smell pretty nasty. Fortunately the bins are picked up every week & if I get to the bin before anyone throws anything into it, I wash it out and spray it with Lysol disinfectant (that's probably not very green of me, is it.) So the smell doesn't stay around too long. Most of my tenants are more than happy to separate their compostibles, recyclables & trash. pizza boxes, milk cartons & take-out boxes can go into the compost bins, too.

[maxredline]

Originally Posted by puerco

We've had compost bins for a couple of years now & I really like that people can put their scraps from their produce into them. But I'm not crazy about meat going into them. Decaying meat can smell pretty nasty. Fortunately the bins are picked up every week & if I get to the bin before anyone throws anything into it, I wash it out and spray it with Lysol disinfectant (that's probably not very green of me, is it.) So the smell doesn't stay around too long. Most of my tenants are more than happy to separate their compostibles, recyclables & trash. pizza boxes, milk cartons & take-out boxes can go into the compost bins, too.

Ok, for a second there, I didn't see what you meant. We have compost bins, as well - but ours are in the back yard and are used to compost yard debris and kitchen leftovers (minus meat).

Our garbage service has recycling wheelie bins for yard debris and for paper, plastic, cardboard, cans, and other stuff like that - you don't separate it out; it all goes into one bin.

In our area, a compostable program like you have is currently available to corporate and government entities, but not to house-holds. In that program, they can throw in meat, vegetable matter, paper, cardboard, fish, general meat products, buns, and I'm not sure what all else. At my work, they also recycle vegetable oil, to be converted to biodiesel, but I'm not sure that that's part of the general garbage program - it looks like a private company.

[puerco]

Originally Posted by maxredline

At my work, they also recycle vegetable oil, to be converted to biodiesel, but I'm not sure that that's part of the general garbage program - it looks like a private company.

I like that service. At this time I don't think we do that here in SF. I know there are private enterprises that go to donut shops, fast food joints, etc... that have deep fried vats & they recycle that as biofuel. I don't really do much frying but I have tenants that do & it would be nice if they could recycle their old oils rather than flush it down the toilet or worse, pour it down the drain.
Unfortunately plastic bags can't go into recycling nor composting and can only go into the trash bins. Very puzzling & frustrating!