SA's Plastic Bag Usage

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by GlorifiedMalcontent

and it's not so much that people are or aren't using plastic bags... but you just get SO MANY of them. i don't know about other folks, but my weeks worth of groceries as heb or walmart could send me home with ten plastic bags! (i could cut that in half if i were bagging them though. most grocery bagging clerks seem to use an excessive amount of bags, especially when in a hurry.) ten plastic bags a week? meaning i have roughly forty bags in my collection per month! holy cow. even if i had a need for so many bags, i don't take heart in that their only purpose is to be thrown away.

I agree! I love using reusable bags because it is so much easier to bring in the bags (3 or 4) instead of 10 plastic bags. Much easier when we lived on the 2nd floor of my apartment. Now we have a house with a garage but still a nice thing to use the reuseable bags. Sometimes the plastic bags are so flimsy and they tear and I've got rolling tomatoes in my trunk!

[The Black Irish]

I have chased numerous apples and oranges down the driveway into the street due to those bags ripping apart! They are awful! Reusable is the way to go.

[Sarah TX]

Originally Posted by Verio

I use my plastic bags for all kinds of uses. How do people pick up their dog poop? Dirty diapers? Waste basket trash?

I'm not 100% against plastic bags (yet...), I'm just advocating that people pay for what they use. I purchase dog poop bags that are appropriately sized for dog poop, rather than using a full grocery bag for a little bit of poop. For smaller waste baskets I don't use a bag at all, and for larger trash cans I use a much larger bag so as to maximize surface-area-to-volume ratio (less plastic per lb of trash).

Giving out "free" bags (that only appear to be free) encourages people to use them whenever they can. After all, the cabinet under their sink is overflowing with them! If we charged people for bags, they might start thinking "Where can I use reuseable bags? Do I need to use a disposable plastic bag to carry my lunch or can I get a fabric bag? Do I need to dispose of the bag which held dirty diapers, or can I wash and reuse?"

[cwcavazos]

I know you can not put plastic bags in the City's recycling bins, but does anyone know if you can put them in Waste Management's recycle bins?
I checked their website, and it was not clear. I can call Monday, but was hoping someone already knows the answer Thanks!

[Camper1]

Tiger won't take them either. I just return them to the store. Most everyone has a drop off bin.

[Littlelu]

Washing and reusing plastic bags brings up sanitary issues. Washing bags that held dog poop? You've got to be kidding. Like washing and reusing bags that held meat. I know we can cut back on using disposable bags but eliminate them entirely, I think not. I was reusing the produce bags when the clerk brought up the sanitary issues with doing so. So true...leaking fruit etc. Just some of my thoughts. I do recycle everything I possibly can by checking the website to see what all they take.

[Camper1]

Originally Posted by Littlelu

Washing and reusing plastic bags brings up sanitary issues. Washing bags that held dog poop? You've got to be kidding. Like washing and reusing bags that held meat. I know we can cut back on using disposable bags but eliminate them entirely, I think not. I was reusing the produce bags when the clerk brought up the sanitary issues with doing so. So true...leaking fruit etc. Just some of my thoughts. I do recycle everything I possibly can by checking the website to see what all they take.

Who said they wash them after picking up poop??!!!

[Littlelu]

I read it on here somewhere, can't locate now!

[Penquin927]

Austin is the latest city to ban the plastic bags.

Ban On Plastic Bags In Austin Draws Mixed Feelings « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth