Plastic shopping bags

[knottybuoyz]

Stumbled across this presentation and it made me think..... Where do all those plastic shopping bags go when we're done with them? Well we use most to line the trash bin and they end up in the landfill. Other than that, because they're so cheap and easy they're pretty much useless for anything else. Anywho.... this is the presention and it's worth a look.

PoconoRecord.com: Slideshow: The dangers of plastic bags

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

Stumbled across this presentation and it made me think..... Where do all those plastic shopping bags go when we're done with them? Well we use most to line the trash bin and they end up in the landfill. Other than that, because they're so cheap and easy they're pretty much useless for anything else. Anywho.... this is the presention and it's worth a look.

PoconoRecord.com: Slideshow: The dangers of plastic bags

If you live on a boat, you should be bringing canvas bags and an insulated bag with you to provision anyway.

If you live on land, do the same.

I see *tons* of these plastic bags and those awful mylar birthday balloons in the ocean.

They are both a menace.

Whole Foods (Whole Foods Market) has discontinued plastic bags entirely for shoppers. It's either paper, or bring your own. I wouldn't shop anywhere else, mostly due to food quality, but it's nice to have a grocery store taking a step to cleaning up the oceans.

Bring a bag when you go to the store. Don't take one when it's only one or two items you can carry. This is one thing we can all do that makes a very large difference.

[Bradley]

On the boat I use up all of my bags taking garbage to shore, storing grease gun and storing other items. Of course, I take insulated bags to the stores. So I don't think plastic bags in this situation are probably all that bad. At least getting two uses out of the bag.

On shore I cannot believe how fast they proliferate. Terrible!!!!!!

[MidLandOne]

We use all ours, mostly as bin liners, both at home and on the boat, so if we didn't have them we would be buying them.

If they end up blowing around the land or in the sea then that would seem to me to be a social problem not a plastic bag problem. A bit like banning the use of paint in order to stop graffiti, seems sort of avoiding the real issue - and if it does reduce the visible problem the social cause will still just manifest itself in other ways.

I have worked in third world countries where there are plastic bags everywhere, in the trees, covering fences, in the sea, etc but they are accompanied by everything else one can imagine - old tin cans, remnants of shoes, rags, paper & cardboard (not always going to disappear quickly if foil or plastic lined), and miles of assorted other junk. I presume the answer there is to just ban the use of everything?

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

If you live on a boat, you should be bringing canvas bags and an insulated bag with you to provision anyway.

I can't agree more!!! The plastic bags blow in the Tradewinds and stick on the trees and shrubs. UGLY! We've started using our canvas boatbags and an insulated, softside cooler bag when going to the local grocery stores.

[bstreep]

Ours are either recycled, or as noted above, re-used.

Also noted above, and I concur, this is a SOCIAL problem, not a need to BAN. In typical fashion, lawmakers tend to say: "you are all idiots, and we need to BAN these to protect you from yourself". How moronic. Those that use resources responsibly, shouldn't have to suffer because of the idiocy of others.

[Chief Engineer]

of acting like they are doin sumfin.

Personnally...I would like to see styrofoam given the boot.

Originally Posted by bstreep

Ours are either recycled, or as noted above, re-used.

Also noted above, and I concur, this is a SOCIAL problem, not a need to BAN. In typical fashion, lawmakers tend to say: "you are all idiots, and we need to BAN these to protect you from yourself". How moronic. Those that use resources responsibly, shouldn't have to suffer because of the idiocy of others.

[Boracay]

I am unable to understand why non biodegradable plastic bags are not taxed to the point where alternatives are cheaper.

[bstreep]

Here's a great article on Styrofoam... The environmental myths are exposed, and Portland's stupid ban cost consumers between $3 & 4 million a year "for no environmental gain". In general, it points out why BANS don't work...

http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_p...=1422&DID=5334

[cat man do]

But they make such good skirts (for fishing lures)



I remember getting the boys (Nevans) to clean the boat up as we came back into Vila after a week out and then being being horrified to see a couple of rubbish bins full of crud bobing in the wake.

Seemed normal to them to throw it over.


Trash Vortex info
The trash vortex | Greenpeace International

Dave

[bstreep]

Paper vs. Plastic...

Plastic Bags: Friend or Foe? - Paper VS. Plastic

And there's a reason why Whole Foods is known by the moniker "Whole Paycheck".

[Ex-Calif]

Singapore is not particularly "gren" but they are into efficiency. There is a campaign to bring your own green bags to grocery shop but paper is not an option.

This is plastic bag heaven. The waters are very poluted with them but I also agree with MLO - It's a social problem.

I get crazy on the kids when anything goes over the side that the fish can't eat. I don't know what makes people think they can toss stuff off a boat but they wouldn't think about littering a street.

One thing we do is hang a garbage bag in the companionway where you can't miss it. Everything goes in and it gets hauled off the boat.

We don't grocery shop daily and I have to admit we don't carry green bags to do grocery shopping. It's just not practical when you are talking 30 bags of groceries.

[Robertcateran]

I go to ALdi stores that don't use any bags. . Everything goes straight into the trolley, out to the car or bike trailer, and from there into a fish boxes to take on board, or if at home, into a trolley to be wheeled to the cupboards. It actually saves a lot of time and effort. The groceries are cheaper as the check out is about three times faster.

[Cowboy Sailer]

South Africa outlawed free plastic sacks at the shops. Since we have to buy our bags we don't throw them away. The ones we can buy are heavy duty and are reused a lot. Most of us have bought sturdy canvass bags. It has really made a big difference in the plastic bag trash blowing along the ground.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by MidLandOne

We use all ours, mostly as bin liners, both at home and on the boat, so if we didn't have them we would be buying them.

If they end up blowing around the land or in the sea then that would seem to me to be a social problem not a plastic bag problem. A bit like banning the use of paint in order to stop graffiti, seems sort of avoiding the real issue - and if it does reduce the visible problem the social cause will still just manifest itself in other ways.

I have worked in third world countries where there are plastic bags everywhere, in the trees, covering fences, in the sea, etc but they are accompanied by everything else one can imagine - old tin cans, remnants of shoes, rags, paper & cardboard (not always going to disappear quickly if foil or plastic lined), and miles of assorted other junk. I presume the answer there is to just ban the use of everything?

I'm sorry... this isn't a social problem at all.

The problem is:

When you throw a plastic bag away, it ends up in a land fill or dumpster or what have you.

The bag then flies out of the dumpster, garbage truck, or land fill when the winds pick up.

As to the mylar balloons.... those are more of a social problem. Idiots releasing them at parties.

And yes, Whole Foods can be irritating a lot of times as it fumbles around trying to exist inside the system of providing returns to shareholders, but it does do a better job than most other grocery stores.