Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

[Wild4Stars]

I haven't bought any yet, but I found some that weigh 3.2 ounces for 10. That's 1/3 of an ounce each. Insignificant in my book.

[Kiki]

Well, the insignificance does add up. On top of the $10 or $20 initial outlay for bags you could be paying:

Code: Select all

             bag weight:  .33 oz   .58 oz   1.08 oz

Potatoes @ $1.50/lb       .02      .04      .09
Sweet potatoes @ $1.50/lb .02      .04      .09
Dates @ $8/lb             .13      .25      .5
Onions @ $1.50/lb         .02      .04      .09
Mushrooms @ $5/lb         .08      .15      .31
Walnuts @ $12/lb          .19      .38      .75
Tomatoes @ $4/lb          .06      .13      .25
Peaches @ $2.50/lb        .04      .08      .16
Flax seed @ $4/lb         .06      .13      .25
Oatmeal @ $1.25/lb        .02      .04      .08
Brown Rice @ $1.25/lb     .02      .04      .08
Popcorn @ $2/lb           .03      .06      .13

Total (per trip):        $.69    $1.38    $2.78

1 year (1x per week):   $35.88   $71.76   $144.56
1 year (2x per week):   $71.76   $143.52  $289.12



For me, this is an unnecessary expense and way too much to pay for the privilege of saving the store money on plastic bags. Tare weights are on purchased cloth/nylon produce bags and you can write them on, or have the store of your choice weigh an empty bag and write them on with a laundry pen for homemade bags.

It would be easy enough for a programmer to up the max tare weight limit on the registers. The cashiers are already trained to enter tare weights anyway. A small change on their part would make it more fair, more economical, and more environmentally-friendly for everyone.

[rickfm]

Well, the insignificance does add up...

For me, this is an unnecessary expense and way too much to pay for the privilege of saving the store money on plastic bags.

It's not about saving the store money, it's about being more responsible with the amount of garbage we generate.

Besides, I save so much money from no longer buying animal products, I don't mind "making a contribution" to do my small part in caring for my planet.

Seeing wildlife trapped in plastic garbage, out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds or even thousands of miles away from human activity, just makes me sick.

[ETeSelle]

I never accept the plastic bags. I use my reusable bags mostly but often let them put it in paper b/c I use those for disposing of used cat litter.

[Kiki]

Why not make the switch, get the store to correct its policy, and use the money to donate to the nature conservation program of your choice instead of using it to fund the CEOs at Whole Foods or Safeway?

I don't understand the reticence to simply send a note to a store asking them to make a small change in policy that would better serve them (right now WF, for example, overcompensates when I mention the tare weight problem) as well as the whole community?

[Wild4Stars]

Well, the insignificance does add up...

For me, this is an unnecessary expense and way too much to pay for the privilege of saving the store money on plastic bags.

It's not about saving the store money, it's about being more responsible with the amount of garbage we generate.

Besides, I save so much money from no longer buying animal products, I don't mind "making a contribution" to do my small part in caring for my planet.

Seeing wildlife trapped in plastic garbage, out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds or even thousands of miles away from human activity, just makes me sick.

For me it has nothing to do with saving the store money. That would not be my reason for doing it. After watching that movie it makes me sick what is happening to our planet and the animals that inhabit it. I don't eat meat, I dislike the way factory farmed animals are treated, now that I know what is happening to the animals in our oceans - I can't "unknow" what I've learned. I have to stop whatever my role in that mess happens to be. I agree with Rick, it makes me sick. We are treating our planet like a huge garbage can and I can't participate.

[Kiki]

It's still not a very savvy position to take. Like I said, you could be doing the same good by making the switch to cloth bags from plastic, plus additional good by putting the unnecessary expense of paying for your bags every time you go to the register toward even more good programs that help preserve the environment.

I'm not sure why there seems to be such a mental disconnect. Paying more at the register unnecessarily isn't doing the environment any extra good.

[rickfm]

Why not make the switch, get the store to correct its policy, and use the money to donate to the nature conservation program of your choice instead of using it to fund the CEOs at Whole Foods or Safeway?

I don't understand the reticence to simply send a note to a store asking them to make a small change in policy that would better serve them (right now WF, for example, overcompensates when I mention the tare weight problem) as well as the whole community?

Valid points. I'll give them some thought. For now, I simply want to stop using plastic grocery bags.

I don't own a car, so I have to walk to the nearest grocery store which is about a half mile from my apartment. That's my grocery store, been going there, with my backpack, for five years now. That's what's convenient for me. I don't know what their policy might be on tare weight for reusable bags. I may inquire about it just to see what they say.

[edit]- Hmmm... here's some produce bags that have the tare weight on a tag sewn onto the bag (see the Product Features).

[stoumi]

Rick, thanks for the recommendation on Bag It! I just finished watching it this morning. I think this documentary is having the same sort of of profound impact on "single use disposables" that FoK had on the food I eat.

Just yesterday I walked to Chinatown in Oakland during my lunch. I stopped by 3 establishments and not surprisingly walked out with 3 plastic bags. On the way home I stopped by an international market, buying 4 cans of fava beans, 2 pounds of besan and 2 naan breads. That was 3 more plastic bags.

I never really paid attention to the amount of bags that I collect and discard without giving it a second thought. I feel more enlightened now and will make a change, I am sure this will please my wife. BPA and Phthalates are some nasty buggers though.

I am already shopping for reusable bags for groceries, as well as bags to store veggies in, while in the fridge. Change, might be slow, much like it was with McDougalling but I believe we will be heading in the right direction. Next step remove all the plastic containers we store food in, opting for glassware. Yet those still have plastic lids. It seems you can never escape.

[funcrunch]

I'm also asking them to get compostable produce bags. I currently use the ones I get to line the kitchen compost bin. The other 'organic' stores I've shopped at all have compostable bags that more or less go back to nature. Whole Foods really needs to step up.

The Whole Foods here in San Francisco do offer compostable produce bags. I think they charge a few cents extra for them though.

My husband and I always bring cloth tote bags when grocery shopping; only occasionally do we get paper bags when we go shopping unexpectedly and don't have our tote bags with us (or didn't bring enough bags for large hauls). The paper bags are handy for putting recycling in.

I try to reuse plastic bags as much as possible for shopping at farmers markets. But I won't reuse a plastic bag that's had wet/slimy food in it. I used to wash Ziploc bags but my husband convinced me to stop doing that for sanitary concerns (the plastic is porous). So we use sturdy BPA-free containers for storing food in the fridge as much as possible, though I'm currently still freezing some foods in Ziploc bags.

My main concern is that we're using so much non-recyclable aseptic packaging for soymilk, almond milk, and veggie broth. I could make all of these things myself, especially the almond milk which I used to make before it became widely available commercially. I've already stopped buying most canned beans but I do still buy refried beans, tomatoes, and some other things in cans. I'll never be zero-waste, but I'm moving gradually toward leaving a lighter footprint...

ETA: I've added Bag It to my Netflix queue; thanks for the recommendation!

[Kiki]

Funcrunch, that's great that you can get compostable bags in your area. I would like to have that here as well. I've noticed them a few places when I travel, but not here. It's not as nice as moving completely away from plastic, but every little bit helps.

[Kiki]

Also for bulk items, how do you purchase them? Flour isn't going to work in a cloth bag and using a glass container will just cost more because of the weight of the container...

You can use cloth for flours. Remember flour used to come in sacks like these. I think I recall in the movie (saw it some time ago, sorry) that they actually have a clip of the guy using his new cloth bag to buy some kind of flour. It depends on the tightness of the weave of your cloth. So, you may actually wind up with several different types of bags if you make the switch completely -- some breathable mesh for fruit, some muslin for root veg, some tight woven cloth for flours and grains, etc. It's not necessary, but it is one possible solution.

[rickfm]

Just yesterday I walked to Chinatown in Oakland during my lunch. I stopped by 3 establishments and not surprisingly walked out with 3 plastic bags. On the way home I stopped by an international market, buying 4 cans of fava beans, 2 pounds of besan and 2 naan breads. That was 3 more plastic bags.

I know, they really add up. I looked in my fridge the other day and was struck by the number of plastic bags I had partially used produce wrapped up in. Six of them. I just shook my head.

Next step remove all the plastic containers we store food in, opting for glassware. Yet those still have plastic lids. It seems you can never escape.

I'm not too concerned at this point about containers because they are reusable. I've got some plastic containers that I've been using for over 5 years. I don't know if that's bad or not. I'll eventually replace them with glass but as soon as I do, they'll just go in the garbage and be on their way to a land fill. Guess it has to happen sooner or later.

[stoumi]

I had to give my full review and some commentary of Bag It. Change starts today! I bought rice today and turned down the bag. Yet the rice container is probably lined with BPA.

[lmggallagher]

I found this information regarding recycling newspaper: "America's supply of timber has been increasing for decades, and the nation's forests have three times more wood today than in 1920. 'We're not running out of wood, so why do we worry so much about recycling paper?' asks Jerry Taylor, the director of natural resource studies at the Cato Institute. 'Paper is an agricultural product, made from trees grown specifically for paper production. Acting to conserve trees by recycling paper is like acting to conserve cornstalks by cutting back on corn consumption.'"

Hi Nettie:

I am going to weigh in here, as an environmental planner by trade, on CATO Institute's quote. CATO Institute is not known for it's decimation of scientifically supported information - they have their own agenda and are tagged as libertarian - though politics don't always mean that science is discarded entirely. CATO kind of is know for making up it's own science that's why the guy above is Director of "Studies",

It's been pretty well understood that you have to look at the whole process from beginning to end to compare paper and plastic. And then really doing that - it's generally seen as a toss up. Some studies doing that actually think the wood processing is quite a more environmentally damaging to our air and water systems and that the plastic bag industry has improved with better processes and better recycling then the paper bag industry. That may be so to a degree with recent bans by Cities like San Francisco - is potentially true that they are trying to clean up their act some.

But really who cares both processes are terribly damaging and we have all decided that we like our reusable cloth bags, yay! I completely applaud that some here make their own, how cool. One of the stores I shop - is making the bags out of old jeans that are past further recycling. Their label is "Bag Ladies" and their profits are given to homeless organizations in the area. I love it!

This is from Reuseit, but their sources are cited and seemingly valid -

http://www.reuseit.com/learn-more/myth-busting/why-paper-is-no-better-than-plastic

Also, I remember from my Grandparents ranch - feed sack dish cloths and quilts. Really check this site out - the fabric (feed sacks, flour sacks and rice sacks) - was gorgeous and so practical and even after the turn of the century rag men travelled around recycling everything you could think of.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/rugs-and-textiles/feedsack-fabric



Still the bottom line of everyone here is watch this movie and we all use our own reusable bags. I am going to watch the movie tonight, shop with my reusable bags today and thank you for this thread right now!

Thanks - Michelle