Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

For those questions and discussions on the McDougall program that don’t seem to fit in any other forum.

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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby rickfm » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:46 am

Another area I have a problem with is frozen vegetables. I use them all the time, every day. And the economical ones all come in plastic bags. They are an important part of my adherence to the diet.

I've taken to shredding the bags into small pieces before throwing them away. That's the best I can do with this issue, for now.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby Wild4Stars » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:52 am

rickfm wrote:Another area I have a problem with is frozen vegetables. I use them all the time, every day. And the economical ones all come in plastic bags. They are an important part of my adherence to the diet.

I've taken to shredding the bags into small pieces before throwing them away. That's the best I can do with this issue, for now.


Now that I am paying attention, I am amazed at the amount of plastic in my life. Like you, there's some that I'm just not going to be able to eliminate, frozen veggies is just one. I don't have a grocery store that sells things in bulk like I hear other people discussing. It's going to be harder than they make it sound. I'm just going to try to be better each step along the way. Awareness is the first step.
"If your lifestyle doesn't control your body, your body will eventually control your lifestyle." Ern Baxter
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby Grammy Ginger » Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:25 am

You can make your own bags for bulk sales from toole or chiffon fabrics. They weigh next to nothing.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby lmggallagher » Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:57 am

rickfm wrote:Another area I have a problem with is frozen vegetables. I use them all the time, every day. And the economical ones all come in plastic bags. They are an important part of my adherence to the diet.

I've taken to shredding the bags into small pieces before throwing them away. That's the best I can do with this issue, for now.


Rick: I had the same lightbulb about the frozen food packaging. I do about half of my cooking the JeffN toss frozen veggies in a pot way. So, my freezer is full of plastic. I don't see myself changing this because it fits with the budget I am on and allows that I buy most food organic.

But I had an idea to start writing the companies I buy from to see if they can consider something for their packaging that can at least be recycled. Afterall it seems they are just going half way environmental by being organic - they ought to make a showing that they are committed to the whole thing, doncha think :lol:

I got the idea from the TED movie I saw - where that woman went on a campaign to get the Britta people to have a recycle method for their filters. They won that too - I think there were 16,000 signatures on that campaign.

Come to think of it this might be mentioned in her book. I am going to ask my library to order her book, so I can find out.

It's great that your dealing with this by giving the plastic a bit of a head start by shredding.

Grammy Ginger - what a good hint the really light fabrics are perfect, I'll have to try that - if I can unearth the sewing machine......
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby stoumi » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:13 am

Are there symbols or language on plastic bags, such as the frozen veggie bags that let one know IF they are biodegradable or compostable?
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby eaufraiche703 » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:42 am

what a fantastic, inspirational thread! thank you, Rick, for recommending "Bag It"

great ideas here! a couple of ours:

we wash lettuce, give it a good shake, roll it up in a bath towel, and toss it in the fridge. 3 heads of romaine will fit on 1 towel. lettuce stays fresh all week. plus, it's easy to do the task of washing and storing the greens.

you can purchase muslin produce bags at reusit.com - no one has ever balked when i show up at a register with the bags.

why not reuse the bags from your bulk purchasing if you are concerned about weight of fabric bags?
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby rickfm » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:55 am

lmggallagher wrote:I do about half of my cooking the JeffN toss frozen veggies in a pot way. So, my freezer is full of plastic.

Same here. :D

stoumi wrote:Are there symbols or language on plastic bags, such as the frozen veggie bags that let one know IF they are biodegradable or compostable?


Only this:

Image

And that's not a brand I buy that often, FLAV-R-PAC distributed by NORPAC. I usually buy a regional brand, Western Family, and I sese no markings of that kind at all.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby funcrunch » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:57 am

I hadn't even thought about the frozen vegetable bags - yikes! We commonly buy frozen broccoli, spinach, and corn, but most other veggies fresh. Must investigate...
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby lmggallagher » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:08 am

Rick - wow, I have never seen a recycle symbol on any of my frozen food packages. One of the things I heard on that TED Talk was that the recycles 1 and 2 are the only ones that are actually recycled. I have a hard time believing that or I'd just rather be delusional for a while longer and think that all my careful recycling has come to a green end, sigh.

But it's really good to know that some companies are doing it already - means it can be done and you have unearthed the proof for us - or should I say defrosted the proof - hehehehe :lol: :lol:

I am going to go get that link to her talk it's really good :nod:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXWRVrF ... tube_gdata
Last edited by lmggallagher on Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby rickfm » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:15 am

Wow, I just watched the video on that NORPAC homepage. Maybe this is a company I should be buying from more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMjZB2iPoK0

They're the ones who put that recycling symbol on the package.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby Summer » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:36 am

At least disposable bags make some sort of sense ... the millions of other disposable items that don't need to be that we've created just to keep making more money are what really make me ill... http://dotsub.com/view/aed3b8b2-1889-4d ... 85f5572f27

I once got into quite an online debate over using bags to line garbage cans... apparently some people claim their garbage service won't take the garbage if it isn't bagged?... how crazy is that! I'm impressed the guy in bag it picked up his pet pooh with paper though.... if I was taking a dog for a walk I must admit I would resort to plastic, I just don't think the paper would contain it all without some leakage for a long walk. Hmmm... maybe a steel bucket would be good for that? I guess there is always a solution. I didn't realize clothing was an issue. That one really depresses me, I'm a big fan of polyester. I've never found anything that's as durable and easy to care for. And of course I love polar fleece. I don't like to iron, or sort laundry, or fold for that matter.

Here's a company that uses biodegradable frozen food packaging http://www.fastcompany.com/1627965/stah ... -packaging
I thought there was another one, but from this recent article http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sec ... 90454/?p=1 sounds like they may be the only one right now... I have to admit, I haven't figured out a better answer for myself -my freezer is packed full of beans, fruit, veggies and grains in plastic ziploc bags (I've tried glass in the past but it just doesn't work as well for our situation). I definitely use more plastic now than I did five years ago... and this is even as someone that's always been very aware of the situation -sad! I even just got these last week... as if all the legos filling my home weren't challenging enough!
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby rickfm » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:48 am

Summer wrote:http://dotsub.com/view/aed3b8b2-1889-4df5-ae63-ad85f5572f27

I watched the first couple of minutes...

"Our role in life seems to be just to consume things with credit, to borrow money to buy things we don't need."

Says it all. I'll watch the whole thing later on. Thanks for the link.
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby lmggallagher » Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:37 pm

Oh wow, I want to watch what Summer linked to but have to run now...

Rick your NORPAC brand is good for recycling and yay, also for sustainable practices. I enjoyed their video and was really impressed with their commitments to integrated pest management practices.

Here is a link from Natural Resources Defense Council on our thread subject and it gives the thumbs up to your Number 4 package, it is indeed recyclable. But I still wonder if it depends on our waste management companies regionally?

http://www.simplesteps.org/questions/ho ... -packaging
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby Summer » Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:50 pm

The piles of 'recycled' stuff in china in Bag It reminded me of the piles of 'secondhand' electronic waste in ghana in that doc...

if you haven't already seen the Story of Stuff, Annie Leonard (you'll recognize her from Bag It) does an excellent job of summarizing the issue of consumerism... definitely worth watching and sharing http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/

I love those simple t-shirt bags! ...although that looked like a really comfy shirt to actually wear in the video, I think by the time I'm willing to give up one of my shirts it would be too raggedy to make a bag from :-(
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Re: Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Postby Kiki » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:22 pm

why not reuse the bags from your bulk purchasing if you are concerned about weight of fabric bags?


Which bulk purchases? You mean items from the bulk bins? The fabric bags are used to purchase bulk items.

Also, getting the stores to adjust their tare weights isn't just about saving money personally. It's about making the stores aware that this is a concern for their customers, so that they may be moved in the future to make bigger changes like reducing packaging waste and moving away from plastic.

And, the notion that because you personally don't need to worry about paying the extra money, so you're not going to ask for a fair price is not very broad-minded.

Even if you are dedicated enough to pay the extra money and make substantial changes in your way of shopping and living, not everyone is. Many people are willing to make small changes provided that they aren't too expensive or inconvenient. Some people are willing to make changes, but can't afford to at added expense. So, why not eliminate some of the barriers for them? If you can reduce some of the obstacles, you may be able to convince more people to participate. And, wouldn't it be great if you could sway just a few more people in your community to adopt some of these practices? Your personal efforts could be multiplied possibly many fold by a simple request.
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