the plastic grocery bags are good for trash cans why do enviromentalist not se
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
April 18, 2009 9:19pm CST
I am not putting this in save the environment, since I an not a mother earth worshiper and I believe that it is better to be thrifty and get rewarded then having to pay. What I am talking about is that our major grocery big box shop Superstore has decided to raise the price of plastic bags to five cents. Now before all you environmentalists all cheer, let me tell you that many of us use the plastic shopping bags to line our kitchen trash cans. They are good to put in the things that cannot go on the compost file and we do not have to buy those kitchen catcher liners.
After all it does go out in the garbage bin every week and those old meat bones do not smell out the house.
Now what usually happens is that some people have the plastic bags and after putting what they buy in their purse or the car, they throw the bag away and it lands on a bush so I will grab one or two. After all, I am going to put meat tray trash in it anyway. Now they will become even rarer because now people will have to buy the trash liner bags that cost a bit more.
So do you really think that this saving the environment should be done at costs us more money or is there a better way of doing so? One in which we can not put out more money.
9 people like this
23 responses
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
19 Apr 09
Personally I think this whole plastic bag thing is just a way for the big supermarkets to make money, plastic bags were already built into the price of things, thats how business works, infact I remember a big supermarket chain saying years ago that price were the way they were because they have to account for plastic bags and such..so if they were serious about enviroment then why don't they reward the customer for bringing their own bags instead of paying for something they have already paid for anyway...and yes there is the thing about then having to buy plastic garbage bags from them, they win all ways....I know I won't be buying plastic garbage bags ever...I always use the bags from the supermarket as well...and why can't they buy the plastic bags that break down anyway, some supermarkets do.....its all a con by the big companies to make more money....
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
19 Apr 09
Well I say good on them, this is the way all the supermarkets should have gone but some are just too greedy, they see a way to make more money and they go for it...i would support a supermartket like yours just on principal...
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (158001)
• United States
19 Apr 09
My grocery store gives us 5 cents credit for each cloth bag we bring in. Some of them do promote good awareness.
4 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Apr 09
I think rewarding the customers for bringing their own cloth bags is a good idea, but they do not. It seems that the environmentalists are more concerned about us paying in one way or another, either buying the cloth bags one time, or buying the plastic bags all the time. And they fail to consider that we use those plastic bags to put our kitchen trash in. They have the stupid idea that once we bring the groceries home, we will put the empty plastic bags in the garabage.
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
19 Apr 09
As if food isn't high enough. I guess you could gather your bathroom trash and old meat bones and send it to 1600 Pennsylvania.
4 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Apr 09
That would be a good idea. But I suppose that Obama's minions would ship it right back.
@GardenGerty (158001)
• United States
19 Apr 09
It is a difficult question all the way around. Yes, you recycle. You even help by picking up other people's trash, so you are helping. I do not have to pay for my bags here, but I know some places they do. Maybe friends could send you theirs. I respect the Earth, not worship it. I walk a fine line between earth friendly measures and pocket friendly measures. For your own use, maybe you can take cloth bags to the store, and yet continue to pick up strayed bags on your walks.
3 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
23 Apr 09
That is what I do. I do not like the idea of Mother Earth worship which is what the enviromentalists want us to do. I use cloth bags because I am cheap. I can more in them, they will not break or rip as the plastic bags do. But the environmentalists think that humans are a drain on the world and that is the whole trouble.
1 person likes this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
20 Apr 09
I do my best to recycle when I can. We no longer use the plastic bags from the grocery store on a regular basis. We've gotten free cloth grocery bags that we reuse all the time. When we're running low on the plastic bags for our trash cans, we will use them in the grocery store for a couple weeks to stock back up - but that will last us MONTHS.
There are some places in the US that do not allow plastic bags in the checkout lines. They've gone back to paper. Well, paper kills trees which we need for the environment too! It's like a no-win situation.
I say use cloth/canvas bags for your shopping!!!
2 people like this
@thyst07 (2079)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I do use the plastic bags for kitty litter and small trash can liners. But if they started making us pay for the plastic bags, I would totally support it. I don't think that most people do re-use their plastic bags.
To cut down on the cost, get some of the cloth reusable bags. They usually cost about $1.00 each, and most grocery stores (around here anyway) give you a 10 cent discount for each reusable bag you bring with you. In 10 grocery trips, the bag has paid for itself. After that, you are saving money for each time you use the reusable bags. So when you occasionally have to stock up on your 5 cent plastic bags, it won't cost you any more than it did before.
3 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Apr 09
I use the cloth bags, but sometimes you do not have enough, and I cannot see us putting the big garbage bag out in the kitchen and dumping all the bones and the stuff that cannot be recycled in it. I prefer to get my plastic bags free. If I never had to pay for them, why pay now?
And if Superstore charges for them, it might be that Safeway and the other grocery stores will do as well, then it will be followed by the other stores.
1 person likes this
@thyst07 (2079)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I honestly don't know why they've given bags away for free for so many years. Not that I'm complaining, but I've wondered about it several times. The stores have to pay a distributor to get those bags, so it makes sense that they would charge for them to make up that price.
I think that if stores start charging for bags, people will start being more careful of how many they use and throw away. At the store I work at, we go through plastic bags like you wouldn't believe, because people will take a bag even if they only have one tiny item. Before I worked in a retail store, I never really realized just how much plastic this amounts to, and most of it ends up un-recycled in landfills. So I guess I'd rather pay the 5 cents per bag. It's not a huge price, and if it makes us more aware of how much plastic we're using, then I think it's a good idea.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Apr 09
That is the trouble, the grocery store assumes that we will take the plastic bag home and with one little item, and then after taking out the item, throw the plastic bag in the garbage and I admit that those little plastic bags are not worth diddly squat, but the big ones that one normally uses, we can put all our kitchen trash in instead of paying so much for a package of Kitchen Catchers. so I think much of the trouble is misunderstanding.
You think that we will take the empty plastic bag and throw it away. We think you want us to take our big garbage can and place it by the kitchen door, put all our trash in that, and wheel it out to the back lane.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
19 Apr 09
You are right, the environmentalists over-react. But then, they see most of consumers hogging every resource with no regard to the earth. I can understand how they feel but they are cutting off their nose to spite their face! I use a couple of big cloth bags I got for $1 each but sometimes I leave them at home when I need plastic bags.
I like the fact that you take bags off the bushes, cleaning up your neighborhood. People who litter are trash themselves.
3 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
20 Apr 09
It used to be that when we were thrifty we were doing it to save money, that it was cheaper reusing, and putting things in the compost, because first you would not have to buy it again, and second well you could spread the compost on the garden or leave it there and put a few seeds and maybe grow some tomatoes or peas instead of buy them, but itseems the environmentalist do not care about you saving money, just that you spend money on the planet instead of yourself.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Apr 09
Environmentalists, I think, secretly hate people. They don't care if we starve, they would say it would be easier on the planet if there were less people. They don't care if we are inconvenienced or deprived, only about the planet--that can adapt and heal itself quite nicely as long as we don't purposely pollute. Even then, I think we are so inconsequential in the big picture that we don't make that much difference. Maybe the environmental whackos are so insecure that they need to think we are so important that we can destroy the earth. 
@peavey (16936)
• United States
19 Apr 09
If they're so determined to get rid of plastic bags, why not all the packaging material? Plastic "bubbles" that hold everything from plastic toys to plastic electronics are all over the place. They don't degrade, they're eyesores the wind blows onto lawns from others' trash, they take up a lot of landfill. Will they go after the manufacturers that use them? Nope... they're too big and powerful. It's the consumer who has to take up the slack when the big companies are doing so much harm to our environment.
Like many here, I balance a respect for the environment with my own economic needs. I hate to see trash along the streets, it hurts me to see good trees torn down and wonderful, wild land razed and leveled for development. Plastic bags should be on the list, but they should be way down there. There are far bigger and more important things to worry about. If they'd worry about those things, we could live in a better world.
2 people like this
@riyasam (16556)
• India
19 Apr 09
i am also not a environmentalist but i beleive in helping mother nature whenever its possible with me.For facts about plastic bags and their impact on the environment as well as environmental shopping strategies, visit www.thetruthaboutplasticbags.com
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
19 Apr 09
Hello dear friend. I don't throw away the plastic bags easily if I have made full use of them. You know, we used to have free bags when we bought something from the supermarkets or malls, but ever since last June, it has not been available for free. We have to pay for those plastic bags for the protection of the environment. This purpose of paid bags is for the protection of the environment and saving the earth. Now I always reuse the plastic bags when I go shopping. I will use the bags for shopping till they are not good enough to be used any more. Then I will use them as my trash bags for trash. Now I can often see people reuse the plastic bags while shopping. It is a good idea for us to help save the environment. Thank you for the discussion. Good day, my dear suspenseful friend.
2 people like this
@goodbuys4you (207)
• United States
19 Apr 09
People like us who use plastic bags to line our wastebaskets are going to use them whether they come from the grocery store or not. Cloth liners certainly aren't going to be used for garbage or anything moist or greasy. People like the free ones but if all stores quit using them we'll just have to buy packages of them as cheaply as possible at discount stores.
Biodegradeable plastic bags would be fine as long as they could hold garbage for a week without dissolving and making a mess.
I hope in areas where there are more than one grocery store that at least one will keep using free plastic bags so people can make a choice as to where they shop.
2 people like this
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I always saved my grocery store plastic bags. They come in handy whenever you need something to carry something in. I think it is ridiculous for stores to charge for these bags, if that is the case they should lower their food prices like the big warehouse stores do.
I always use my bags for garbage, kitty litter etc. Seems these days everything is costing the little guy more money
2 people like this
@gjshap46 (20)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I agree with alot of what has been said on this subject,
I to use the bags for different things but when I get too many
I take them back to the store, they have re-cycle bens
for them.I also use the cloth bags but I forget the from
time to time! have a great week end every one!!
2 people like this
@veronicalodge12 (160)
• Philippines
20 Apr 09
I believe that you don't have to worship mother Earth, but we just take good care of it for the future generations. I mean the least we can do is being its pro.
Unfortunately in my country, we use plastic bags instead of paper bags, most malls use them so we have no choice. But we usually keep these plastics for future use, but in the end they still end up in the bin and yeah contributing to pollution if they're burned. I wish our government would do something bout it though.
2 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I use the plastic bags for alot of different uses. I line both the trash cans in my living room and both of the ones in the bathrooms we have and my computer room trash can and bedroom I will also use them to gather up all the trash and stuff to be threw away and bag it and then put it in a larger trash can outside. I also use the bags for throwing trash in when cleaning out my moms car and also for taking my clothes with me when I spend the night somewhere instead of using luggage. They are intricated into pretty much a large part of our daily lives and I am sorry to hear they will be going up. When I am at a store I usually ask for a few extra and they give them to me. Cause it usually never fails that by the time I get my groceries up my hill a bag or so rips. I am lucky that the stores I shop at do not charge for their bags but then if they did cost would be down more then what they are.
2 people like this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
19 Apr 09
Here in Guelph Ontario we have a very complex recycling system.
Blue bags = metal, paperm, plastic, cardboard
Green bag = anything one would put into a compost pile
Clear bag = everything else
Groccery bags go into the clear bag even though they're plastic, because they're "more like a wrapper than a bottle."
If we put our garbage into the plastic groccery bags, they won't accept them.
What my husband and I end up doing is just putting garbage into the bags where it belongs, and saving the groccery bags for future sopping trips, or to give to the people at the organic farmer's market next door, to use for their own customers.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
We get recycled bags that are made from pop bottles. They work out okay, but there are others that are worth less then we paid for them. I use the plastic bags for trash, and that saves me from spending money on those kitchen catchers. And there are also good for sending things home with someone. Like a cloth bag or a recyclable bag you want returned, especially if you are a cheapskate like me.
@elemental69 (1561)
• Ireland
19 Apr 09
A lot of the shops here have changed to paper carrier bags because there is no charge to customers for them. The government is charging 22c tax on a plastic carrier here so it works out cheaper for me to buy a roll of trash liners. :)
1 person likes this
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I have to agree with you on this one. It is almost like they just want us to spend more money by buying garbage bags. Our Superstore here gives you a credit of 5 cents a bag if you bring your own bags, even the superstore ones. So I have a trunk full of bags and I use them till they rip, then they just end up in the garbage again though.
I think there has to be a better way of doing our garbage, I just haven't figured out what that way is. I understand that they are filling up our garbage dumps and all but so would the garbage bags that we buy. So what is the difference.
1 person likes this
@Jennlk84 (4206)
• United States
19 Apr 09
I too use the plastic grocery bags for our small trash cans around our apartment. I hope our grocery store doesen't start charging for them! I do have a stash of reusable bags though for the one grocery store we visit that charges you for the purchase of paper bags. I have gotten several of those reusable bags for free and use them at that store. I don't want to use them at my regular grocery store though, because I need those plastic bags to line our trash cans and to put my fiancee's lunches in each day!
2 people like this
