Really?

[LowTech]

People that know me on the forum know that i dont usually have a lot to say, other than occasional advice. But lately I've heard something several times that just rubs me wrong. It's people whining about the fact that Cali, and some some other towns, won't give you free grocery bags. Really! !?

First off we are talking about single use plastic, something that quickly ends up in a landfill or the ocean. Even if you fill it w/ more trash, or your sh*t, it's still trash from the start. Something that will be here long after you are gone. Do you really dislike the planet that much? . . . Or your kids? . . . Or your grandkids?

Even if we ignore the fact that it's trash to start w/, why should they give it to you for free?
I feel like if someone gives me something, and I except it, I should appreciate it and not just throw it out.

And when did everyone get to the place that they feel like things should be provided for them? Isn't that the "welfare state", . . . that people also complain about?

I really think it's time for people to "man up" and provide for themselves! If you want something to carry your groceries in, then provide something and quit whining that you're not given some cheap piece of planet polluting trash for free.

www.instagram.com/DirtTrackTravelers

 

[crofter]

I am aware of some places in Washington state that also sell you the paper bags, but do not have the plastic bags at all. Those store brand tote bags they sell for a dollar last a long time, and are a more substantial solution than the throw away bags. ~crofter

 

[Cammalu]

Low tech good on ya. I reuse the Walmart bags for garbage. I’ve thought about it a lot and made grocery bags that I can continuously reuse but then I found out that I was running out of my Walmart bags for trash.

I haven’t come up with a solution that replaces those bags as trash bags. Do you have any ideas?

 

[wayne49]

They are handy, with handles that can used to hang the bag from a cabinet knob, that then become ties when ready to be disposed. I have thought about trying to find a source for "grocery bags". I'd like them to be a little thicker, the "free"* ones from the stores can tear too easily.

*Only free in that you don't pay a separate charge for the bags. the cost of bags is figured into into the markup of the retail price paid for each item. That cost is averaged over thousand, millions of annual sales.
In California, the number of consumers requiring the bags is somewhat fewer, therefore the cost per consumer would be significantly higher. Plus they are trying to discourage the use of disposables, so they add an inconvenience markup to discourage the practice.

 

[bullfrog]

Seems sort of crazy as we started out with glass bottles, tin containers, cloth sacks and string bags for goods a hundred years ago but then went to almost all paper, trying to kill off the trees and imbalance the atmosphere and now plastic. It has taken almost 100 years for us to figure out we just keep making things worse. Surely we can find something much worse for the environment that uses up a nonrenewable resource quicker, maybe even cause cancer at a higher rate than plastic. Nature can't kill us off quick enough so we are doing our best to help out. Thanks a lot to people who wanted more durable billiard balls and knobs on their model T Fords. Darwin would be proud!

 

[jimindenver]

First off it is a law. It is what it is.

Secondly the bag you get for 10 cents is bigger and heavier than the usual bag that you get for free.

Third is why use a bag at all. Most of us drive our home to the store. Put the stuff back in the cart, wheel it out and put it away.

It seems like a lot of people use them as garbage bags and not just dwellers. Sales of small (#4) bags went up 120% . Sales of larger bags also went up.

Last thing is that most reusable bags are disgusting unless washed after every use. One sloppy package of meat can affect what ever goes in the bag next week.

 

[Qxxx]

I also put my trash in the disposable grocery bags. I' d rather use those than paper bags. They go into the landfill and get covered up. There is no way we can avoid generating at least some trash. When I was a kid growing up in a farmland community, the farmers would just take their trash, old rusted cars, and old washing machines and toss them in the woods at the back of the farm. I prefer plastic bags going unto landfills.

There is an advantage to buying 10-cent grocery bags from Safeway, etc, the whiners don't understand. I'm looking at one of those Safeway bags right now. It's 4 times bigger and probably 10 times stronger than the cheap "one time use" free disposable bags. It holds many more groceries than the disposable bags. It doesn't break. It's reusable a number of times. Half the time the disposable bags tear by time i get them home. Maybe the whiners need an education.

 

[wayne49]

I just remembered that before I retired and moved to Nevada, Shoprites in in the Bridgewater, NJ area were taking 10cents off the purchase if one brought their own bags. Maybe that's about what the average bags per purchase cost Shoprite.

 

[Cammalu]

But but but. What do we use for trash bags? That’s where I’m getting stuck. The plastic does bother me

Now that China isn’t buying our recyclables where are the bags going that are in the big bins at Walmart anyway.

I feed a lot of birds and night critters here in KY and some of the bags are pretty. I’ve taken to washing them out and making totes out of them. They last a very long time and are really strong after all they are strong enough to carry 50 lbs. Dog and cat food bags work as well.

I’m bring my machine along this winter and would gladly make anyone a tote out of their saved bags if you want one.

 

[B and C]

The little cheap bags fit my trash can perfectly. My Roadtrek doesn't have space for a bigger one. I put the bag in the trash can and fold the handles down the side. When the can is overfull, I pull it out and tie it up using the handles. I can store two outside under my enclosed portable step. Bt the time I fill three of them it is time to move anyway. I don't generate a lot of trash. At least I minimise it by removing all excess packaging at the store so I can dispose a lot of it before I leave the store.

Has anyone found a replacement on the store shelves?

 

[bullfrog]

There was life before plastic bags people! Potatoes and onions came in sacs and I have pictures of children in the dresses that were made from them, talk about recycling. Crates were made of wood or metal and much more useful and durable, especially the metal ones, I can't count the number of the wood ones I cut apart to make projects as a kid. I laugh when I go to Sam's Club and see people trying to find a proper box to put stuff in as they don't do bags at all. Just put it in the car and learn to load it correctly, I get 3 months supplies at a time, it all makes it home over remote rough roads, and I don't use any bags plus it all packs and fits better without them. A paper box can be waterproofed and much more useful than a plastic bag as trash can be compacted. Metal trash cans used to be common but did have to be washed out to keep them from getting heavy. Today I see high dollar canvas packs hanging off jeep spare tires for trash, gee what a concept! Don't get me started on cardboard it is unbelievable what can be done with it and so easy to obtain now everything is plastic. Let's face it we use plastic because it is cheap and easy, doesn't mean it is the best way. Digging a cat hole properly is a lot harder than pooping in a plastic bucket with a plastic bag and throwing it in a plastic trash receptacle to be burnt or burried by someone else but is that the best way?

 

[jimindenver]

Small #4 trash can liners are easy to find at the grocery, even the dollar stores for little cost.

 

[Skywater]

My main gripe are the retail stores. They used to provide bags, restrooms, customer service, and we paid for those things with the increased expense of the merchandise. However, the stores are now charging us "to save the environment",  and are saving themselves money on self checkouts, charged bags, and more. They have NOT reduced the cost of merchandise, just found another way to charge the consumer more for the same goods.

If they really cared about saving th e environment, then stop producing the merchandise in plastic, disposable containers