Can I stop using plastic grocery bags, without increasing my use of trash bags?

Question

Right now I reuse my grocery bags as trash bags. I think it's a good idea to switch to canvas bags for groceries, but then I would have to buy trash bags, which seem like they have a lot more plastic in them.

Is there a better alternative to plastic trash bags?

Answer 1

* You can pretty much avoid going to the supermarket altogether if you choose to.
* Buy meat wrapped in butcher's paper.
* Buy fruit and vegetables from the fruit shop and they will sel it to me in my canvas bags and a recycled cardboard apple box.
* I buy fresh bread in a loaf from the local baker and put that in my hession bag and cut it up myself.
* Buy milk in cardboard cartons or recyclable plastic.
* All those processed foods and pre-packaged foods you buy contain transfats and preservatives.. avoid them if you can.

* Now recycle your metals, plastics, glass and cardboard. We sort it into separate bins and our local govt collects it for recycling for our community.. lobby yours if it doesn't.
* Green waste also collected separately by Local Govt... lobby yours if it doesnt collect green waste separately.
* Compost all kitchen scraps and/or buy 4 egg laying hens and feed them the scraps (except for meat scraps).
* Get a dog to keep cats away from your chickens... feed that dog your meat scraps.

After all this recycling you will be surprised how little household waste there is to throw away in your garbage... put it in a cardboard box (OK.. I use cornflakes -) and then into your bin.

Answer 2

Hi, I ask myself the same question.

Maybe it's time to finally act on this one.

If you have a garden you can make compost and that reduces a nice chunk of trash and actually benefits the soil.

But there is still trash... I am not positive but there maybe some biodegradable trash bags! They probably cost more and are probably weaker than standard bags and "grocery bags." And then there's still the trash that goes into them...

For me personally maybe grocery bags aren't so bad, because they are free, but then again there is a credit if you use canvas bags or reuse your old grocery bags...depending on what type of grocery store you shop at.

I guess try cutting down on your trash, recycle as much as you can, try composting, and biodegradable trash bags.
They might even cost the same as standard trash bags and the manufacturer isn't a huge conglomerate. Next time I'm at the grocer I'll check myself, so thanks for reminding me!

Oh, and paper bags can be recycled, but they do contain virgin fibers too, which isn't good... I use paper bags to stick my recyclables in and then wa la into the recycling bin it goes.

Answer 3

Use canvas totes; use can use them over and over and they're washable should they get soiled! They hold much more than paper or plastic. One place to look is:
http://www.enviro-tote.com/organic_cotton_bags.html
I've found many at garage sales/flea markets for as low as 10 cents! I keep about 8 of them in my car for when I go grocery shopping and I love them.
No more plastic to recycle; plus less manufactered. No more trees cut down for paper bags. If everyone just started doing this simple thing, think how much it would help the environment!
People have been kicking around the idea of just putting their trash in a can without it being bagged; it just gets dumped by the trashmen anyway. I don't know if there are any ordinances against this or not.

Answer 4

Great Use hemp/cotton or canvas bags for shopping. That is brilliant.

If you do what Gazpacho says, be aware of what you are buying, how it is packaged, recycle and take your own shopping bags then you will hardly have any rubbish at all.
We have five now in our house. We just cover the bottom of the wheelie bin each week about 2inches in depth. Great if they do start weighing and charging/refunding for waste in UK.

Put your waste straight into the bin. Do not use any plastic bag or bin liner at all. Even if you use bin liners you still have to rinse the bin out. So do not use any.

There are a lot of reasons given why people 'like' plastic bags. However, they still never decompose no matter how many times you use them. This is compounded when people tie their rubbish into plastic bags because then all their contents can't naturally decompose either even if they are made out of organic materials.

If you insist on using plastic bags you will be charged high taxes for doing so. So re-use as many times as possible then take them supermarket to be recycled. NEVER THROW IN THE RUBBISH.

Answer 5

There are bio-degradeable bags in the market. After you have recycled you trash, what's left to trash?
After all your plastic bags from the grocers are being reduced in mumbers as you are using your canvas bag to the market!!

Answer 6

if you consider the fact that if you start using your canvas bag and start buying garbage bags, the garbage bags are very much larger than the small plastic bags from the store, so in all reality your probably saving alot more than you are taking. pretty simple i think!!

Answer 7

You can always use paper grocery bags.

Answer 8

check out kokogm.com!!!!! It's kokopelli's green market!!