Instead of moaning about all these plastic bags (1 billion per month in UK) why aren't they biodegradable?

Answer 1

I use the Long life, or my own smart bag (wide handles which don't cut into your hands) for preference. Plus keep a couple of folding ones in my handbag.
I would have thought a more pressing problem are the millions of disposable nappies which are still out there in landfill sites since the plasticisers don't biodegrade.
I understand that a couple of the States in the US have banned them on those grounds and the destruction of so many trees to make them.
Must admit that I find Supermarket bags useful for lining my pedal bin in the kitchen, but the Co-op have the right idea; if one supermarket chain can do the biodegradable bags, why can't they all?

Answer 2

Instead of using plastic bags why not buy hugely reusable and far more environmentally sound jute or cotton bags the likes of which most major supermarkets like Co-op and Tesco now supply for very little charge.

Stop expecting other people to take action and take some responsibility yourself.

Laws of supply and demand...

No demand for plastic bags? No supply required. No production required. No plastic bags.

If YOU don't take carrier bags. THEY will stop making them.

Besides, degradeable bags such as those from Co-op (there's no such thing as a BIO-degradable plastic bag) still release harmful ozone gases as they degrade, so aren't all they're cracked up to be (plus they aren't nearly as strong).

Paper bags are chemically treated to strengthen them, thus don't degrade either (or do so ridiculously slowly), so anyone suggesting paper bags is barking up the wrong tree also as they are just as bad as carriers, people just get a misconception that because they are "paper" and paper is a natural material, then it must biodegrade safely. Not true.

And reusing plastic bags is great, but they don't last a fraction of the time a more sturdy natural material will.

Answer 3

Hey maybe put some of it towards our crumbling infrastructure. Hire some inspectors who actually can do the jobs of bridge inspection, ( remember last year's collapse which killed 11), and hundreds if not thousands of bridges under threat. Heck, maybe we can actually hire some Border Patrol agents and actually fund and build the fence. Oh better yet, maybe we can have the machines we desperately need installed at our ports so 100% of containers coming in can be inspected and/or x-rayed unlike the 5% currently being done. Pay for our veterans to get the healthcare they deserve after going to war. Oh how about education. I know in FL we just had a $300 Million cut on Thursday 3/6/08 and that just covers from March until June. Part time teachers already let go and told not to report to work Another $500 Million is going to be cut out of next year's education budget currently under review. Community colleges have suspended thousands of classes, some of the same classes our people needed for job re-training since there current job has been shipped overseas

Answer 4

If you see the recycle mark on a plastic bag, it is biodegradable (technically speaking). However, the test was based on just a small piece of bag sample, i.e. not a complete bag.

That means, if you cut a recycle-able plastic bag into many small pieces and left them in soil, they would decomposed into soil within a short period of time, may be ten years. However, if you put the whole bag into soil, it would not decomposed.

That was marketing skill to mislead customers.

Using your own shopping bag would be the best solution. However, it is unavoidable if you buy meat from flesh market.

Answer 5

Potato Starch bags are a pretty robust option. Plus all the fruit and veg bags at the supermarket aren't degradable either. Waitrose are changing their fruit & veg boxes to recyclable plastics type so that'll help. Hope others follow suit.

I stopped using carrier bags a year or so ago. I have lots of the supermarket canvass type bags. I remember every time to take them and if I don;t get enough out of the car I just put my shopping back in the trolley and pack it at the car.

We've just changed to wheelie bins and our council suggest we double wrap our food waste in plastic bags!!!! They don't want it in one big bin liner so we've had to resort to buying compostable waster bags instead.

But charge for bags on the checkout like they did when I was a kid. Ikea don't have carriers anymore now either.

Answer 6

A lot are degradable, not bio-degradable and when buried in anaerobic landfile do not degrade, they'll just hang around for hundreds of years....
I've used cloth shopping bags forever, long before being 'green' became fashionable. There's lots you can get these days that fold really small and can be carried easily in a handbag, so there's really no excuse.
If you find plastic supermarket bags irresitible, make sure you use them more than once, I do use one for frozen foods so they don't defrost all over everything and I can make it last for 3 months of weekly shops.
All it takes is a little forethought, I hope you'll be a convert, good luck!

Answer 7

plastic bags from the co-op are biodegradable. Also, instead of moaning about it, why don't people re-use them instead of getting new ones all the time?

Answer 8

Precisely. But what really makes me gnash my teeth is that we can buy compostable bags from Tesco - but our council won't accept them and if you use them in your green bin, it gets rejected. YOu have to buy the council compostable bags instead . But the council don't want the bother of cash, so they make the local swimming pool sell them, which is on the other side of town, nowhere near the shops.

Answer 9

They're made from polymers, a crude oil product, that doesn't decay or break down. Really, you should be thinking about re-using plastic bags.

Answer 10

I give all mine to the local paper shop. Then she doesn't have to charge for the bags.