Most of you are on top of things enough to significantly reduce your plastic bag use, but I thought this slideshow to be provoking anyway... http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016 A couple of things you can do: 1) Buy cloth bags and an expandable shopping cart (to leave in your truck) 2) If cloth bags are too expensive opt for the heavy duty paper bags at Lowes foods or somewhere else. These bags can be reused multiple times and then receycled at the end of their useful life. I have reused my bags ten time now and only a couple of them have worn out. Don't be ashamed to bring paper grocery bags into Target either. 3) Decline a plastic bag for a single to three item purchase. Chances are if you carried them to the checkout with the need for a bag then you can make it to your car without one. Sometimes they bag your stuff up too fast for you to decline. When this happens give them the bag back and ask them to save it for the next person (otherwise they may just throw it away which defeats the purpose). 4) Reuse the plastic bags you do end up with. Pick up dog poop, use them to carry produce from your garden, use them for mini trash bags in your bathroom, etc. ...and this is one most people probably don't think about... 5) To keep the bags that do get used from blowing around our world, simply take the time to secure them prior to disposal. For example, that mountain dew bottle or empty box of stove top stuffing you have laying around can easily be packed with up to 20 plastic bags and sealed up. Granted you will not be able to recycle the container, but I would rather have one unrecycled container floating around than 20-30 plastic bags.
If you bring your own grocery bags to Lowes Foods, they give you 50 Greenpoints per bag. I almost always bring my own bags, it just seems like such a waste! Thanks for the info!
This would be the reason why we get the plastic bags to begin with. I have 3 dogs and live in a managed community where they'll fine you if you're caught not picking up.
Our plastic grocery type bags are always recycled for cleaning out litter boxes! Target and Walmart ones really are better, but Lowes Foods ones are usually okay if double-bagged (we clean 3 litter boxes...those bags can get heavy).
Me 3. Just gotta watch for the tiny holes in the bottom of some of the grocery bags! Or double bag, like you said.
Thats why I always double bag the Lowes Foods bags... its 50/50 that it'll have a small hole in the bottom.. what a mess that would be!
Okay, that works. However, they have doggie poop baggies that you can buy that are biodegradeable and much smaller. I understand the reuse that you do, but that is an awefully big bag just to pick up some yard sausage.
When you get home from your next shopping trip, fold up the bags and set them by the door. The next time you are on your way out take them with you and put them in your trunk. That way you have them with you when you decide to pop into your local grocer again. It works for me anyway.
Great idea! I keep my cold/hot bag in the trunk too for the same reason. Can't forget it when it's in the trunk!
