Say No To Plastic Bags!

[Boult]

see articles on plastic bags ban

plastic bag ban - Google News

 

[Pinky]

see articles on plastic bags ban

plastic bag ban - Google News

Thank you for post an articles on plastic bags ban! That's very interesting!

 

[Pinky]

Opal is talk about her country in Australia, not America.



Welcome Back, Opal.

Yeah! I saw Pacman's last post after you post it. LoL

 

[Reba]

I have some practical questions about using reusable shopping bags.

If you buy more things than what fit in a couple of bags, or you buy a large item that doesn't fit in your reusable bag, what do you do? For example, if your shopping cart is full, what do you do?

If you buy chemical things (toilet cleaner, bug spray, etc.), do you use a special bag for those to keep them separate from food items?

How do you prevent cross contamination of food items, such as raw meat?

What about fresh produce that has no packaging, and is damp? For example, lettuce or leeks.

Do you wash and sanitize your reusable bag every time you use it? (That would seem to use more energy and water, therefore not be environmentally friendly.)

Do you keep lots of reusable bags in your cars? How do you keep them neat in the car?

Do you put your name on your bags so the store knows that you own the bag and didn't steal it?

 

[PowerON]

I only can hope that they will need to charge on plastic bags to help people to think about it without being whore to take plastic.

I find is lacking on certain customer who want to double plastic bag with very few items stuff in.

 

[Hwy99]

I have some practical questions about using reusable shopping bags.

If you buy more things than what fit in a couple of bags, or you buy a large item that doesn't fit in your reusable bag, what do you do? For example, if your shopping cart is full, what do you do?

I tend to wise-organized the items inside the plastic bags to ensure that every space in the plastic bag are occupied so that I don't have to take more plastic bags, but if I get something that are pretty big then I just don't put in the plastic bag, I just put big stuff in the car without the plastic bag covered.

Someday I would like to buy my new grocery bag hopefully

If you buy chemical things (toilet cleaner, bug spray, etc.), do you use a special bag for those to keep them separate from food items?

I tend to seperate those thing in different plastic bag, but I never use a "special" plastic bag.

How do you prevent cross contamination of food items, such as raw meat?

I thought the raw meats are always covered in the package?

What about fresh produce that has no packaging, and is damp? For example, lettuce or leeks.

I put them in the smaller plastic bags which feature in the fruits and vegetables court, then put in the normal plastic bags with other foods.

Do you wash and sanitize your reusable bag every time you use it? (That would seem to use more energy and water, therefore not be environmentally friendly.)

No I don't.

Do you keep lots of reusable bags in your cars? How do you keep them neat in the car?

I keep the plastic bags in the cupboards at my kitchen in case if we need it, like if I go sleep over at my friend, then I use the plastic bag. But the plastic bags break easy so it's not really good to keep them as reusable for long time.

Do you put your name on your bags so the store knows that you own the bag and didn't steal it?

I don't have the cloth bag yet, but I would if I have one.

 

[Maria]

I use plastic bags for trash after shoppin'. I also use it for my lunch inside my ice chest box to separate other foods. There's alot of things I could use plastic bags until it worn out.

 

[Byrdie714]

I have some practical questions about using reusable shopping bags.

Okay....

If you buy more things than what fit in a couple of bags, or you buy a large item that doesn't fit in your reusable bag, what do you do? For example, if your shopping cart is full, what do you do?

For an example: a gallon of milk or a 18 pack of beer--it doesn't need to be put in a reusable bag. I just carry it.

If you buy chemical things (toilet cleaner, bug spray, etc.), do you use a special bag for those to keep them separate from food items?

Yes.

How do you prevent cross contamination of food items, such as raw meat?

I have a bag for frozen items, a bag for fruits-n-veggies.

What about fresh produce that has no packaging, and is damp? For example, lettuce or leeks.

Most of the time, I usually put it in a baggie that is provided in the fruit/vegetable section of the store so the moisture doesn't go over the bag.

Do you wash and sanitize your reusable bag every time you use it? (That would seem to use more energy and water, therefore not be environmentally friendly.)

I wash mine by hand since I have prints on the cloth bag and air dry it since that is what the directions call for it.

Do you keep lots of reusable bags in your cars? How do you keep them neat in the car?

I keep my cloth bags in the house--afterall they are loaded with groceries. I don't want my food to spoil in the car.

Do you put your name on your bags so the store knows that you own the bag and didn't steal it

The store knows who I am! Secondly--they know that the bags are mine because I have a one-of-a-kind cloth bags. I have a total of 4 cloth bags of varying sizes with prints of Savannah, GA; Crater Lake, OR; Devil's Monument; and my recent addition--the Grand Canyon.

Wonderful conversation starters with the people in line as well as with the cashiers. I just have to make sure none of them try to steal it!

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

Plastic bags can be reuse for small trash or carrying stuff, it's recyclable as well.

True. I always save my plastic bags from when I go food shopping at Wal*Mart and then I reuse them as trash bags for the bathroom trash can...it's the perfect size, and saves money...I don't have to buy small trash bags...no need to, it's a waste of money.

I also use the plastic bags to put the dirty cat litter in.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

Plastic bags here is free from most supermarkets like Safeways, Coles, except one german shop called Aldi. Next year, ALL supermarkets plastic bags will cost about 20c each.

Clothes shops will still supply free plastic bags!

I miss Aldi. They have very cheap food! I used to shop there all the time when I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I wish we had Aldi here in San Antonio.

BTW, Aldi is not a German store. It's a discount food store.

 

[Wokamuka]

I miss Aldi. They have very cheap food! I used to shop there all the time when I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I wish we had Aldi here in San Antonio.

BTW, Aldi is not a German store. It's a discount food store.

I never shop at ALDI since I'd received below-grade food from them. Food, from them, is - simply put - HORRIBLE.

Seriously, ALDI is a german concept (ALDI - ALDI history).

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I never shop at ALDI since I'd received below-grade food from them. Food, from them, is - simply put - HORRIBLE.

Seriously, ALDI is a german concept (ALDI - ALDI history).

Ok, I didn't know that. I stand corrected. Thank you.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I miss Aldi. They have very cheap food! I used to shop there all the time when I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I wish we had Aldi here in San Antonio.

BTW, Aldi is not a German store. It's a discount food store.

Yes, Aldi is a discount food store. Aldi is spread out to many countries around the world from Germany.

Check Aldi's history.

Aldi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Very true, Aldi or Lidl are selling good foods and also have good reputation... including international foods from many countries including America around the world.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I have some practical questions about using reusable shopping bags.

If you buy more things than what fit in a couple of bags, or you buy a large item that doesn't fit in your reusable bag, what do you do? For example, if your shopping cart is full, what do you do?

Example like box of beers or juices (glasses only) like this http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/116482044_c0795b08b3.jpg?v=0 - no need to add in bag but just put boxes on the back of car... The empty beers/juices/soda with boxes (see link) need to return to store for deposit refund.

If you buy chemical things (toilet cleaner, bug spray, etc.), do you use a special bag for those to keep them separate from food items?

No, I don't have any special bag for chemical but separate chemical things with foods... Check the example of my post #27.

How do you prevent cross contamination of food items, such as raw meat?

I gave tupperware box to the butcher to add fresh meats for me, it does the same with fresh cheeses from cheese store or sausages store as well. All the boxes go in cool bag. Milk, joghurt, curd, etc as well.

What about fresh produce that has no packaging, and is damp? For example, lettuce or leeks.

I do use basket for fresh vegetables (see 1st and 3rd picture of my post #27).

Do you wash and sanitize your reusable bag every time you use it? (That would seem to use more energy and water, therefore not be environmentally friendly.)

The bags, I use is cotton... I can put cotton bags with cotton clothes into the wash machine... You also use wash machine to wash your cotton clothes or cotton underwear, don't you?

Do you keep lots of reusable bags in your cars? How do you keep them neat in the car?

See the example of my post #27 and cool bag as well. Yes I leave like this neat in back of my car for every Saturday shopping.

Do you put your name on your bags so the store knows that you own the bag and didn't steal it?

Not necassary because we know which we sort to.

 

[shezzbeav]

I've been using environmentally friendly shopping bags - real cheap...99 cents each. Very useful for many things. Less risk of breakages etc.

 

[David]

I wonder how much they dump into the oceans now. I guess it's still a lot because there's still plastic in the oceans like here. The ocean current is trapping the trash in the middle of the ocean so it piles up there. The plastic is breaking down in the sunlight into little pieces that animals eat. A lot of it float in from the coasts. This article says it's twice the size of Texas and is continuing to grow.

I studied this in my Environmental Health class last semester. Disastrous!!

 

[Dixie]

That was interesting. I had no idea places were banning or taxing plastic bags. I personally would welcome it. It would reduce the amount of plastic bags to deal with and you would get to have a sturdier reusable bag instead. There's nothing more irritating than having a plastic bag rip open as your carrying the milk into the kitchen, then you end up with a gallon of milk all over the floor.

 

[VamPyroX]

If you buy more things than what fit in a couple of bags, or you buy a large item that doesn't fit in your reusable bag, what do you do? For example, if your shopping cart is full, what do you do?

When I shop, I never know how much I'm going to buy. So, why bother bringing reusable bags? I'll either end up with too many or too little. I rather use plastic bags, then reuse those plastic bags on other things at home... like the trash.

If you buy chemical things (toilet cleaner, bug spray, etc.), do you use a special bag for those to keep them separate from food items?

That's one good reason why I don't care for reusable bags. What other special bag is there? That leaves one last option... plastic bags. So, by using a plastic bag... that makes me no different than those who don't use reusable bags.

How do you prevent cross contamination of food items, such as raw meat?

I simply separate everything when I use the plastic bags. I'll put the meats in one bag and everything else in the other bags. I usually bag my things like this... bread & chips, meat, frozen boxes, frozen bags, cans & jars, etc.

What about fresh produce that has no packaging, and is damp? For example, lettuce or leeks.

That's what the produce bags are for. I've seen people just take the vegetables and place it in their cart without a bag. I've also seen some people who use the bags, but don't bother tying up the bag. So, it results in leaks and cross-contamination. I want lettuce? I put it in a back and use the tie to tie up the bag. I want tomatoes? I put it all in a bag and tie it up. Simple as that.

Do you wash and sanitize your reusable bag every time you use it? (That would seem to use more energy and water, therefore not be environmentally friendly.)

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Using reusable bags and using plastic bags come out even. I make the best of plastic bags.

Reusable bags? First, I buy the bags. Then, I use it over and over. They get dirty, so I wash them. My water and electric bill goes up a bit because of that. So, I lose more money. I'm also wasting energy slowly because of washing the bags.

Plastic bags? First, they're free. When I come home, I save them. When I clean up around the apartment, I use the bags for trash. Dog crap? Small trash cans? Collect bottles & cans? Either way, I'm still reusing those plastic bags for good. And... it's all free.

Do you keep lots of reusable bags in your cars? How do you keep them neat in the car?

As I said above, reusable bags still get dirty. Leaving them in the car still makes them dirty. You could leave them in the trunk, but the trunk is less-protected than the inside of the car. There's a risk of dirty floors, and other stuff that's also in the trunk (spare tire, car jack, oil, junk, etc). What about inside the car? Things still end up falling on the floor and get dirty all over again.

Do you put your name on your bags so the store knows that you own the bag and didn't steal it?

If I had reusable bags, I definitely would put my name on them... preferably my last name.

 

[Pinky]

In my city have two Aldi. I go to Aldi few times in a years when I need to save money. I love the Chinese food from Aldi.

 

[Brian]

In my city have two Aldi. I go to Aldi few times in a years when I need to save money. I love the Chinese food from Aldi.

They have Chinese foods there now? What kind do they have?

If you live anywhere in or near Indianapolis, check one of two Trader Joe's stores in northern part of the city (Washington and Lawrence townships) - the company that owns Trader Joe's also owns ALDI.

As for plastic bags, I cannot imagine not having any at home. They are very useful for so much such as picking up trash outside that some neighbours of mine threw on my side. :roll: I have one of the cloth bag from Wal-Mart, but I feel silly to bring it in the store with me.