Plastic bags gone???

Willowy said:

Huh, all the stores here have their 99 cent bags. And they hold a lot more than plastic bags (about the same size as a paper bag, I think). I wonder why they're so expensive and small in NC?
I usually remember mine when I go shopping, but not always.

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I checked when I went over to the store a few days ago just to make sure I know what I was talking about .. they were $2.49 and looked very small to me, definitely not paper bag size.  I've gotten a couple free at Staples that were paper bag size, but most of the other ones, even the ones I have gotten free, are pretty small.  Maybe I don't shop in the right stores

Our grocery store quit giving out plastic bags years ago. It's a dumb idea and has done nothing for the environment but it does make more money for the store.

Instead of free plastic bags for hauling groceries and reusing for lining trash cans, we have to BUY cloth bags for groceries AND boxes of plastic bags to line the cans! (You cannot put loose litter, fireplace ashes, or glass in the trash here - it must be bagged/boxed or you will be fined.) 

The grocery store still has plenty of plastic bags for produce, so I always reuse those for collecting and taking out litter. 

SwampWitch said:

Our grocery store quit giving out plastic bags years ago. It's a dumb idea and has done nothing for the environment but it does make more money for the store.

Instead of free plastic bags for hauling groceries and reusing for lining trash cans, we have to BUY cloth bags for groceries AND boxes of plastic bags to line the cans! (You cannot put loose litter, fireplace ashes, or glass in the trash here - it must be bagged/boxed or you will be fined.) 

The grocery store still has plenty of plastic bags for produce, so I always reuse those for collecting and taking out litter. 

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If you are using cloth bags... how did it do nothing for the environment????

We reuse plastic grocery bags as trash bin liners; so if we had to switch to only cloth bags (which we also sometimes use) we would then have no choice but to buy plastic bags for the trash can. So I can see how the stores not offering plastic bags might not make an environmental difference in similar cases. That said, the plastic bags the stores here use are biodegradable, and I believe you can also buy biodegradable trash bin liners.

Misty8723 said:

Maybe if they didn't charge so much for teeny tiny cloth bags, more people would use them.  I have a few, but not nearly enough if I'm doing a week's worth of shopping.  Why doesn't everyone just take the plastic bags back and recycle them?

As for the litter issue, I buy flushable so that's not a problem. 

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We have our own septic system and no way are we putting anything in it, not even flushable litter. It's OK if one has city water and sewer, but if anything happens to our septic system, we're the ones who have to pay to dig it up and repair it. So that's not an option here.

Last time we went to Trader Joe's, we bought a bunch of their reusuable bags. We use them for our grocery shopping. They were more expensive than the regular grocery store bags, but they are a lot bigger and can hold a lot more items. Plus, they're really colorful!  We bought enough that we don't have to worry about using plastic bags at all for our weekly shopping trip. (So far we've not had to pay for the plastic store bags around here, but I'm sure it's coming. When I need bags for litter (which doesn't happen that often anymore), I'll just put a few items in a store plastic bag, then put the bag in the TJ's bag.

But it's difficult to come up with ways to discard cat litter when you scoop twice a day. Our trash service will not take loose litter either....it must be bagged. We pay for two trash bags of litter a week, anything over two bags costs extra.

Minka said:

SwampWitch said:

Our grocery store quit giving out plastic bags years ago. It's a dumb idea and has done nothing for the environment but it does make more money for the store.

Instead of free plastic bags for hauling groceries and reusing for lining trash cans, we have to BUY cloth bags for groceries AND boxes of plastic bags to line the cans! (You cannot put loose litter, fireplace ashes, or glass in the trash here - it must be bagged/boxed or you will be fined.) 

The grocery store still has plenty of plastic bags for produce, so I always reuse those for collecting and taking out litter. 

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If you are using cloth bags... how did it do nothing for the environment????

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Because we still use just as many plastic bags for the trash. The only difference is we buy them new instead of reusing them from the grocery.

Instead of the grocery store paying for plastic bags, now the consumer has to buy them, plus the cloth ones. Works great for the store!

SwampWitch said:

Because we still use just as many plastic bags for the trash. The only difference is we buy them new instead of reusing them from the grocery.

Instead of the grocery store paying for plastic bags, now the consumer has to buy them, plus the cloth ones. Works great for the store!

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It seems that people have a mental block against looking at peoples' habits other than their own.  Not everyone uses grocery store bags for their trash or litter needs.  Most people buy plastic garbage bags, use grocery store bags for transporting goods, and then throw both sets of bags away.  Sure, you may do the right thing and reuse your grocery store bags for trash needs, but that doesn't mean that many other grocery store patrons will not reduce their plastic usage.  It may be inconvenient for you, but the people who make such policies aren't just thinking about cat people- they are thinking about the general public

Even if you use your plastic bags for litter, if you have to now pay for them, you are going to be more conservative, period. Instead of bagging excessively at the store, you will bag conservatively and the same goes for litter. You wouldn't just scoop one pee pile in and throw it away. You would make sure it's Full.

Minka said:

Even if you use your plastic bags for litter, if you have to now pay for them, you are going to be more conservative, period. Instead of bagging excessively at the store, you will bag conservatively and the same goes for litter. You wouldn't just scoop one pee pile in and throw it away. You would make sure it's Full.

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And if not then you really shouldn't be complaining about the price

I believe that at some pet stores you can buy biodegradable dog poop bags. I may start using those now that I only have one cat.

DuckDodgers said:

And if not then you really shouldn't be complaining about the price

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Exactly.

DuckDodgers said:

It seems that people have a mental block against looking at peoples' habits other than their own.  Not everyone uses grocery store bags for their trash or litter needs.  Most people buy plastic garbage bags, use grocery store bags for transporting goods, and then throw both sets of bags away.  Sure, you may do the right thing and reuse your grocery store bags for trash needs, but that doesn't mean that many other grocery store patrons will not reduce their plastic usage.  It may be inconvenient for you, but the people who make such policies aren't just thinking about cat people- they are thinking about the general public

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Exactly, overall it makes a difference just because it's inconvenient to some or those who don't want to change their ways the overall impact of every person is what matters.

There are almost 4 million less plastic bags used in my state alone - and other states have higher populations than where I live. 

DuckDodgers said:

SwampWitch said:

Because we still use just as many plastic bags for the trash. The only difference is we buy them new instead of reusing them from the grocery.

Instead of the grocery store paying for plastic bags, now the consumer has to buy them, plus the cloth ones. Works great for the store!

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It seems that people have a mental block against looking at peoples' habits other than their own.  Not everyone uses grocery store bags for their trash or litter needs.  Most people buy plastic garbage bags, use grocery store bags for transporting goods, and then throw both sets of bags away.  Sure, you may do the right thing and reuse your grocery store bags for trash needs, but that doesn't mean that many other grocery store patrons will not reduce their plastic usage.  It may be inconvenient for you, but the people who make such policies aren't just thinking about cat people- they are thinking about the general public

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The OP asked "what would you do?" in regard to cat litter disposal, so I answered what we do. I don't speak for "most people" but looks like you've got that covered.

Just some info  

http://www.webmd.com/news/20120508/norovirus-outbreak-traced-reusable-grocery-bag

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/09/11604166-reusable-grocery-bag-carried-nasty-norovirus-scientists-say?lite

http://savetheplasticbag.com/UploadedFiles/Request%20for%20public%20health%20investigation%20of%20reusable%20bags.pdf

http://www.ncpa.org/media/plastic-vs-paper-reusable

Reusable "cloth" grocery bags are unsanitary, unless you wash them after every single use.

That's not very environmentally friendly, is it?

Violet said:

Just some info  

http://www.webmd.com/news/20120508/norovirus-outbreak-traced-reusable-grocery-bag

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/09/11604166-reusable-grocery-bag-carried-nasty-norovirus-scientists-say?lite

http://savetheplasticbag.com/UploadedFiles/Request%20for%20public%20health%20investigation%20of%20reusable%20bags.pdf

http://www.ncpa.org/media/plastic-vs-paper-reusable

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"Experts say viral particles likely floated over from the toilet."

Not saying that the bags are completely innocent, but maybe folks should reconsider handling a cloth bag/the food it contains after it has been hanging in a hotel bathroom that a girl had been quite ill in.  I would guess that one is much more likely to pick up grocery store contaminants from things such as your shoes, the purse that you put down on the counter, your cell phone, etc.  You don't wash your purse and phone after every trip do you?

Much more to this than that one bag. You can get quite a bit of additional info if you click on the other links as well and do some reading on your own also. I'm always surprised to see how much info is out there.

Phones do need to be disinfected regularly. And purses need to be cleaned regularly as well.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/27/study-your-cellphone-is-teeming-with-germs/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444868204578064960544587522.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2196365/Mobile-phones-germs-toilet-seat.html

Everything is teeming with germs. And they always have been. And it's okay. It's the over compulsory fear of germs and the resultive over-cleaning that gets us More sick.

otto said:

Reusable "cloth" grocery bags are unsanitary, unless you wash them after every single use.
That's not very environmentally friendly, is it?

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Living in the world is unsanitary. :dk:

We use large, very sturdy cloth bags we bought at the health food store for $4 each for shopping - all the money went to breast cancer research benefit. Everything we buy at the supermarket is in boxes or bags or containers of some kind, so I'm not worried about sanitary issues from using cloth bags. It's the sneezing, coughing people that don't cover their mouths that worry me... :dk: I don't see how cloth vs plastic fixes that. We just wash the cloth bags with the laundry weekly.

We recycle the boxes (crackers, cereal, etc.) and bags (from fruit/veggies, bread, etc.) for litter. And I have 8 cats and scoop twice a day. We keep these on hand for when we don't have a box or baggie handy: ($0.041 per bag). $9 and free shipping for 3.5 months of bags, if that's all you use...

Minka said:

Everything is teeming with germs. And they always have been. And it's okay. It's the over compulsory fear of germs and the resultive over-cleaning that gets us More sick.

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Cloth bags, IMO, aren't the issue as re: germs.