apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Crap! Those are good quality bags; I use them like crazy! I use them as garbage bags in my bathroom. And I use them for cat litter.

I usually take market bags to the store but I usually score a bag or two a week for my uses around the house. Lame!

I bet that if plastic bags were all-out eliminated, we would all adjust, and learn to bring cloth bags. Recycling them seems like more trouble than it's worth, lots of loopholes, hard to enforce, though that is without looking at the proposed bill or anything.

Why can't they switch to those biodegradable plastic bags? I agree with isadora; I bring my own canvas bags to the supermarket, but usually buy more than will fit in them and get a plastic bag for the remainder, which is used for cat litter/garbage at home.
In a pinch, I use plastic produce bags for litter. Though I try to reuse them for produce too.

I assume they'll still have paper bags at the store?

What I don't get about the bag recycling thing is that I've seen people bring a big mess of plastic bags to the store, pop them in the bag recycling bin and then leave the store with groceries in new plastic bags! The store itself should be using those plastic bags to give to customers - but maybe it's a hygiene thing? I've also noticed how hard it is to convince some check out people that I don't need a plastic bag because I have my own bags, or because I'm buying just one item and can carry it out. They look at me like I'm crazy! Am I the only one this happens to?

My gripe is not that I get weird looks when I ask for no bag, or when I have my own, but when I DON'T have a reusable bag, and am buying multiple items, but want the cashier to load everything into as few bags as possible. What usually winds up happening, after I get a weird look, is that they DO load it up, but then DOUBLE-BAG it. Completely defeating the purpose, obviously. I used to work at Target and remember when the company switched to a more durable bag...they initiated a whole new training thing about not needing to double-bag anymore. They still include it w/ new employee training but it doesn't always sink in I guess. I think Target really needs to come out with a branded reusable bag, because then the cashier won't give you a weird look - they will know that the bag is from their store, with their name on it. It may be a minor hassle, but not weird.

mangosteen, that happens to me too. so i try to use the self-checkout whenever possible to avoid the "look".

Reduce, reuse, recycle. They're listed in order of importance. It's far better to use fewer bags than to recycle the bags we are using. Plastic bags can't be recycled infinitely, and they're usually shipped to somewhere in Asia to be processed.

I've had a couple of times with people being taken aback when I ask to NOT have a plastic bag. This is the latest thing I'm shoving down all my friends throats (stop taking plastic bags!) but they're not listening (YET...) lol I also am just shocked when (as I'd read elsewhere on this site) you tell the cashier you don't want a plastic bag, and they throw the one they just pulled for you into the trash. I want to slap them across the face and give them a speech. Target actually JUST came out with these adorable reusable bags that are red, and have an image of a tree with little birds on it. They are being sold for $2.50 at the $1.00/$2.50 section of the store (usually right when you walk in.) They're really cute! I just wish plastic bags would get banned already, it's ridiculous how long it takes human society to get to something. Geesh, how long have we known they're bad for the environment? I purchased three Baggu Bags (baggubag.com) at the beginning of the year and haven't taken a single plastic bag in twenty two days! (which I'm personally proud of.) No more plastic bags for me! And after the initial "everyone is staring at me and thinks I'm weird!" I barely care now! It's such a simple thing to do. Baggu Bags ROCK, by the way; they are seriously great, not too "designy" or cutesy, but sturdy, minimal, and just all around wonderful! And I don't even work for them, just love the product! So pick some up. For those with cat litter issues, I had the same problem. What I've started doing is I just scoop my litter in a trash bag, then tie it up, and just place it out on my back porch; and will use it a few times during the week to scoop cat litter, then also throw in all my trash after four days or so; thereby removing the need to have the additional "cat bags." That may gross some out, but I haven't noticed a smell, and it's working great so far! Sorry for the long post.

I have 2 cats and live in a high rise. I still don't see a solution that's better than using the plastic bags from the grocery for garbage and litter. We have one bag (usually per day) that hangs in front of the sink to catch our trash, then we scoop the litter into it, tie, and toss.

I think a lot of people are going to resort to buying thicker ply plastic household trash bags if they do away with plastic grocery bags. I can't remember the last time I bought a plastic garbage bag.

Now, as soon as my reusable tote arrives (gift with purchase from Method), I'll be using that to bring my lunch to the office, vs. the grocery bags I'd often throw away after lunch.

But in my opinion, plastic grocery bags (esp. with the corn base or whatever it is) are the best solution for pet owners.

Plastic bags are great for pets and when it rains. When you live in the city and have to set those paper bags down to fish out keys, things can get a little precarious...

Ok, not to keep going on and on about the plastic bags, but I forgot to mention that I just noticed some "65% post-consumer" plastic trash bags (13 gal) by Glad when I was at the store this weekend. For those of us who still use a plastic bag for lining the trash can, I think this is a huge improvement. And I can already tell that they are of decent strength because they were put to the test with my painting trash from this past weekend's whirlwind let's-paint-the- bedroom foray. They are twist tie tops, which is ok because who really needs all that extra plastic just to tie the bag closed like the drawstring ones?

Ok, off my soapbox now ;)

Whole Foods already cut out plastic bags here in Austin. I happened to walk in on the day they stopped carrying them and got one of their reusable bags for free. :) The alternative is a small or large paper bag.

I try to use my own bags as much as possible. The problem is that I tend to forget to put them in my car.

What am I going to use for trash bags? Seriously! I think this is ridiculous. I bring my totes to WF whenever I have stocked up enough trash bags for awhile, but sometimes I need bags for trash. My apartment complex requires that trash be put down the chute in plastic bags. I am not happy about this at all.

i've finally worked my way through all of my plastic shopping bags, after a year of consistently bringing my tote bag (and cloth produce bags) on my grocery runs. i just ran out of the purchased kitchen trash bags as well, and think i might buy biobags from my local market. anyone have experience with them?

I constantly get weird looks when I say " Oh I have bags". And most of the time the bagger nods her head at me and then bags my groceries in plastic bags and then puts the plastic bags INTO my bags.

"What am I going to use for trash bags? "

They sell these things in the paper goods aisles called, i think, "trash bags." Usually less than $3 for a few months supply!

Sorry to be snarky, but people complain that whole foods is expensive, but then they expect whole foods to supply you with free, thick, biodegradable bags? If WF offered those bags at 10 cents each, would you pay for them?

As for cat litter, well, i dunno.. i think you can dump the whole thing into a regular kitchen trash bag, with the rest of your trash, right? I don't keep cats in my house, so i don't really know how it works.

I have 4 WF totes, each $1. When I know I'm buying more than a bag's worth, I bring two. Or more. I find that each design is cute, and as soon as the handles finally rip, there's a new design out, for again, just $1. Totally worth a few months of no plastic.

Paper bags are certainly not great for rainy days, but $1 cloth bags are just fine.

It's definitely true that most cashiers should be trained, but at lesat at whole foods, most are used to it, and rarely double up.

I went to Cost Plus yesterday and they said "hey, you spent more than $25. Have a free tote bag." I had already brought my own but now I have a spare. I keep them in the car and hardly ever forget them, if I do, I get paper bags.

I buy Full Circle 100% recycled plastic garbage bags. They're not that much more expensive than non-recycled. I guess I should find some that are biodegradable though.

This is so strange that people get weird looks for bringing their own bag. I usually get a thank you from the cashier!

STLcolleen: Target does have their own branded, reusable bags. I have a few that my mom gave to me. I just saw some for sale at the Target in Brooklyn last week.

It is surprising to me that Whole Foods is saying they will get rid of plastic bags. At some of the Whole Foods near me they have been making a big deal about how they have banished the less-environmentally-sound paper bags in FAVOR of plastic. Maybe those stores are anomalous.

cheflaura: we use the store bags for litter because if you scoop a big pile of poop and urine into your trash can, your apartment smells like... poop and urine. I, at least, scoop out the catbox each morning and toss the small bag in the dumpster on my way out.

I think I'll move towards using the produce bags for catbox purposes until I find a better solution: perhaps this will encourage me to buy more fresh fruits & veggies? :)

I'm a transplant from the U.S. living in Western Australia, and bringing your own canvas bags to the shops is a fairly normal occurrence (no weird looks from the cashiers).

So, I adjusted to the canvas totes, but was always wondering what I could do to replace those little produce bags (no pets, so I don't need them for waste). I found these little reusable net bags being sold at a local market
http://www.onyabags.com.au/index.php?crn=208&rn=425&action=show_detail

Even if you don't want to buy these, I wanted to put the idea out there. I really like them and it has made me virtually plastic bag free. Some of you craftier people could probably make mesh bags fairly easily at a low cost.

You can put your cat's business straight into the toilet from the litter box, no need to use a plastic bag.

It's a sad state of affairs when New York is only enforcing recycling, but China is beginning to ban plastic bags entirely.

I think New York missed the mark entirely, the bags should be banned. If we didn't have them, we'd figure out a way to adapt. We're human, we adapt.

brittany: I share your surprise. The WF near Beacon Hill in Boston does not, at least in my visits, have paper bags at all. I requested them, as I reuse paper bags for literally years--groceries, moving, tote bags--but WF was all "we don't use those here." I have moved on to a lightweight reuseable shopping bag, but I still keep and use and reuse every paper bag I've gotten in the last 23 months or so.

I think if they are banned it will force more consumers to remember to bring their own bag. I think it is a step in the right direction. I use canvas bags every time I go to the grocery store, and have neer gotten a weird look.

Also, there are biodegradable bags (made from corn I believe) that I use for my puppy's waste. Perhaps there is something similar for cat waste, or the puppy branded bags would work for cats as well?

You all know there were cats and pet owners before plastic even existed, right? ;-) So obviously there is a solution! Actually, jennyd, the idea of putting it in the toilet is GREAT! duh, I'd never even thought of that... so simple. Especially if you use clumping cat litter! Thanks! (again, Baggubag.com, you won't be sorry!)

From what I undersatnd you can't put all kinds of cat litter in the toilet!

Also, I live in a fairly urban setting; I don't need my apartment stinking up like cat feces (I already use Feline Pine litter so the cat pee smell is eliminated).

That said, if I had a private space (such as a backyard) I'd just compost it. Since I don't, I prefer to put it in a separate container and dump it in the garbage in back of my building a couple of times a week.

AmandaSD: Thanks for the heads up...I'm off to Target tonight so I will be sure to look for them. However, things always seem to make it over to the STL a lot slower than on the coasts...oh the joys of living in Misery, oh, I mean, Missouri ;)

I think some folks are missing the point. If you eliminate plastic grocery bags and then are forced to buy plastic trash bags (typically MUCH thicker, larger, and less likely to be biodegradable), then are you really doing much good keeping plastic out of the landfills? It's not about the cost of buying the trash bags - I'd gladly pay 10 cents per grocery bag like in Europe. And if I had a dog to pick up after, I think I'd be willing to pay twice that!

I can just picture all the people out there smugly stuffing their cardboard boxes full of plastic kitchen garbage bags into their hemp tote bags...

I, too, am a cat owner and use these bags for poop scooping.

One crowd wants me to buy bags. Fine. But I agree with asinner. A bag in a landfill is a bag in a landfill, whether I paid for it or not.

Then there is the "throw the poop directly in the toilet" crowd. Which would be fine, if the litter box was anywhere near a toilet (or would even fit in the bathroom). Which it isn't. And I'm not sure my ancient plumbing could handle it anyway.

I have a tote for when I buy groceries, but every so often I get a few plastic bags (they can be really useful). So I'm not sure where I rank on the environmentally good scale - but I guess I could just order more takeout whenever I need plastic bags.

And as far as "pet owners before plastic" - well, (for dogs, at least) wasn't their old solution to leave the poop where it lay? That won't work in NYC...

And if you put the kitty litter in the toilet (and it doesn't clog) or maybe even teach a cat to use the toilet (Meet-the-Parents style), wouldn't someone then argue that it would increase flushings => waste more water?

Um, I didn't realize Whole Foods was the only store in NYC that gave out plastic bags. Sheesh!