As is the process, I start out thinking I am going to be sharing one thing, and my Go Green Blog posts take some wicked turns. I begin with the notion I am going to ‘knock this out’, then I fall down the rabbit hole of my topic, getting genuinely educated. This week is no different. I have been thinking a lot about what is going on with plastic bags. If you knew me, you’d know that isn’t a filler sentence. I do think almost obsessively about any topic nudging me, until I dive in and swim with it.
With deep guilt I admit I usually have a plan in place to not need plastic bags, but there have been breakdowns when I have. Then I use them for “poopy bags” when walking Shanti. I know it’s wrong (lying to myself that I recycled a bag, not the latter), and the Universe’s Green Police have, via this blog post, given me my last warning. (Say it with me folks, “Once you know, you are responsible”).
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away around 100 billion plastic bags each year, recycling less than one percent. Recycling plastic bags cost more and uses more energy than making the bag itself. Now I am really wondering what they do with all of those bags that well-meaning people place in the bins at the supermarket entries… That’s another blog entry in itself.
The bags made out of polyethylene pose the biggest environmental risk. One bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it photo degrades. S’plain Lucy! Well green peeps, when at some time in the far distant future that plastic bag does start to breakdown, it isn’t reabsorbed like products created with the natural cycle in mind. Instead it just breaks down into smaller pieces of the same ugly, life-deterring toxic substance, as it was as a toxic big boy. The soil and water that is supposed to be nurturing all of us (us meaning two-leggeds, four-leggeds, feathered, swimmers, etc) gets contaminated. No long term win for anyone. If you are asleep to the seriousness of this, let me wake you up with this disturbing fact found on worldwatch.org. “Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting a bag, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife.”
I encourage you to take a moment to download and click through this powerful presentation to get a real idea of what we are talking about here, an integral part of this conversation. (go ahead.. I’ll wait)
Living sustainably is a choice-by-choice process. Today, choose to:
-
Make sure your cloth/recycled shopping bags are located where you are going to use them.
- No shopping bag? Make a “purchase only what you can carry” commitment.
- Purchase more reusable shopping bags at the store; you can always use them or give them away to others when you’re done.
- Consider using these reusable produce bags available at GoGreen marketplace
- or these “Dog Waste Bags” available at GoGreen marketplace, as well.
Okay Go Greener’s! Looking forward to your “Say No to Plastic” shares in the comment area! What choice are you making today to say “Plastic BE GONE!”?
*Image of earth being deposited in plastic bag provided by ND Johnson via Shutterstock.
Latest posts by Candyce C. Fleming (Posts)
Dear Candyce,
I am also a “Green” activist. On the topic of plastic bags, I would recommend that you check out “Plarn on Etsy”. You can cut a plastic bag into 1 inch strips and knit all kinds of products with all those plastic bags.
I am currently inventing a machine that will cut the bags in a minute and will also ball up the plarn (plastic yarn), like a ball of yarn. I will market the machines to Nursing Homes and Schools. I will hopefully sell my balls of plarn in craft stores. And I intend to knit draft dodgers for sale.
It is so important that we address the enormous challenge of getting plastic out of the landfills for the reason you mentioned. And sooner as opposed to later. Please check out “Plarn on Etsy”, you will be amazed how many wonderful and useful products can be made from plastic bags.
Carol B. Corbi
Carol -
WOW… just went to Etsy and PLARN is taking over! I am inspired by your vision! Best to you in not only inventing the machine, but success in the marketing of the machines and the Plarn.
When others talk the weary talk to me that it’s all too far gone, I site those such as you and products like the Plarn itself to say – We are amazing, we can do this!
I am going to be doing a monthl long adventure of “my life with plastic” soon. Definitely saving your comments. I have a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/greeninredwhiteblue you might find interesting as well.
I’ve seen several articles about bacteria that grows quickly and contaminates foods in recyclable bags. One article said washing the bags breaks them down more quickly. Fabric bags don’t hold much weight. What do you know about this and/or getting reputable information.
Bernadine -
Honest part first. I am going to have to go on a research binge to find info I would be comfortable spouting, about the bacteria part.
Which use type bags are you focusing on so I can better understand where I am headed?
I know that the slime factor happens pretty quickly in normal plastic bags that you put food in and let sit. I woudn’t expect recycled “baggies” to be
that much different in that sense. I guess it depends on how long we expect our bags to be around, and how many uses we want to get out of them. I can see that washing might break then down more quickly. For the ” “poopy bags”, trash bags and items we want to dispose of, the breakdown is the win factor.
Forgive my lack of “scientific” on this thought, but I have had plastic bags that don’t seem to lose the scent or color of what was stored in them. That seems like a litle molecule co-mingly, or breakdown to me. We all know we shouldn’t nuke food in plastic, because of the same idea.
See… another Rabbit Hole to go down!