and i remember a few years back reading how the 3rd worlders aren't taking it anymore, that they felt we were sending them our trash

Stop bringing logic into this! This thread is about virtue signaling, not common sense!

Half the produce is in plastic.

Hopefully just words

Don’t plastic burn?

That’s cause they just throw it anywhere. Most 3rd world streets are garbage dumps.

. I agree that there are plenty of distractions from so much corruption, gas-lighting, etc, but with a background in science, I know this is not the "hysteria du jour". I can't do anything about much of the craziness going on right now in the world but I can do my part by bringing bags when I go shopping at the grocery stores as well as other stores. I asked my local Publix and they use thousands of bags a day. Multiply that by the hundreds of Publix, Walmarts, Winn Dixie, etc.,etc in Florida and the number is astronomical. Many of this plastic ends up in landfills and the ocean.

Apparently you have never been to a base to shop. The commissary offers on a voluntary list to work bagging grocery. No wages, government facility, so they volunteer for shifts.

Signs at entrance, cashier, and at the card reader, let you know the young workers are here on a no pay volunteer basis. Tips are not expected, but greatly appreciated.

To keeps line’s moving quickly each line has 1-2 teens. By the time you show your military I’d, your groceries are already on a trolly to be loaded into your car. Bags are packed so perfectly not only by weight, but by category, with frozen packed in double bag, the 70 minute drive, the frozen items are never thawed.

Never have I witnessed people that felt obligated for the services provided by these young teens. But happy to see young people putting forth efforts with zero pay, smile, and that Military respect for the veterans who enter.

In all the years we have shopped on base, have never witnessed any veteran not tip. My guess is almost all veterans that shop on base feel the young people deserve something for their efforts, to take initiative and respect them.

If you don’t want the service, you can use the self checkout, but usually only the uniform service members use them for snacks.

My guess is you would be in the line for I am not going to tip you, but that’s ok, they would still thank you for your service.

Military families serve in their own unique way, and sometimes their sacrifice is the loss of a sibling or parent. Have great respect for what families endure, everyday their parents serve our country.

For us that tip is the least we can do for our military families.

You buy them on Amazon.

You know what else we have to buy now, plastic bags to go in the small trash cans in the bathroom and bedroom.

And the bag that goes in the poop trash can.

DUMB.

Most of the things we buy are packaged in plastic. There is biodegradable plastic and I don't see that being used too often in most packaging. I get glass when I can but it's not always an option. Stores sell plastic bags for us to put our garbage in and this plastic not available as a biodegradable option. Paper bags are made shabbily and break easy. Glass isn't always a safe option but a lot more things could be packaged in glass.

When you cringe over every plastic bag, do you do the same for your ketchup, mustard and mayo bottles, creamer, milk, soda, do you buy garbage bags, tubs of butter, the sad truth is plastic is everywhere.

Assumptions are dangerous!!!!

Buried behind the original poster's statement, and maybe in the cited articles, is the unspoken assumption that plastics we dispose of are going into landfills. Sure, that was true back in New Jersey, but not here.

All plastic that we put in our trash doesn't get anywhere near those poor earthworms. It goes directly into an incinerator that turns it into electricity for powering our clean running and environmentally harmless Teslas.

Exactly! It seems some others are suggesting solutions in search of a problem.:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

And to those devout environmentalists: It's not the fault of the plastic bag or container that it ends up in the ocean----it's the fault of people not disposing of it correctly. Banning plastic would be like banning cars because some people drive over 100 mph or banning 32 oz. soft drinks because people get fat (oh, yeah, the former communist mayor of NYC did that already)

Well, the ancients had to carry their shopping home in something! :icon_wink:

Um...
 

Um...Florida. Progressive thinking is banned.

I'm one of those snow birds heating and cooling 2 homes... BUT, I bring my free plastic bags back up north with me (where they're banned) to reuse and offset the global warming that I'm contributing to.

All true.

Just a couple of other things to add to that list. Styrofoam, which is extruded polystyrene foam (AKA "plastic") is one of the biggest "offenders" when it comes to plastic. It is one of the best insulating materials around. I insulated my garage with it back in Minnesota a few years back--easy to work with; comes in 4' x 8' sheets in whatever thickness you want depending on the insulating property being sought. Styrofoam is everywhere; not just in building construction or remodeling. Just about every large item ordered from Amazon, Costco, etc. comes packaged in the stuff: light, cushioning and can be formed to exactly the shape needed. There are probably dozens of examples as well. Problem with Styrofoam though is that it doesn't degrade, or degrades very slowly, in landfills, plus you can't recycle the stuff. In fact landfills are composed of anywhere from 25% to 35%, by volume, of Styrofoam.

And that doesn't even include the other "offender", expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is used to make all those cups, containers, to-go boxes and bags, etc. etc. etc. that people think are styrofoam but isn't, used once and then tossed by both businesses and consumers, to the tune of eleven million TONS of the stuff. Every year. It might not be Styrofoam but it degrades just as slowly as Styrofoam. And like Styrofoam, it is non-recyclable.

Looking at the problem from that perspective, burning both the styrofoam and expanded polystyrene and turning it into energy, such as is being done here in The Villages, makes a lot of sense. You're getting energy from something that would otherwise just lay in the ground not just taking up space for decades but at the same time leaching harmful chemicals back into the soil. MUCH better to get rid of it by using it as fuel for electricity.

This is just one of the reasons I am so amused by those anti-plastic bag crusaders and their unthinking mantras. It is a great way to show others of like mind how virtuous they may be, I suppose, but in the grand scheme of things it carries all the weight of, say, a spat of flatulence in mid-Katrina.

I wonder how many BTU's are generated from burning the dog poop in those bags.

I wonder if they allow tours of their facilities.

Next time you pat yourself on the back while unpacking your paper sack, take note of all the plastic it transported to your home.

Go Back to Natural products
 

I agree 100%. We need to go back to a renewable source like paper. They can be used for book cover, trash, fully burnable for energy, and if they do get lost to the wind, they are fully biodegradable. I can't believe some fool hasn't thought of this before now. New clean bags, not those dirty disgusting cloth bags that people bring in. I mean, who know where they've been or what disgusting things are on them.

We are doomed. It's generational. The "Me" generation is Self-involved, denial, and "to heck with everyone else". Science? Who needs it!

Great summary!!
 

A good summary of our burning questions! But still we should up-cycle household stuff to Habitat, thrift stores, etc...and cut apart plastic rings to save wildlife

You're Barking Up The Wrong Tree
 

Why is the plastic bag so offensive to you when about 95% of everything you put in that bag is packaged in PLASTIC.

I don't know. There is a "virtual tour" that is available (not the real thing, I know, and no opportunity for questions). There were several reviews on the site done by people who had obviously been there, with one rather disgruntled chap bemoaning the fact that they had screwed up his appointment time, so--probably. They do have a contact number listed on their website so it would be easy to find out.

I’m from Canada and we are eliminating plastic bags.. When I come to the Villages I’m so disappointed that stores especially Walmart continue to use plastic bags…Why is it that people can spend $400.00 at Costco who don’t offer bags and don’t have an issue…then go to Walmart and use 10 bags for a $50.00 order…Hello people don’t you see what these bags are doing to the environment…

Most of the bulk items I buy at Costco don't fit in a bag.

yes, it will

That 10-pack of canned tuna that I bought from Sam's along with the 35-pack of soda, the 36-pack of aluminum trays, the large stack of paper plates, and the rotisserie chicken were all wrapped in heavier plastic than Walmart uses for bags.

Hmmm. Not so sure abt powering 1 million homes. That’s seems impossible Not the number that I recall but I will look it up

Plastic Bags
 

Now go buy a box of tall kitchen PLASTIC garbage bags!!!

They ban plastic bags but almost 90% of what you buy comes in plastic.

Florida also has love bugs and no-see-ems which other states have banned!

No one wants our recycles. What are we supposed to do with them. China used to buy them. It’s better to burn them than end up in a landfill.

There are many many products sold in plastic containers and people are worried about plastic grocery bags? What about soda, water, many bulk vegetables, condiments such as ketchup and mustard along with a plethora of other products?

Maybe one of you advocating for ‘paper’ only option...can answer the question(s) that have been posed several times here. What about all the plastic based products that are purchased and transported in said bag(s)? Seems a little hypocritical, no? If you’re using it as a first step in your advocacy, how do you expect compliance and buy in if these (recycled) paper options can’t hold anything with any integrity. If you’re being honest, then you know you’ve seen many shoppers frustrated when their orders collapse to the pavement below due to these inferior products. I also agree with the post about bringing in reusable bags, it’s disgusting. I’ve been behind a shopper that yanked out a half a dozen of those loaded with her fur babies hair. That sounds like someone with other people’s best interest at heart. As I stated earlier, all businesses should make some component of a recycled plastic bag available, durable, and at no cost to the end user. Those that want no part of that can use the litany of cardboard boxes that these grocers accumulate daily that can be used to appease those so inclined.

Absolutely.

Coincidentally, after the cat walked on my face at 3:00 AM this morning, I was flipping through the offerings on YouTube that covered this topic, as well as recycling in general. Very informative. Good coverage of how plastics can be recycled and the efforts being made by various countries, as well as many other substances being recycled and/or repurposed. One rather fascinating topic was "green" burials. Many advertised as such aren't, or aren't to the extent that they're being touted as, but this particular segment concerned the use of mushrooms for coffins! Apparently they introduce a certain breed of mushroom to a mold, wait for the time needed, and the mushroom grows to fill the mold. Once done and processed the end result is something that looks like Styrofoam and apparently can be handled the same way, and burying good old Uncle Walter in one guarantees that the whole thing degrades quickly, returning Uncle Walter to the environment in about a year, vs. up to ten years (according to the segment) if a wooden casket with metal accouterments and various other plastics used in the process, was used.

The show did contain a warning however, for people to be watchful and not be taken in by emotional appeals. Ikea, for example, as made a very public effort to go the green route, recycling many not-too-damaged pieces of Ikea furniture to a resellable state, which they then resell. They tout their efforts as saving the environment but apparently this arrangement is very financially advantageous to them as well, as (as I recall) they charge the customer $X to drop the item off, then resell it for less than new but still at a pretty hefty price. The point was that the environment is not being helped as much as IKEA might want people to think: the stuff that would take too much time or money to fix apparently just ends up in landfills. Another such emotionally-laden topic was "reef burials", where Uncle Walter is apparently cremated, with his (and more than just a few others) remains then mixed into concrete, formed into something that looks like a huge upside-down flowerpot, and dumped in the ocean. The upside-down pot has openings for fish to swim in and out of, and is apparently an ideal structure for coral formation. You can also write Walter's name on it, add trinkets, etc. if you wish. Well and good--but your effort at saving the environment, providing structure for coral and making the fish happy costs, according to the segment, about as much as a normal in-ground funeral and burial, and as THAT number today can go as high as $12,000.00 (I've seen higher) it is obvious that somebody (maybe several somebodies) are profiting from your emotion.

Walk around the isles at the grocery store and see how many of the products sold are in plastic in some way.
So, we are worried about the bags that most of us take back to the store and put in the recycle bin?