[Darield]

Lately I have been getting feeds on my phone about foods and products to avoid to reduce our consumption of micro plastics. So this has obviously become a problem since we are even finding this nasty stuff in our livestock our soil and of course The Ocean. I decided to ask several stores how many plastic bags they go through a day and the common answer was between 4-7,000 A DAY! I then looked up approximately how may grocery stores are in Florida? Approximately 20,000. If I multiply 20,000 x 3,000 bags (a very conservative number). Just in Florida we are using approximately 60 million plastic bags a day!! We don't have the manpower to recycle this plastic (latest figures are between 5 and 6% gets recycled) so the majority ends up in landfills, the ocean or best yet, we burn it in huge trash facilities. Please use reusable grocery bags.
If this interests you, here are some links to read more;
5 Things You Need to Know About How Florida Banned Plastic Bags - Debris Free Oceans
plastic-bags/https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worsehttps://shunpoly.com/article/how-much-of-the-usas-plastic-is-recycled

[retiredguy123]

Sorry, but I like the plastic bags and I will keep using them.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Darield

Lately I have been getting feeds on my phone about foods and products to avoid to reduce our consumption of micro plastics. So this has obviously become a problem since we are even finding this nasty stuff in our livestock our soil and of course The Ocean. I decided to ask several stores how many plastic bags they go through a day and the common answer was between 4-7,000 A DAY! I then looked up approximately how may grocery stores are in Florida? Approximately 20,000. If I multiply 20,000 x 3,000 bags (a very conservative number). Just in Florida we are using approximately 60 million plastic bags a day!! We don't have the manpower to recycle this plastic (latest figures are between 5 and 6% gets recycled) so the majority ends up in landfills, the ocean or best yet, we burn it in huge trash facilities. Please use reusable grocery bags.
If this interests you, here are some links to read more;
5 Things You Need to Know About How Florida Banned Plastic Bags - Debris Free Oceans
plastic-bags/https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worsehttps://shunpoly.com/article/how-much-of-the-usas-plastic-is-recycled

Something to think about?

This won't make my Top 1000 things to think about, it's all fake news.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

If I don't put my groceries into plastic bags from the check-out, then I'll have to buy plastic bags so I can clean the litter-box every day. I much prefer to re-use. I also use these bags for the little waste bins under each of our two bathroom sinks, and I don't throw them away until they're completely filled up. Usually once every month or so. I ALSO keep a couple of them in my car, in case I have trash from the drive-through or candy wrappers or whatever else. I ALSO keep a few in my suitcase, so when I'm visiting family, I have a place to put my dirty clothes at bedtime.

I say - use whatever makes you comfortable but IF you choose plastic, make every effort to re-use them.

[Velvet]

I keep using them and reusing them for art. I also take a whole bunch up north with me as the bags up north have become very expensive and cumbersome and unhygienic. I do keep mine out of the garbage though because of all the dear creatures that can choke on them.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I keep using them and reusing them for art. I also take a whole bunch up north with me as the bags up north have become very expensive and cumbersome and unhygienic. I do keep mine out of the garbage though because of all the dear creatures that can choke on them.

If you keep them out of the garbage, then what do you do with them, when it's time to discard them (if they get torn, or dirty)?

Something you can do, when it is time to toss them in the trash - is cut the handles. It prevents critters from sticking their heads through the hole and being unable to dislodge the bag from their neck. You should do that with 6-pack plastic doodads as well.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

If I don't put my groceries into plastic bags from the check-out, then I'll have to buy plastic bags so I can clean the litter-box every day. I much prefer to re-use. I also use these bags for the little waste bins under each of our two bathroom sinks, and I don't throw them away until they're completely filled up. Usually once every month or so. I ALSO keep a couple of them in my car, in case I have trash from the drive-through or candy wrappers or whatever else. I ALSO keep a few in my suitcase, so when I'm visiting family, I have a place to put my dirty clothes at bedtime.

I say - use whatever makes you comfortable but IF you choose plastic, make every effort to re-use them.

Good post, solid logic.

For those who wish to ban plastic bags, what do you propose as an alternative? What will I pick up dog poop with? What will we put our garbage in at the curb?

Reduce and reuse: Yes
Eliminate: No

[Papa_lecki]

So in New Jersey, plastic bags are illegal. All groceries come in a petroleum based, type bag. You know what we do with those bags, throw them away.
Know what we did with the old plastic bags, put them in the bathroom trash cans, picked up dog poops, etc.
Now we also need to buy poop bags.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki

So in New Jersey, plastic bags are illegal. All groceries come in a petroleum based, type bag. You know what we do with those bags, throw them away.
Know what we did with the old plastic bags, put them in the bathroom trash cans, picked up dog poops, etc.
Now we also need to buy poop bags.

163 Cities and Towns in MA regulate "plastic bags" in some way. Over 70% of the population.

Just a wild guess, but I'd put money on the fact that 90% these towns banned "paper bags", 15-20 years ago. I know all the towns I live near, banned them. Now all of a sudden, paper bags are the cat's meow.

Recycling is the biggest scam in the last 50 years.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

For those who wish to ban plastic bags, what do you propose as an alternative? What will I pick up dog poop with? What will we put our garbage in at the curb?

Dog poop. Bucket and shovel. Take home and flush it?
Garbage? Remember metal trash/garbage cans?

Where there is a will, there is a way. 😉

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Recycling is the biggest scam in the last 50 years.

Second biggest.
Climate change is #1.
I'll believe it when the elites who go on about it stop flying in private jets.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

Dog poop. Bucket and shovel. Take home and flush it?
Garbage? Remember metal trash/garbage cans?

No going back. That ship has sailed.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

If you keep them out of the garbage, then what do you do with them, when it's time to discard them (if they get torn, or dirty)?

Something you can do, when it is time to toss them in the trash - is cut the handles. It prevents critters from sticking their heads through the hole and being unable to dislodge the bag from their neck. You should do that with 6-pack plastic doodads as well.

We save a large percentage of our plastic bags from our Villages home and bring them up north with us because the stores there won’t give them out any longer. We bring them into the stores, and when they ask us if we want to purchase paper bags we say we’re all set and toss them some bags from Publix and tell them to bag our groceries. Who says they are single use bags, we use them multiple times, until they tear and are no longer useable.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

No going back. That ship has sailed.

Decision based on lack of commitment. That "ship" remains in port for those with the will and vision to explore options. Occasionally, old ways can be "re-imagined" to be better than current ways. Remember glass milk bottles instead of plastic? Cars made of metal instead of plastic? Never say, "never". 😉

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

Second biggest.
Climate change is #1.
I'll believe it when the elites who go on about it stop flying in private jets.

I put "Recycling" at number one, because it started before the "Climate Change" scam ... but there's no question they're the biggest scams of our lives.