Something to think about-plastic bags Something to think about-plastic bags - Page 6 - Talk of The Villages Florida

Something to think about-plastic bags

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  #76  
Old 09-06-2025, 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Pugchief View Post
So anecdotal rather than factual.

Maybe it was the store or the supplier, rather than the bag being made of paper? Correlation does not imply causation.

Why do people believe things to be true based on isolated, anecdotal experience rather than facts? SMH
From the Google Machine (via AI):

"Yes, paper bags can attract bugs, especially cockroaches and silverfish, because they provide a food source (paper and glue), a hiding place, and a safe environment for laying eggs. While paper bags don't typically emit smells that attract bugs, their absorbent, organic material and tight creases make them ideal habitats, making it crucial to store food in sealed, tight-fitting containers and regularly recycle paper products to deter pests."
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  #77  
Old 09-06-2025, 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Velvet View Post
I just got tired of them making various excuses for flagellating people (can I give your example as a mild case?). It got old real fast.
Offering an alternative point of view is "flagellating people"? Really? Does that work both ways?
  #78  
Old 09-06-2025, 08:23 PM
Rodneysblue Rodneysblue is offline
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Originally Posted by Darield View Post
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
But they told us to use plastic to save the trees.
  #79  
Old 09-06-2025, 08:38 PM
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Originally Posted by coffeebean View Post
I've discussed the incineration plant which serves The Villages which turns plastic into energy. No plastic at all in land fills and the plastics are turned into energy. What about that?
Good, but not perfect.
Several searches noted that trash to energy systems reduce landfill by around 90% from what was brought in. The ash that goes into the ground contains materials no longer recyclable (glass, metals, etc) along with various toxins, heavy metals and microplastics. The steam and gasses that goes into the air contains CO2, nitrogen, and other greenhouse gasses, toxins, ash and microplastics.
So, good, but not perfect. And it's expensive to build and operate.
  #80  
Old 09-06-2025, 08:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Rodneysblue View Post
But they told us to use plastic to save the trees.
Yes! They did! The plastic bag manufacturers really got a chuckle out of that.
That was then. This is now. The trash speaks for itself world wide. Things change.
  #81  
Old 09-07-2025, 09:03 AM
OrangeBlossomBaby OrangeBlossomBaby is offline
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Originally Posted by fdpaq0580 View Post
Good, but not perfect.
Several searches noted that trash to energy systems reduce landfill by around 90% from what was brought in. The ash that goes into the ground contains materials no longer recyclable (glass, metals, etc) along with various toxins, heavy metals and microplastics. The steam and gasses that goes into the air contains CO2, nitrogen, and other greenhouse gasses, toxins, ash and microplastics.
So, good, but not perfect. And it's expensive to build and operate.
The metals are removed during the process, before the ash is contained and brought to the landfill. Glass is silica - the same material as beach sand. Beach sand isn't recyclable either but no one seems to object to it. Maybe because it's glass, in the form of beach sand rather than glass, in the form of microparticles of burned sand? The steam and gasses do NOT go into the air. That's the point of a closed system. The steam and gasses go through pipes, becoming energy, and used to power the system.
  #82  
Old 09-07-2025, 10:51 AM
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Default Incineration Is NOT a Closed System

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Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby View Post
The metals are removed during the process, before the ash is contained and brought to the landfill. Glass is silica - the same material as beach sand. Beach sand isn't recyclable either but no one seems to object to it. Maybe because it's glass, in the form of beach sand rather than glass, in the form of microparticles of burned sand? The steam and gasses do NOT go into the air. That's the point of a closed system. The steam and gasses go through pipes, becoming energy, and used to power the system.
Incineration is not a closed system. FDAQ response is correct. There is some metals recovery by capturing magnetic material but other materials such as glass. aluminum, etc. go to the combustion process and generally become parts of ash going to landfill.
Steam produced in the boilers go to a condensing steam turbine which produces power. The steam is condensed, recovered, treated, and used again in steam generation with some additional external treated Boiler Feedwater..
The gaseous products of combustion are treated to reduce solids by filtration and liquid scrubbing.
The remaining products of combustion are exhausted to the atmosphere. This stack discharge includes CO2, NOx, so2 etc.
I could not find any real specific description of the actual treating at Covanta so I can not guestimate what reductions are made to NOx and SO2. My guess is not much. Reducing NOx requires catalyst beds , precise temperature control, and injecting Ammonia. Removing SO2 requires precise temperature and pH control and using very specific metallurgy to withstand, erosive corrosive water washing conditions of the exhaust gases.

The non combustibles in the garbage stream such as glass and small metal pieces etc. become the material sent to landfill. Any solids recovered in bag filters and water washing are added to the landfill stream.
  #83  
Old 09-07-2025, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by coffeebean View Post
I don't know what search engine you use but Google came up with plenty. Pick one..........
do paper bags carry insect larvae - Google Search
You stated that the new paper shopping bags at the grocery stores already had insect larvae. That's not what you searched, which was how bags at your home can pick up larvae. Try this search:

do new paper grocery bags carry insect larvae

and get this result:
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  #84  
Old 09-07-2025, 11:44 AM
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Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby View Post
That's the point of a closed system. .
The system is definitely not closed. Open for input, open for output. Trash/garbage is incinerated (burned), not disintegrated or dematerialized. It isn't magic, just an upgraded fire pit. As a child in L. A., all houses used to have incinerator in the back yard for burning trash. Cleaning out the ash was one of my chores. Lot of smog back then.
  #85  
Old 09-07-2025, 11:52 AM
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California, huh? That explains a lot. My hubby went to school there.
  #86  
Old 09-07-2025, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Pugchief View Post
You stated that the new paper shopping bags at the grocery stores already had insect larvae. That's not what you searched, which was how bags at your home can pick up larvae. Try this search:

do new paper grocery bags carry insect larvae

and get this result:
Thank you.
So, during manufacture bugs are less likely, and become more likely after manufacture depending on conditions like heat and moisture during transport and storage.
Fair enough!
  #87  
Old 09-07-2025, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Velvet View Post
California, huh? That explains a lot. My hubby went to school there.
"Explains a lot"? Have no idea what that is supposed to mean. That was then (post WWII), this is now.
Assume that "hubby" got a good education.
  #88  
Old 09-07-2025, 12:34 PM
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My hubby was (has passed away now) a very dedicated environmentalist. Sometimes, in his honor, I still do a lot of stuff I wouldn’t do because I don’t think it is justified but I know he would ….
  #89  
Old 09-07-2025, 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by BrianL99 View Post
Something to think about?

This won't make my Top 1000 things to think about, it's all fake news.
It's unfortunate that there is so much fake news but not everything is fake news. Where do you think 60 million plastic bags go? Have you ever talked with some of the amazing people who help our sick and suffering wildlife? Many of the studies will list where the study was done. Plastic contamination is more of an inconvenient truth than fake news. Microplastics found embedded in tissues of whales and dolphins | ScienceDaily
  #90  
Old 09-07-2025, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby View Post
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.
At this time my goal is to reduce my plastic use since eliminating it is not realistic. Some of my reusable bags are 5 years old. I wipe them out regularly. When I was up North, I bought several reusable bags made from plastic water bottles. That was over a year ago.
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