Waste-to-energy
 

Or, the Villages could choose to send ALL of its waste, and un-recyclables - to a waste-to-energy plant where it is incinerated and the energy is recovered as electricity that is sent back for us to run our air conditioners - i.e. sustainable, clean, renewable energy.

i agree. save plastic for messy/leaky items, and GOOD QUALITY paper bags like trader joe's have, for all the rest

More food for thought;

Australia has never used plastic bags and no one there died of contamination. I lived there 25 years ago & have used canvas bags ever since. Our country is backward compared to other countries in recycling and proper use of our resources. I wash my canvas bags occasionally, but not after every single use. Our society has become paranoid about germs. We all have germs. We actually need germs & bacteria.

This is a pet peeve of mine. I spoke to the manager at the Publix at Colony to suggest that those who wish to use their reusable bags should have dedicated checkout lines. Those who check out invariably slow the line by directing/instructing how their groceries are packed and the rest of us have to wait. While I'm at it, just got back from Disney. The use paper straws everywhere, served in plastic cups. Makes no sense. Furthermore, they control your A/C in the room you paid thousands to stay in. People, it's all about control.

I don't think I have read so much 'sky is falling' nonsence for a long time.
If this small TOTV site is a reflection of US society as a whole, over a piddling thing like shopping bags, God help you if something serious happens.
Come on!!

:coolsmiley: This morning I read a story online in the Albany, N.Y. newspaper about a local grocery store chain charging 5 cents for paper bags. The story had some info. that people may or may not find interesting. New York State has a statewide ban on plastic grocery bags that takes effect on March 1.

Price Chopper to start charging 5 cents for paper bags :ho:

While on the subject of plastic bags.
 

Why are we using clear plastic bags for recycling we should have recycle bins think of how many bags we use each week in the villages.

Plastic bags disappear, what do you use...
 

If you are using non-plastic bags at the grocery store, what are you using for the garbage can under the sink, in the bathrooms etc.? That is a second use of the stores cheap plastic bags which, of course, is not as many as the canvas bags. I'm curious as we are moving to McClure in April and was planning on shopping at Publix.

I buy tall kitchen can bags for kitchen garbage. If "they" come up with a biodegradable alternative of that size, I'll use it.


As for bathroom waste cans, we never have to throw anything in there that would make a mess. It's all dry goods. I've been using the same can liner and just adding the contents to the kitchen bag on trash day. Alternatively, I could use a cloth bag and wash it.

Some research
 

To legitimize the extra effort and energy consumption that producing tote bags requires, consumers need to use their reusable bags—a lot. One study out of the United Kingdom found that you’d have to reuse a cotton tote 327 times to achieve the same carbon-usage ratio as using a paper bag seven times, or plastic bag used twice. As strange as it sounds, plastic bags have the lightest per-use impact of the various bags the study examined. Cotton totes, on the other hand, in terms of production and distribution, actually have according to the Atlantic, “the highest and most severe global-warming potential by far.”

We donate to all the animal rescue organizations and over the years they have sent us about 5 cloth shopping bags, so we've been using them. Whenever the cashier picks them up, I'll tell them, use them however you want. All the ones we have look like this, pictures of animals on the outside and people always comment that they are a great looking bag.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nZkAA...qLP/s-l300.jpg

It would be nice if the U.S. can be a model for other countries rather than sinking to the level of their selfish actions.

Stop & Shop charges for paper bags, so does Aldi's.

1. I have a recycling bin. Lake County will provide you with one if you live in Lake County, or you can buy one. We brought ours down from Connecticut and use that.
2. To prevent BUGS in the house - we wash our recyclables, but it's still safer to keep the stuff actually contained. So we re-use grocery bags. We also will contain stuff in whatever other plastic bags or cardboard boxes that end up in our house. We don't use fresh new bags for recycling, ever, and we definitely don't use clear bags. The trash guys will dump out the contents of the bin and put the bin back on the lawn. If the stuff in the bin is not contained in bags or boxes, it's harder for them to dump it and replace the bin.
3. I agree that every household should have at least one recycling bin. They're small, will hold only two grocery bags full of stuff at a time. So they don't take up a lot of room, and they're not unsightly and don't smell since everything that's in there is either never-dirtied or washed by the homeowner.