Posts: 155
Threads: 13
Joined: May 2011
Just wanted to share/rant!!
So tonight I had a unexpected
stop at the store..
Just a few items.
Didn't bring my bags,(I reuse/recycle when I use store bags).
Has anyone noticed the new thinner bags the stores now use?
They decompose faster less waste etc/etc,but boy are they thin! (I have a bad shoulder --too much snow -- long day) my excuses are many---
so I put 1 large soda in a bag...
I'm not even out of the store when my soda ripes threw the thin bag BANG on the floor and POP goes my soda.
Of course my soda was replaced but the cashier doubled baged said they just now double bag most items--- go figure???
This leads me to tell you about a project our hospital's cafe tried
Biodegradable silverware
Nice looking and sturdy until
You tried using them as you were eating hot soup the spoon would start lossing it's shape
Your fork the twines went everywhere except your mouth!
That project as good as it sounded only lasted a few months....
I think for the most part I try to keep our planet as "green" as possible
But some times I just wonder??
Any way just thought I'd share
Posts: 46
Threads: 3
Joined: Nov 2011
Hi members, thanks & regards ??????
I say bot
Posts: 905
Threads: 87
Joined: Jul 2011
quote:
Originally posted by Lee M-S
"plastic bags decompose -- a process which may take as long as 10,000 years."
Uh, ever left one out in the sun? Takes only weeks to start to fall apart.
However, I do think it's better to reuse sturdy bags than to discard flimsy ones.
I did crochet a tote from plastic grocery bags, and it's held up well for about 4 years. Cut LOTS of bags into rings, loop the rings together into a long "yarn", and crochet with the largest hook you can find.
Fabulous! I know how to crochet, any chance of you posting a link to a photo? I'd love to make one for myself!
Dayna
www.E-Z-Caps.com
Dayna Robertson
At Home Hawaii
Real Estate Sales and Property Management
RS-85517
Dayna.JustListedInHawaii.com
Dayna.Robertson@gmail.com
Posts: 1,252
Threads: 72
Joined: Sep 2012
sorry, no photo--it just looks like a beach tote; I started with a simple chain that wound up at center bottom, then crocheted the only stitch I know (I think it's double crochet, but single would work) around and around until the bag was a good size. I would recommend adding something that doesn't stretch when crocheting the handle.
quote:
Originally posted by dayna
quote:
Originally posted by Lee M-S
"plastic bags decompose -- a process which may take as long as 10,000 years."
Uh, ever left one out in the sun? Takes only weeks to start to fall apart.
However, I do think it's better to reuse sturdy bags than to discard flimsy ones.
I did crochet a tote from plastic grocery bags, and it's held up well for about 4 years. Cut LOTS of bags into rings, loop the rings together into a long "yarn", and crochet with the largest hook you can find.
Fabulous! I know how to crochet, any chance of you posting a link to a photo? I'd love to make one for myself!
Dayna
www.E-Z-Caps.com
Posts: 246
Threads: 7
Joined: Feb 2012
Dayna, here are tons of pics of things crocheted from plastic grocery bags. Totes, cute purses, hair pins, even flip flops and hiker sandals! I might have to try to make some of this stuff to sell at a craft fair!
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=crocheting+bags+from+plastic+grocery+bags&FORM=HDRSC2#
islandgirl
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
Breaking down and decomposing are not the same thing, when something "decomposes" it breaks down into its constituent molecules, when it "breaks down" it retains its molecular structure but just keeps breaking up into ever tinier pieces. When you leave a plastic bag (or any other plastic) out in the sun it may break up, but that doesn't mean it "decomposes" in the true sense of the word. It just breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, and while for most of us it may be a matter of "out of sight, out of mind" it has not gone away or changed into a different molecular chain.
In particular the ocean life cycles are being negatively impacted by the amount of tiny plastic bits that now are replacing phytoplankton in the food chain. Researchers who do sampling for phytoplankton in the open oceans are finding some areas where plastic molecules can be as much as 90% of the sample. Needless to say the plankton eaters do not get any benefit from the plastic they consume, but the plastic molecules are making their way up the food chain. There are also beaches where much of what looks like sand is actually little bits of plastic, is this the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren?
I have mixed feelings about how effective a plastic bag ban is in dealing with the problem of plastic in the environment, but we shouldn't lie to ourselves and pretend there is no problem just because a plastic bag left in the sun turns into bits that are too small for us to see. Every single one of those plastic molecules is still there, we just can't see them with the naked eye anymore.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 631
Threads: 53
Joined: Oct 2006
I have used cloth shopping bags all my life. Many of the ones I have are more than 20 years old. Some of them have been made from old jeans, jackets, slipcovers and other sturdy fabrics. So the figures quoted by that UK study may be relevant for the UK, but that doesn't mean that they are relevant for Hawaii or that they are carved in stone for all time. As consumers become more aware and creative those numbers will adjust accordingly.
Although the outside of a bag is more prone to germs than the inside, let us not forget that most of the foodstuffs we put in those bags are already wrapped/overpackaged, so the food itself is not even in contact with the cleaner inside of the bag. I throw my bags in the wash anyway.
Needless to say, there are a lot of other sources of plastic contamination, but starting the public on forming new habits is only the first step, imho. Next step, styrofoam perhaps. Island Naturals uses biodegradable containers and plates made from recycled paper for their hot food and salad bar where other places use styrofoam, so it can be done. Also, Island Naturals already uses the biodegradable cutlery, and it lasts for more than one meal - the ones described above that melted instantly must have been an earlier or inferior product. And the technology will doubtless improve as the demand grows. So let's demand, so that the market will respond.
