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True Confessions: Trash Bags

In a Gawker-inspired fit of inspiration, I've decided that occasionally, I'll write an ongoing blog version that just lays out all the ways I mess up in my green life.  Since the "no one's perfect, but we're all getting a little better every day" mantra runs throughout our entire worldview here at the Bite, I think it's only fair that I/we occasionally confess.  Welcome to Part 1 of True Confessions: The One About the Trash Bags.

So here's the deal.  I LOVE the Real Simple trash cans.  Love 'em.  Bought 3 (compost, trash, recycling).  The recycling one is HUGE (since our Biter team often hangs at my house, we go through a lot of kombucha bottles and Amy's pizza boxes...).  And yes, I DO use old plastic grocery bags to line the one I use for trash.  But as for lining the recycling bin???

I got completely suckered into buying the lovely Real Simple trashcan liners for the big recycling one.  Nothing else seems to fit as well.  I make myself feel a little better by re-using the same liner as long as possible (I dump the recycling contents into the bin and then put the liner back into the can for about 3 "rounds"), but still.  Seems a little stupid to buy something just to throw it away...  However, try as I might, I can't handle not lining the can, because it starts to smell bad, and I'm too lazy to wash out the whole thing thoroughly each week.  I suck.

-Heather... of to contemplate what I need to give up to make up for my trash liner fetish...

Posted by: hstephenson on 03/08/2007
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Ana Ramos  on March 08, 2007 at 04:06 AM 1
I used to reuse supermarket bags lining/collecting trash or recyclable refuse. But rules changed here in Lisbon, so now we must use specific color plastic bags to collect either trash, paper or packaging (plastic and metal). But then again, the portuguese main supermarket chain just started to charge for stronger, reusable plastic bags, so awareness is growing. Instead of reusing them as liners, I reuse it for shopping.
Danielle De Pillis  on March 08, 2007 at 06:33 AM 2
I aways use plastic grocery bags for my smaller garbage cans, but I still end up with so many bags. (I don't always remember to bring my canvas bags with me.) So I was thrilled when a new program was started in my area. itsinthe bagmn.org You can drop off as many bags as you like in a bin in my local grocery stores.
Kerry  on March 08, 2007 at 06:43 AM 3
I'm so glad you guys brought this up! Plastic bags are awful. Sometimes people will get a banana in a produce bag, then a grocery bag, and get outside only the strip the banana of both plastic bags and it's peel and eat it. It's bizarre. I LOVE the website www.reusablebags.com. I always keep my canvass bag rolled up in my purse in case I have to buy anything. I've gotten lunch containers from them, drink bottles, etc... They're an amazing company!
kendall  on March 08, 2007 at 07:16 AM 4
waste in my 5-person household in Brooklyn: probably 80% wastepaper (home office), 10% metal, glass, plastic; 10% plastic pkg, etc. I alway use reusablebags.com for marketing and assorted other uses; kids love 'em, too. and my food scraps? EVERYTHING goes down my food waste disposer so that NYC's wastewater treatment plants can process it into fertilizer, vs. feeding it to a garbage truck for transport to ohio, penn, etc. and landfilling....
zanthia  on March 08, 2007 at 07:19 AM 5
Another use for plastic bags, if you are crafty, is to crochet a grocery tote out of recycled plastic bags. I made one and it was easy; a 1-2 day project. It seemed pretty sturdy (I gave it way, so I can't tell you how long it lasted). Between all the different colors the stores use, you can make a pretty tote. There are lots of websites out there (Google Plastic bag crochet), but here is the website for the one I made http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/round%20plastic%20bag%20tote.html.
haverwench  on March 08, 2007 at 08:08 AM 6
We reuse plastic bags in the small wastebaskets throughout our apartment, but we never have any that are big enough for our kitchen trash can. So we just line it with a full-size garbage bag. Every couple of weeks, we pull the big bag out, dump all the other cans' contents into it, and put it out by the curb.
the other JB  on March 08, 2007 at 08:18 AM 7
I re-use mine for the small wastebaskets, and I use the really small produce bags for scooping the litter box. I give the rest to my local co-op (which I'm a member of) because they always need extra bags... you should check with yours!
Chris  on March 08, 2007 at 08:50 AM 8
I don't know whether this is only a development in my area (Southern California) but all the grocery stores have begun to use bags that are half the height of what they were previously. This makes it much more difficult to use them as trash can liners. I'd love to find out who is responsible for this change so that I could log my disapproval. On the same topic, the "Plastic Bags" entry in Chris Jordan's Running the Numbers series really illustrates the problem.
kari  on March 08, 2007 at 09:42 AM 9
Until last week I was telling everyone almost exactly what you've got written here. until I talked to a friend who pointed out that maybe buying recycled liners was a better idea b/c you're creating a market for recycling plastic, and you're not creating a waste stream yourself. and then I actually sat down and sorted through all of my plastic bags from the grocery store and I have SO MANY. and I reuse them! in all my garbage cans! I never toss them! but I keep accepting them! it started me thinking. the icing was yesterday when I read about the patch of plastic waste floating in the pacific ocean that is roughly THE SAME SIZE AS TEXAS and everything changed. I don't want to be part of that waste stream at all. I am firmly "reusable bags" from here on out. if I have to, I'll take a paper bag b/c I can feed that to my worm bin. http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1103/1103_feature.html http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38815/story.htm
Vanessa Gervais  on March 08, 2007 at 11:56 AM 10
In Montreal, all houses were given a huge recycling bin a couple of years ago. The city picks it up every two weeks, the same as trash. Some communities pick up the compost to. People here us their grocery bags either for the trash or put it in their recycle bin. All of grocery stores began to sell reusable bags to use instead of plastics last year. The response has been overwhelming. Most of the stores were sold out in a month. When I go to the States ( in Florida in particular), I am amazed to see how much people don’t have a clue about the environment. Last time we rented a condo, I asked for the recycle bin and they looked at me like I came from another planet. Every time I would throw away something that I know could be recycled, it made me sick.
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