Paper or Plastic? (Zen)

[lasthope]

I haven't searched through ALL the threads yet, but I have not seen this one yet. So here is the question: Paper or plastic? I am refering to grocery bags, but feel free to expand this to whatever your situation is.

I prefer plastic myself. That way when your family leaves you to grab all the groceries out of the car, you can line those bad boys up on your arms and carry in enough bags to start your own recycling center.

[Bastet]

Neither! I use reuseable cloth bags. Not only are they better for the environment, but you can fit more into one of them and still have a far easier time carrying it than plastic bags (paper isn't generally an option here). Plus you don't have the problem of the bag splitting and crap falling out of it. And if it gets dirty, you just throw it in the washing machine. I've got a special insulated one for my refrigerated/frozen food, too.

[Bouncing Ball]

plastic. If it were only for rain/getting wet and tearing apart..

[sahra-t]

No option of paper here in the UK, but in reference to your point Bastet, about the environment- most supermarkets here run a scheme of bringing back your old carrier bags, and/or buying a hardy "bag for life" for 10p which you then re-use every time.

[Bastet]

Originally Posted by sahra-t

No option of paper here in the UK, but in reference to your point Bastet, about the environment- most supermarkets here run a scheme of bringing back your old carrier bags, and/or buying a hardy "bag for life" for 10p which you then re-use every time.

That sounds like what we've got going here. Most supermarkets have had recycling bins for the plastic bags for many, many years now, but it's only in the last few years that they've also had the cloth bags that you can buy to use instead. Recently most places have implemented a new code - if you buy three items or less, you don't get a [plastic] bag unless you request it. Every little bit helps.

[Melody]

Plastic. It's recycled and I reuse those little suckers for everything. Our local supermarket will take them back to send back to the recycler if you have too many.

[MidnightBlue]

Cloth. I have one I got for a reasonable price at the natural foods store, and I don't feel a bit odd about loading up at Publix with a bag that says "Rosewood Market" on it.

If I'm buying more than will fit in my bag, I get plastic. They have those big bins where you can return them for recycling. But in general I think reusable is preferable.

[Comet]

Either. Depends on cats and trash bags.

Platic bags do great for scooping out the cat box and paper bags are great in a kitchen trash can. So really it depends on whether or not I have trash bags or if I know I am out of plastic bags to scoop the litter box.

I do like the point that you can carry about a million plastic bags at a time though, better on large shopping trips!!!!!

The recycle thing is a good idea! Wish I'd see that here in the States. Don't care to bring my own bag and am too poor and lazy to exchange dollars for pounds and spend ten of those on a new bag........ I'd just assume carry it out in the little baskets the grocery stores provide! (hmmm... I could use a few of those)

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by Bastet

I've got a special insulated one for my refrigerated/frozen food, too.

That's a pretty cool (heh-heh) idea. How long does it keep things cold? My better half prefers to get his milk at a market that's nowhere near our house, and we only go there if we happen to be on that side of town. Often, though, we have other stops to make, and he'll forego the purchase because he doesn't want the milk to sit out in the truck that long.

(The organic milk on this side of town is just as good, but a bit more expensive, plus the other kind comes in glass bottles that I can use to keep rice, dried beans and stuff in.)

[Bastet]

Originally Posted by Comet

I do like the point that you can carry about a million plastic bags at a time though, better on large shopping trips!!!!!

You'd actually be really surprised how much (in bulk and weight) you can fit in our reuseable bags here, and how easy it is to carry several at once (I can carry 6 fully-loaded with no problems). The handles are wide enough that they don't cut your arms/hands off when you're carrying them either, not like those plastic suckers. I've had the plastic ones turn my hands/fingers purple. The supermarket 'green bags' have a stiff insert that goes into the bottom of the bag for extra support too.

The recycle thing is a good idea! Wish I'd see that here in the States. Don't care to bring my own bag and am too poor and lazy to exchange dollars for pounds and spend ten of those on a new bag........ I'd just assume carry it out in the little baskets the grocery stores provide! (hmmm... I could use a few of those)

Well, if you're really that keen, you could go the cheaper option and buy them where the dollar is worth less - i.e. Australia. Seriously, I'll buy you some and ship them over if you want. I found an online store that sells them, but they're not terribly cheap, considering they're only about $1.50 at the supermarkets (the cooler bags are slightly more). Here's a link to give you an idea of what they look like: http://www.inspiro.com.au/custom-bags.html The Supermarket-style bag and Cooler bag are the ones I have. I have a couple calico bags that were the first style to come out, but I only use them if I've forgotten my green bags, or if I'm going to be shopping for anything other than groceries. Checking out that website, I had no idea of the range of different bags that is actually available. The Bottle bag looks cool. Here's an alternate site: http://www.planetarkdirect.com/produ...D=109&P_ID=320 Prices aren't too bad considering it's Planet Ark - I thought they'd want more.