I’m looking to take the next green step and reduce my use of plastic bags…it just seems like the right thing to do.

The fact is that we currently have a “toxic garbage island” floating in our ocean (Google it) that consists of plastics and is about the size of the state of Texas. The breakdown of plastics in the ocean, including the plastic bag, is of great concern and has been linked to high rates of miscarriage in women in certain asian fishing villages as well as hormonal abnormalities in fish such as males that produce eggs…YIKES!!! The contamination of the food chain should be of utmost concern to all of us.

I also must disagree with the statement that plastic is necessary in our lives. The plastic bag was not invented until the 1970’s. Today between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed yearly. It is amazing that in under 40 years our society has forgotten how to live without plastic bags!

It is imperative that we find ways to replace the plastic bags that we are accustomed to using as opposed to re-using them. The ones we have should go to the bag bin, before they make their way to the landfill, or to our precious ocean.

I have noted some problems with some of the suggestions here which may not be obvious to those without the experience and knowledge of the limitations of re-use, how the bags are produced, etc.

1. The FDA and USDA require manufacturers to use virgin (non-recycled) raw materials for any bags destined for food, pharmaceutical products, medical items, etc. This is because used plastic cannot be cleaned well enough to insure that no contamination will occur in the reprocessing.

2. Re-use of any plastic bag to store a food item would cause the FDA or USDA to shut down any production facility. One a food item is placed in a bag, there is a risk of contamination related to the decay of any residue of the initial item carrying over to the next item. In short, don’t re-use bags to store food unless you want to risk becoming ill.

3. Recycled plastic bags do not result in the same quality as bags made from virgin raw materials. In addition to the possibility of contamination by dirt and debris entering the re-grinders, the molecular structure has been altered with each process. The possibility of pinholes and variations in thickness are greatly increased as a result. Consumer demand for quality prohibits many opportunities for recycled bags.

4. Plastic bags perform in many situations where nothing else will do. It is plastic bags and sheeting that protect your lungs from asbestos when it is being removed from old buildings. Plastic bags keep your bread, cheese and lunch meats fresh. They line the boxes of the beef and poultry that is shipped to your grocer to prevent it from being contaminated. The list goes on and on.

5. Plastics are part of the processing of gas and oil. Not making bags would not eliminate the raw materials, but divert them to other uses. As long as drilling for gas and oil, we will have these byproducts with which to deal.

6. Grocery bags are not FDA/USDA approved for direct contact with food. There is an assumption that the foods placed in these bags will be packaged individually in approved packaging, so it is not recommended that you use them for storage of exposed consumables.

There are many good ideas here for re-using plastic bags. While grocery bags may one day be replaced, plastic bags in general are here to stay. Any re-use will result in less new production, however, and that is a good thing.

Our biggest problem is not those of us researching ways to be more responsible, but with those who dispose of the bags in ways that don’t insure their ultimate destruction or containment. Most of the irresponsible disposers are not in the USA, but in third world countries where they simply don’t know any better. There is little that any of us can do about that.

By the way… Am I the only one who missed paper grocery bags? Those wonderful, biodegradable bags sure did keep my groceries together better than the plastic “t-shirt” bags used today. Why don’t I ever hear “Paper, or plastic?” anymore? I’ll take paper for my groceries and plastic for my bread. Ahhh… Common sense.

My feeling is that energy and resources have already been expended to create these plastic items. Recycling a perfectly good plastic bag and replacing it with a non-plastic alternative uses more energy and resources to create the new non-plastic item (as well as to recycle the plastic bag.)

For me, slowing the creation of new items and instead reusing items that already exist is the most economical and environmentally-friendly way to manage our resources.

What I’m advocating is far from what corporations do, primarily because no new products are being created and no one is making any money from exploiting new natural resources. In fact, if we all stopped buying new things and stuck with all the products that already exist in the world, quite a few corporations would go out of business.

My folks have their own little waste management hierarchy for sandwich bags. First they hold people food, then they hold dog food then they hold dog waste. (I’d prefer they find non-plastic alternatives for all three of these functions, but hey at least they’re doing something — they’re not particularly environmentally aware)

I would put out a plea that newspaper and office paper be recycled rather than used to wrap garbage. Paper fiber has a relatively high recycling value and there are other kinds of paper that can’t be recycled (like gently used paper towels or napkins) more suited to pet waste disposal

I don’t like landfills and I don’t encourage putting things into them. However, if you have something like cat litter and you are not able to compost it and it’s just going into the garbage, I’d rather see people use something renewable like old newspapers or bio-bags to pack it up rather than plastic bags.

You can read more about my thoughts on this issue here:

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/08/biobags-vs-plastic-bags-continuing.html