Spill the beans... on uses for old plastic carrier bags

lazyoldbag

We have an allotment with a frog pond which needed shading. We dug some holes, lined them with carrier bags and mixed up sand/cement with water to make some stones for a rockery. All the stones come out with different patterns on them, paint them with cheapo yoghurt, NOT fat free and they go green and interesting in no time. Much much cheaper than a trip to a garden centre.:beer:

sutee1

I have loads of reuseable /cloth bags but I also acquire the odd carrier bag, which I reuse again and again for as long as it/they stay whole. As I can't then use them for shopping and they are no good for holding waste, I take them, together with any others (such as bread bags) to the supermarket bag recycling place. I collect them together and only take them when I am actually going shopping, so that I do not cause more waste in the form of fuel!

SD-253

Reusable bags are only good for the environment if you use them enough to make up for vastly increased carbon output they need. Was given a bag from India which was made from waste plastic bags very very strong. Although I only use it in my cider production (I use a loundry spinner instead of a press which destroys muslin bags). I do use them for game as my game bag is not that easy to clean and I use the game bag for my shopping as I am on crutches so can't carry bags anyway.

SD-253

lincoln_dj wrote: »

Paper bags have a lot higher impact on the environment I assure you. The only reason they are so widely used in America is due to the influence the wood/paper manufacturing "cartel" have over there.

Rubbish the arguement against plastic bags is that they don't decompose that is the environmental problem and there is no argueing that paper ones do. Cutting down trees does no damage to the environment as long as you replace the trees which is of course the natural thing for a timber company to do. Although my experience of paper bags is not that good ie they are not good at taking weight and if they get, well enough said.
Also you need to be a little less parnoid with your conspiracy theories as the definition of cartel "is an association of manufactures formed to maintain higher prices by restricting competition" Are you really suggesting they don't compete?? The US is harder on any anti competive behaviour than any other country.

Eco_Miser

redglass wrote: »

This answer is going to be very unpopular, but in the past people managed without plastic bags. How? Well, they had lower expectations about everything being fragrant, for a start. (I can still remember my amazement at seeing things like 'scented bin liners' as I couldn't imagine anyone would waste money on such stupid things. How wrong I was...) Food shops handed out stuff in coarse white paper or newspaper. You put it in your basket or shopping bag (a huge great thing that lasted for years) and the paper was used for wrapping leftovers to go in the bin - but there weren't many leftovers because people were more careful about using stuff in soups and stews, mincing it up, etc. Cans that had held fish were sometimes burnt on the fire before putting in the bin, so that they didn't attract rats. Things were taken out to the outdoors bin pretty sharpish, not left indoors for days on end. The outside bins smelt. End of. It wasn't treated like a Greek tragedy. I don't want to be rude but to say you 'have no alternative' but to 'use a product that is ultimately destroying the earth' so as not to have a smelly bin suggests a very strange set of priorities. A smelly bin is just that, it's not Armageddon. Forty years ago nobody would have given it a second thought. I said this answer would be unpopular!

However two things that mitigated smells have changed over the last 40 years - the bins were emptied weekly, not fortnightly, and (for most people) coal ash was mixed with the organic waste in the bin, and did a great job of absorbing liquids and smells. Had its own drawbacks of course.

londonTiger

SD-253 wrote: »

Rubbish the arguement against plastic bags is that they don't decompose that is the environmental problem and there is no argueing that paper ones do. Cutting down trees does no damage to the environment as long as you replace the trees which is of course the natural thing for a timber company to do. Although my experience of paper bags is not that good ie they are not good at taking weight and if they get, well enough said.
Also you need to be a little less parnoid with your conspiracy theories as the definition of cartel "is an association of manufactures formed to maintain higher prices by restricting competition" Are you really suggesting they don't compete?? The US is harder on any anti competive behaviour than any other country.

Even if they didn't decompose, it's no big deal. They got into landfull sites, then the landfill is covered with 2 meters of soil and the landfull site moves on. I don't think it matters if something is decomposed or not 2 meters underground.

portlandboy

When we travel abroad, we use plastic bags (without any holes) to pack delicate gifts into on the return journey. Blow them up a bit and tie the end up then put the "balloon" into your suitcase with the gift protected inside. They are also good, warm little cushions for when you are sat on hard seats in viewing areas while away, again slightly blown up and tied off.

bundance

londonTiger wrote: »

Even if they didn't decompose, it's no big deal. They got into landfull sites, then the landfill is covered with 2 meters of soil and the landfull site moves on. I don't think it matters if something is decomposed or not 2 meters underground.

Humans can no longer see landfill if it's buried beneath soil but those non biodegradable items are still doing untold damage to the earth.

londonTiger

bundance wrote: »

Humans can no longer see landfill if it's buried beneath soil but those non biodegradable items are still doing untold damage to the earth.

what damage please explain.

The plastic bags in landfill do no harm. If the landfill site gets turned into woodlands the trees' roots will pierce the bags. If they don't they do no harm and will eventually break down.

The problem with plastic bags is that when !!!!!! throw them out the wind can blow them out into the sea and can affect wildlife as fish and birds eat them or they get trapped in jet engines, sewage works, and other places where it can lead to harm. For landfil it's perfectly fine. Plus there are far worse things that get dumped in landfill, broken plastic toys, nappies, and a myriad of other household goods that shouldmbe recycled but can't.

bundance

londonTiger wrote: »

what damage please explain.

The plastic bags in landfill do no harm. If the landfill site gets turned into woodlands the trees' roots will pierce the bags. If they don't they do no harm and will eventually break down.

The problem with plastic bags is that when !!!!!! throw them out the wind can blow them out into the sea and can affect wildlife as fish and birds eat them or they get trapped in jet engines, sewage works, and other places where it can lead to harm. For landfil it's perfectly fine. Plus there are far worse things that get dumped in landfill, broken plastic toys, nappies, and a myriad of other household goods that shouldmbe recycled but can't.

Tiny bits of plastic being injested by tiny animals and going up the food chain. Also fish injesting toxins. Not to mention the damge to the earth the plastics are doing.
Plastic is not natural so introduction of it to the ecosystem was always gonna be a non starter.
Also, apparently in the pacific, there is a great big floating pile of rubbish out to sea. Scientists are working on it to see what damage has been done.
I watched a video on it but sadly I no longer have the link.