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 »  Home  »  health  »  Earth friendly plastic bags
Earth friendly plastic bags
By Green Living Tips | Published  11/18/2006 | health , food , business
Plastic bags and the environment
When my parents were growing up, plastic bags were somewhat of a luxury. I remember my mother telling me stories of weekly plastic bag washing - they really made the most of them.

As the plastic bags became cheaper, well, we ended up with the situation we have today. Literally billions of plastic bags discarded that won't break down in the environment for hundreds of years.

Most plastic bags are mainly made from Polyethylene, which is a by-product of the petroleum industry. Not only are there issues with the rate at which these bags break down, but the chemicals released as part of the decomposition process; organo-chlorine (highly toxic), methane (a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming) and nitrous oxide.

There are alternatives and the most earth friendly option may surprise you.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic

Oxo-biodegradable plastic is still made from petroleum by-products, but doesn't give off the above toxins. Bacteria break down the plastic into CO2, water, and humus.

Hydro-biodegradable bags.

Hydro-biodegradable bags are made from starch-based plastics; i.e. plants. But it's not as earth-friendly as it sounds. Aside from expense and strength issues, in order to break down they must be in an environment with a lot of bacteria and during the decomposition process they give off a great deal of methane and carbon dioxide.

Of course, the best bags are the ones made from organic materials that you can reuse. A huge industry has started up in the production of reusable bags, but unfortunately, many of these products are only good for so many uses and then they are discarded. The problem is that in some cases, the bag contains as many harmful chemicals as the sum total of the disposable bags it is meant to replace!

Wherever possible, buy earth friendly bags made of hemp or other renewable materials that aren't harsh on the environment in their production.

Have a plastic bag related tip you'd like to share? Please add it below :)
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Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
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Comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by jessi)

    when ever i go shopping at a grocery store i refuse both paper and plastic. usually i can hand carry everything out just as i carried it to the counter in the first place. however, if i must pick up a lot of items i bring in a canvas shopping bag which i use all the time. i think the canvas bag is the best way to go, you don't even need to mess with recycling.
     
  • Comment #2 (Posted by Lisa)

    Over the years I've collected quite a few plastic bags. I could never bring myself to throw them away and I couldn't use them as trash bags because, well, that's still throwing them away.

    I found a knitting pattern that shows you how to make 'yarn' from the plastic bags you already have and knit them into 'platic bags' you can use forever. Literally. If a hole appears in the bag it is quite simple to patch it up and keep on using it. I keep quite a few of them in my trunk so when i go shopiing, anywhere, i can bring in my bags. I'm using the bags i have but I'm keeping from having to take anymore that I don't need.

    They make great gifts for Green friends!
     
  • Comment #3 (Posted by Michael (Green Living Tips))

    Great tips Lisa and Jessi - thanks!
     
  • Comment #4 (Posted by Rebekah)

    Hey Lisa, that is a fantastic idea. Where would one find one such referred to pattern?
     
  • Comment #5 (Posted by Maria)

    I have a dog and use the plastic bags I get at the grocery to pick up dog poop. I try to put more than one poop in a bag, but I still am throwing away plastic bags. Are there any "good" plastic bags I can buy/use to pick up poop?
     
  • Comment #6 (Posted by Michael - Green Living Tips)

    Maria, you may want to take a look at this article - there's a few product recommendations in there

    http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/43/1/Dealing-with-dog-poop.html
     
  • Comment #7 (Posted by Janice)

    Maria-
    You can go to any of your pet stores. pet smart, ect.
    They have bio-degradable doggie-doo bags.
    They are very durable so no worries of a break in the bag.
     
  • Comment #8 (Posted by Kacy)

    Any sugestions for what to line our kithen trash cans with? Thanks!
     
  • Comment #9 (Posted by Ann)

    Most of us have changed over to reusable bags. But what about garbage? Many live in apartments and are required to put their garbage in plastic before tossing into the trash. Can the 'friendly' bags be used for garbage disposal
     
  • Comment #10 (Posted by Michael - Green Living Tips)

    Kacy and Ann, you'll probably find degradable bags for in your supermarkets now; we've been using them for a while. Just don't leave them sitting in the sun. I left an empty one in the back of my van for a few weeks and it broke down into a million little pieces :). For normal garbage use, we haven't had any problems with them falling apart
     
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