Re: [GreenYes] Grocery Bags

regarding::: Jeff Elder Wrote:

>"Curious, does anyone know what actually happens to the plastic bag

>collections that grocery stores have?" .............The plastic bags recycled at the stores I work for are used by Boise Cascade to make a wood/polymer lumber material (50% plastic film and 50% recycled wood). Sue Williams

>From: Bob and Camille Armantrout

>Reply-To: Bob and Camille Armantrout

>To: GreenYes

>Subject: [GreenYes] Grocery Bags

>Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 11:20:04 -0700 (PDT)

>Jeff Elder Wrote:

>"Curious, does anyone know what actually happens to the plastic bag

>collections that grocery stores have?"

>On Maui, we there is a collection box for bags inside Wal-Mart.

>However, since Maui Recycling Service has the contract for picking up

>the recovered bags in the dumpster out back, I can say that those bags

>never make it to the dumpster. It is always empty despite repeated

>calls to Wal-Mart.

>Further, should the bags eventually make it to the processor; they will

>ultimately end up in the landfill. The local plastic processor sorts

>out plastic bottles (beverages, milk jugs and laundry bottles) for

>baling and landfills the rest. Therefore, no recycled grocery bags on

>Maui actually get recycled.

>In other words, our local Wal-Mart’s plastic grocery bag recovery

>program is a farce and unfortunately, we are part of it. Can you say

>"green washing?"

>Camille Armantrout - Maui Recycling Service

>Roger M. Guttentag Wrote:

>"As a final comment, the environmentally superior solution would a

>reusable shopping bag. One idea that I have, which I have not seen

>implemented (though I would be interested in knowing if it has been

>done) would be for the store to develop a branded shopping bag (one

>with its name and logo) that it could sell but then give a small rebate

>to the consumer each time it was used. Perhaps a barcode could be

>attached to the bag so it was scan able for the purpose of both

>awarding the rebate and tracking customer bag reuse patterns."

>I agree that reusable shopping bags are the solution. However, I don't

>think they should not have a store logo on them. Most people shop at

>more than one store and would feel self-conscious about bringing a

>Safeway bag into Wal-Mart, for instance.

>We bought all purpose (washable) cotton bags from http://ecobags.com/

>and use them in ALL the stores we frequent. We bought the string

>market bags and the produce bags which we use for bulk food like beans

>and pasta as well as vegetables. They are washable and attractive.

>Forgetting to bring them into the store can be a problem, but we are

>improving with time. If we do forget and aren’t buying much, we carry

>it out in our hands. We reuse the few bags we do end up with for trash

>and for staging recyclables.

>I like the idea of charging 5 cents per bag in the store. The store

>could sell unmarked, reusable bags at the checkout counters. In order

>for this to work, ALL the stores must do this or else individual stores

>will waive the bag fee in the name of customer service. That 5 cents

>would be the most effective motivation for people to change their

>shopping habits. You have to make it hard to do the wrong thing and

>easy to do the right thing.

>Camille Armantrout - Maui Recycling Service

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