"Ben newsam"
gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6v8s04d5g81gt9kjr1g0st6ramleo88alk@4ax.com...> On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:53:47 -0500, "Viva"
privacy.net> wrote:
>>>Starting today - Earth Day - the US supermarket Whole Foods will no longer
>>offer plastic bags. Also, I read that some counties in CA have a bill
>>before
>>their lawmakers to ban plastic shopping bags, period.
>
> Supermarkets here are starting to charge people for them. Netto, for
> instance, has done so for years already. Others offer an "everlasting"
> bag that you can (free) exchange for a new one when it wears out.
>
>>I hate the ugly things...as I drive along my beautiful green countryside I
>>see them flying from trees, fences and telephone poles. Is it so in your
>>country?
>
> Yes, it is. Sort of. They tend to catch on wires, trees and hedges,
> but it isn't a monster problem like it is in some countries. There was
> a picture in the paper today of a river in, ummm, Thailand I think it
> was, and you couldn't see the water for the rubbish in it.
>
>>They will remain in landfills for eons, along with all the other plastic
>>that doesn't degrade. Don't get me started on the billions of plastic
>>water
>>bottles every year...or disposable diapers (forgive me busy mothers). We
>>can
>>send a man to the moon but can't seem to invent a plastic that will rot.
>>
>>Although, I did hear about someone trying to make "plastic" bags out of
>>cornstarch....
>
> We get "biodegradable" bags everywhere now. They are supposed to start
> degrading after about 18 months, but IME they take more like three
> years before falling to pieces[1]. I don't actually know what the
> implications of the chemicals used in them are. Somehow I suspect that
> it is safer for the environment to leave the plastic safely in plastic
> form so nasty things can't leach into the aquifers.
>
> Speaking of which, much is made of stuff being "carbon neutral"
> nowadays, and people talk glibly about carbon capture and storage and
> what's that other word... sequestration was it?. Anyway maybe, just
> maybe, one really good way of causing carbon to be stored would be to
> make billions of plastic bags and bury them somewhere! :-)
>
>>I am also aware that we in the US are spoiled rotten by our supermarkets.
>>Would it kill us to box/bag our own groceries and carry them to the car
>>ourselves?
>
> Car? You have a car? :-) I am continuing to resist the temptation to
> get a car, for entirely environmental reasons. I use public transport
> when I can, and I will hire a car when I can't.
>
>
> [1] I found this out because I hung a bag full of light bulbs on a
> hook, and three years later tried to take it down, and twenty or so
> light bulbs went boinkety-boink on the floor. No breakages, luckily.
I try to recycle as much as I can and have 3 bins out the back yard plus
the brown, grey and blue ones provided by the council and also have a
compost bin and a thing to gather water for the garden - but I hate
supermarkets thinking they can force me to bring my own bags or pay for
theirs especially when I spend ВЈ100 plus on their stuff. I have boxes in the
boot of my car for the groceries which I put the stuff straight from the
trolley into. But I will lift a bundle of free carrier bags too. Guess why?
the council only lift the actual rubbish bin every 3 weeks and I use those
free bags to double wrap the stuff that can't be recycled to prevent an
awful stench of rotting stuff. I don't think it is fair for us to expect
the refuse collectors to endure the ordure on the basis of the council
meeting its targets.
Now if the supermarkets gave what they charged for the bags to charity I
might think differently.
Soozle
