No More Recycling Plastic Grocery Bags

fmdog44

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
This morning 9/25 I took a bunch of the plastic bags grocers put our groceries in to put in the recycle can at Randalls (owned by Safeway). l was told due to the Covid they are no longer accepting them?! So I guess we either save them for a year or more of just toss them in with the other garbage so they can float in our oceans choking sea life.
 

fmdog44 said:
This morning 9/25 I took a bunch of the plastic bags grocers put our groceries in to put in the recycle can at Randalls (owned by Safeway). l was told due to the Covid they are no longer accepting them?! So I guess we either save them for a year or more of just toss them in with the other garbage so they can float in our oceans choking sea life.
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I've lost any/all hope and dreams of ever seeing this planet brought back to a healthy state.
 
In my town, Walmart accepts them. Also, food stores Weis, Shoppers Food Warehouse, and Food Lion accept them. For a while Weis stopped acceptance but I see they have resumed accepting them.

Safeway and Giant are on the other side of town. Not sure about them.
 
fmdog44, around here ( N. E. PA.), we can't use the cloth bags we had for our groceries. We have to use their plastic bags. It may be the same in Texas. Maybe Randalls was getting swamped with returned plastic bags, and it was getting too expensive to dispose of them.
I had been using those cloth grocery bag for a long time. When they came out with the virus rules about not bringing your bags from home, I was totally amazed at the huge pile of plastic bags I now had. Half my trash was plastic bags. I can kind of guess the mountain of bags your store had to get rid of. But I still think it's BS to blame it all on Covid, it's money.
 
I have guinea pigs and put the waste from their cages into plastic bags to keep it separate from the other waste. I use them to line waste bins. I use the really strong ones for storing clothes during the different seasons. I use them to store donations for the charity shops. In other words, I do my best to find a use for them.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
fmdog44, around here ( N. E. PA.), we can't use the cloth bags we had for our groceries. We have to use their plastic bags. It may be the same in Texas. Maybe Randalls was getting swamped with returned plastic bags, and it was getting too expensive to dispose of them.
I had been using those cloth grocery bag for a long time. When they came out with the virus rules about not bringing your bags from home, I was totally amazed at the huge pile of plastic bags I now had. Half my trash was plastic bags. I can kind of guess the mountain of bags your store had to get rid of. But I still think it's BS to blame it all on Covid, it's money.
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Like yourself, I, too, have been a reusable cloth bag user for many years now, but of course with that option kyboshed thanks to Covid-19, I, too, am convinced the halt to plastic bag collection and drop-off has zero to do with Covid.

Stores (as far as I'm concerned) wanted nothing to do with plastic bag collection from the start, but it was pushed upon them, and now that Covid-19 has paved the way for all kinds of flimsy excuses to be used, stores are ecstatic over being able to wash their hands clean of the plastic bag return and recycle program.

I buy only farm-fresh milk from a local dairy, which the grocers where I shop at carries, and even though the checkout girls wear latex gloves and masks, they will not touch the glass bottles.
 
Camper6 said:
If they go to the landfill how do they get to the ocean?
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i'm not an expert, but here's my take. WE (the USA) are NOT the culprits of all this trash talk... pun intended. sure, people toss stuff that could be recycled. sure, some just toss. but WE don't just toss our trash in the oceans. we will never be able to tell other countries what to do.

in NJ, the governor has either just signed or is about to sign bill to ban single use bags. it's not gonna happen over-night. imo... big deal. take your own bags into supermarket or pay for one.
 
wcwbf said:
i'm not an expert, but here's my take. WE (the USA) are NOT the culprits of all this trash talk... pun intended. sure, people toss stuff that could be recycled. sure, some just toss. but WE don't just toss our trash in the oceans. we will never be able to tell other countries what to do.

in NJ, the governor has either just signed or is about to sign bill to ban single use bags. it's not gonna happen over-night. imo... big deal. take your own bags into supermarket or pay for one.
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Because of the virus, the recycling feature is no longer available. The clerks are told not to handle any bags you bring in so you would have to bag it yourself.

You are right. Most Americans would rather recycle than throw it in the oceans. From what I read, the problem in the oceans is not plastic bags. It's styrofoam bits and why I have no idea. I'm guessing it's discarded by ocean vessels from packaging.
 
In the U.S. .. do they not generally recycle plastic bags?

At our condo, they recycle glass, styrofoam, plastics, paper, food waste and plastic bags.
 
We can use our own bags, return the plastic bags for recycling or throw them in the trash. Our trash collector uses the incinerator.
 
Living in a rural area, I have No restrictions. I don't need a trash service....if it's combustible, I burn it (excess plastic bags, included), and if it's metal or glass, I take it to a local recycle center.
I doubt that much US waste winds up in the oceans...most of that garbage probably originates in Asia.
 
Before Covid, here in California, you had to pay for a bag, or bring your own. Nearly everyone brought their own bags to the stores, and were happy to do it for the environment. I must say, we were proud of that.

@bowmore does all the grocery shopping for us and since the box girls/boys won't touch his bags, he just bags them himself. Those folks have more than their share of being exposed to this rotten pandemic.

Come on folks, what's the beef over doing it yourself?

By the way, Trader Joe's still bags your purchases in heavy PAPER bags with handles that can be used many times. Just one more reason I take off my hat to Trader Joes and their remarkable staff.
My nursing student granddaughter just got a job with them and they have unbelievable ethics for their staff.
No wonder they are the cream of the crop in the food industry.
 
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Kayelle said:
Before Covid, here in California, you had to pay for a bag, or bring your own. Nearly everyone brought their own bags to the stores, and were happy to do it for the environment. I must say, we were proud of that.

@bowmore does all the grocery shopping for us and since the box girls/boys won't touch his bags, he just bags them himself. Those folks have more than their share of being exposed to this rotten pandemic.

Come on folks, what's the beef over doing it yourself?

By the way, Trader Joe's still bags your purchases in heavy PAPER bags with handles that can be used many times. Just one more reason I take off my hat to Trader Joes and their remarkable staff.
My nursing student granddaughter just got a job with them and they have unbelievable ethics for their staff.
No wonder they are the cream of the crop in the food industry.
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Believe it or not, Kayelle, stores do not even want people bringing their reusable cloth bags into the stores, so no option is there for people like myself to continue with my cloth bags and pack my groceries myself.

It's gone to all plastic.
 
My store (Loblaws) takes used plastic bags. It used to be I could not bring my cloth bags to the store but now I can as I bag my own groceries once the cashier has scanned them.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
fmdog44, around here ( N. E. PA.), we can't use the cloth bags we had for our groceries. We have to use their plastic bags. It may be the same in Texas. Maybe Randalls was getting swamped with returned plastic bags, and it was getting too expensive to dispose of them.
I had been using those cloth grocery bag for a long time. When they came out with the virus rules about not bringing your bags from home, I was totally amazed at the huge pile of plastic bags I now had. Half my trash was plastic bags. I can kind of guess the mountain of bags your store had to get rid of. But I still think it's BS to blame it all on Covid, it's money.
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All grocers and all other businesses in the Houston use plastic bags.
 
Don M. said:
Living in a rural area, I have No restrictions. I don't need a trash service....if it's combustible, I burn it (excess plastic bags, included), and if it's metal or glass, I take it to a local recycle center.
I doubt that much US waste winds up in the oceans...most of that garbage probably originates in Asia.
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Do a bit of reading about the amount of plastic in our oceans. I am amazed at people that don't keep up with the environment.
 
Don M. said:
Living in a rural area, I have No restrictions. I don't need a trash service....if it's combustible, I burn it (excess plastic bags, included), and if it's metal or glass, I take it to a local recycle center.
I doubt that much US waste winds up in the oceans...most of that garbage probably originates in Asia.
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I read up on this before. The great garbage patch in the middle of the ocean is a myth.

https://response.restoration.noaa.g...at-pacific-garbage-patch-science-vs-myth.html
 
Aunt Marg said:
Believe it or not, Kayelle, stores do not even want people bringing their reusable cloth bags into the stores, so no option is there for people like myself to continue with my cloth bags and pack my groceries myself.

It's gone to all plastic.
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Marge, @bowmore no longer takes our (very cool) cloth bags to the store, but takes back the heavy plastic bags he got there at the last visit and bags the groceries himself. Would that work in your case?
By the way, anybody that doesn't think plastic bags hurt the environment, well, I'd get kicked out of this place if I gave a piece of my mind, and I can't afford to lose any. :cautious:
 
Kayelle said:
Marge, @bowmore no longer takes our (very cool) cloth bags to the store, but takes back the heavy plastic bags he got there at the last visit and bags the groceries himself. Would that work in your case?
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It would, Kayelle, but unfortunately, the store issued plastic bags are so poor in quality, they often give-out by the time I get them home.

Stores seem to have one level of plastic bags, garbage. Thin, flimsy bags.

I've been considering grandstanding and just showing up with my cloth bags in-hand and seeing where it goes.

Your husband is definitely onto something, and kudos to him for finding a system that works.

I loathe waste of any kind.
 
Aunt Marg said:
It would, Kayelle, but unfortunately, the store issued plastic bags are so poor in quality, they often give-out by the time I get them home.

Stores seem to have one level of plastic bags, garbage. Thin, flimsy bags.

I've been considering grandstanding and just showing up with my cloth bags in-hand and seeing where it goes.

Your husband is definitely onto something, and kudos to him for finding a system that works.

I loathe waste of any kind.
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Oh Geeze Marge, I remember those flimsy plastic bags we used to have here, that would fly through the wind like Casper the Ghost. That's when this state put a permanent end to them a few years ago. At least now the stores provide reusable plastic bags that don't take flight and can be reused many times. It would all be funny, if it wasn't so tragic.
 
Kayelle said:
Oh Geeze Marge, I remember those flimsy plastic bags we used to have here, that would fly through the wind like Casper the Ghost. That's when this state put a permanent end to them a few years ago. At least now the stores provide reusable plastic bags that don't take flight and can be reused many times. It would all be funny, if it wasn't so tragic.
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Kayelle, your Casper the Friendly Ghost comment gave me a good laugh! :LOL:

I needed that!

You know, sometimes even during the most trying of times, a little laugh goes a long way.

Thanks for that! :)

Yes, those ultra thin plastic bags were terrible. Grocers have been using a slighter better grade as of late, however, I can't count the number of times the handles give-out on them before I even get them inside the house.

Love using my cloth bags so much and truly miss using them.
 

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