No More Recycling Plastic Grocery Bags

Before we were prohibited from using our own bags during Covid, I barely had a plastic bag in the house. Now I don’t know what to do with all of them. There never was a program for returning them to the store and they can’t be put out with the recycling. A couple of my favourite charity stores had been desperate for any bags you could give them. Now they can’t take them for the sake of their staff and volunteers.

Only one store that I know of sold a paper bag for 10 cents vs the 5 for a plastic.

Now we’re allowed to bring our own bags back but can’t put them on the counter. We must pack them ourselves. That’s reasonable. The staff have enough to deal with.
 

And then there is this.........................
More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year. 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs. There is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas. The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste yearly – this is set to double by 2034. 50% of this is single-use plastic & only 9% has ever been recycled. Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year. 88% of the sea's surface is polluted by plastic waste. Between 8 to 14 million tonnes enters our ocean every year. Britain contributes an estimated 1.7 million tonnes of plastic annually. The US contributes 38 million tonnes of plastic every year. Plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in 80 million tonnes of waste yearly from the US alone. On UK beaches there are 5000 pieces of plastic & 150 plastic bottles for each mile. More than 1 million plastic bags end up in the trash every minute. The world uses over 500 billion plastic bags a year – that’s 150 for each person on Earth. 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches, but only 1% of straws end up as waste in the ocean. By 2020 the number of plastics in the sea will be higher than the number of fish. 1 in 3 fish caught for human consumption contains plastic. Plastic microbeads are estimated to be one million times more toxic than the seawater around it. Products containing microbeads can release 100,000 tiny beads with just one squeeze. Quick Links: Naviga (Source: https://www.condorferries.co.uk/plastic-in-the-ocean-statistics#)
 
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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Same thing here, I pile it up a little while then burn it. They no longer allow burning at our dumps. Metal is recycled as is glass , metals.
 
fmdog44 said:
And then there is this.........................
More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year. 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs. There is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas. The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste yearly – this is set to double by 2034. 50% of this is single-use plastic & only 9% has ever been recycled. Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year. 88% of the sea's surface is polluted by plastic waste. Between 8 to 14 million tonnes enters our ocean every year. Britain contributes an estimated 1.7 million tonnes of plastic annually. The US contributes 38 million tonnes of plastic every year. Plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in 80 million tonnes of waste yearly from the US alone. On UK beaches there are 5000 pieces of plastic & 150 plastic bottles for each mile. More than 1 million plastic bags end up in the trash every minute. The world uses over 500 billion plastic bags a year – that’s 150 for each person on Earth. 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches, but only 1% of straws end up as waste in the ocean. By 2020 the number of plastics in the sea will be higher than the number of fish. 1 in 3 fish caught for human consumption contains plastic. Plastic microbeads are estimated to be one million times more toxic than the seawater around it. Products containing microbeads can release 100,000 tiny beads with just one squeeze. Quick Links: Naviga (Source: https://www.condorferries.co.uk/plastic-in-the-ocean-statistics#)
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Sigh... the numbers and statistics are so upsetting.

Breaks my heart and angers me to the nth knowing how filthy this world has become.
 
StarSong said:
I don't accept the plastic bags at the grocery store. Since Covid rules keep me from bringing reusable cloth bags to the store, I have the groceries stacked back in my cart, and unload them into laundry baskets that I keep in my trunk. I use those baskets to shuttle the groceries from car to house.
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I commend you, and what a nifty idea!
 
I just came back from HEB a grocer in Texas and they have not stopped taking them. I am starting question the Randalls employee now so I'll call the store and check to verify.
 
Camper6 said:
The great garbage patch is the myth. Hyped. Not pollution.
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What you do not understand is the difference between a garbage patch floating on the ocean surface like a raft versus the subsea pollution of the ocean bodies all over the world. Quit while you are behind.
 
Liberty said:
View attachment 124455

Here you go...good new hobby, too:https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Rug-from-Plastic-Grocery-Bags/
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I'll just quote from your post.


Liberty said:
View attachment 124455

Here you go...good new hobby, too:https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Rug-from-Plastic-Grocery-Bags/
Click to expand...
I'll just quote what you posted.

"The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas."

That is a myth.
 

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