Isn't it funny how we've now gone full circle back to paper bags and now paper everything else? When I was a kid, all groceries came in paper bags then sometime after high school the switch to plastic began because we "needed to save the trees!"

Now it's all paper again it seems. My wife does grocery pickup at Aldi and a local grocery chain (Giant) and we end up with like 15 useless paper bags a week now. When it was plastic they made good trash can liners and lunch bags and general purpose bags but now they go right into the recycling which I KNOW gets put into the regular trash because I watch my trash haulers do it near every week.

The township where my work is just enacted a new edict where all plastic bags and straws and foam to-go containers are now banned and on July 1, all plastic cutlery is too. Stopped at the local McDonalds there a few weeks ago and they gave me a wretched paper straw for my drink which doesn't even last the time it takes to consume it without getting too soggy to even work. Even my church switched to paper lids for the coffee cups and they're awful too.

Are you seeing all this silliness where you are too?

My favorite giggle is getting rid of plastic straws that came in a little paper sleeve for a paper straw that comes in a little plastic sleeve

And after 2 minutes of being in your root beer it’s no longer a straw but a rapidly deteriorating blob of processed cellulose contaminating your drink

...but, but, its recycled paper

I will always remember my dad saying
"Anything to take your hard earned dollar,
Now!
They want you to buy plastic bags ! TO THROW AWAY !"

He wasn't pissed off, just confounded.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

My local grocery gouging outfit went back to paper bags a few years ago. I have mixed feelings on it. I prefer plastic for the same reasons you list in addition to the fact that it's just easier and safer to carry the goods in the handled plastic bags. Several times I've had to pick up my groceries from the parking lot pavement due to the bags ripping. The paper bags are kind of nice, though, to have around as fire starters since I no longer get a newspaper. I suppose I can go either way on it but if I had my druthers I'd just go back to plastic bags. I don't give two shits about the saving the environment argument they use.

As I rarely get any restaurant or fast food, I haven't seen any of the paper straw nonsense...yet.

I just stopped using anything the grocery store provides and bought my own folding bags off Amazon.
They are stronger and have more structure, which aid in keeping stuff from spilling / leaking and are easy to keep clean. They are big enough to hold a weeks worth of stuff for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I don't give two shits about the saving the environment argument they use.

And until India and China stop with their plastic use and massive pollution, their argument doesn't mean anything or accomplish anything.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I just stopped using anything the grocery store provides and bought my own folding bags off Amazon.
They are stronger and have more structure, which aid in keeping stuff from spilling / leaking and are easy to keep clean. They are big enough to hold a weeks worth of stuff for me.

Yup.
I can use a handful of plastic bags, especially the more robust ones but, I'm using my gear to carry my purchases.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
My favorite giggle is getting rid of plastic straws that came in a little paper sleeve for a paper straw that comes in a little plastic sleeve

Hadn't thought of it that way, that's freakin' hilarious!

As a kid we always used the paper bags as the trash liners. Today we use our own bags with handles for groceries (not sure where they came from). They are large and I only need to bring in 3-4 from the car. Plastic bags just become a nuisance and a mess. Ask anyone who has done litter picking. I won’t miss them at all. Lids and straws, that’s a different story. Keep it plastic. Paper sacks can be used for a variety of things.

The greenies will not stop until we are eating with nothing but our hands and drinking from bowls on the floor like dogs. The bowls, of course, would have to be naturally-occurring stone ones, not anything manufactured like glass or ceramics.

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
As a kid we always used the paper bags as the trash liners. Today we use our own bags with handles for groceries (not sure where they came from). They are large and I only need to bring in 3-4 from the car. Plastic bags just become a nuisance and a mess. Ask anyone who has done litter picking. I won’t miss them at all. Lids and straws, that’s a different story. Keep it plastic. Paper sacks can be used for a variety of things.

Maybe we should ban Cigarette Butts then!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I don't give two shits about the saving the environment argument they use.

And until India and China stop with their plastic use and massive pollution, their argument doesn't mean anything or accomplish anything.

And their bullshit response to that is " We are setting an example to the rest of the world about being environmentally responsible ." What a load of bullshit .

Be Green support the reduction in pollution, imagine the volume of trash if we were not a leader in helping the planet!

Get your own personal carry straw, plenty of options out there and the good thing is nobody is touching your straw but you!

Sustainability is important!




Link

I buy black plastic t-shirt bags by the case of 1000 at Sam's Club. Best small trash can liners ever and good for dog poop duty, too.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Be Green support the reduction in pollution, imagine the volume of trash if we were not a leader in helping the planet!

Get your own personal carry straw, plenty of options out there and the good thing is nobody is touching your straw but you!

Sustainability is important!




Link

Unless you fastidiously clean and sanitize those metal straws, they will get NASTY and probably get you sick. I doubt the average person would keep on top of that.

We have a small trash can in the kitchen with a paper grocery bag for paper recycles. We recycle/reuse plastic bags for general non-recyclable kitchen/cooking trash and smaller ones for cat poop bags.

Some towns around me don't allow plastic grocery bags. I go in they put my milk in a plastic jug, my laundry detergent in plastic jug, my salad mix in a plastic container, my produce which I put in plastic bags, my soda in plastic bottles, my paper towels in plastic wrap, my bread in plastic wrap, etc., etc., etc., in a paper bag and they think they are saving the planet.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Unless you fastidiously clean and sanitize those metal straws, they will get NASTY and probably get you sick. I doubt the average person would keep on top of that.

so you're saying that either way, you'd still be "green"