School is just around the corner, and now I'll be sending two packed lunches every day instead of one!
Last year my daughter, who was then five, had trouble opening plastic containers (and these were the Disney Princess ones, made for kids!!). I was forced to send zip loc bags for a few days until I was able to shop around for other containers with tabs on the lids that she could grip more easily.
This year I want to be more organized and have this stuff ready before the start of school (Sept 8th is their first day). I have only 2 or 3 of the kind of container that my daughter can open - now I guess I need to buy more.
Any excuse to shop - I'll take it ;)
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Showing posts with label plastic bags. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plastic bags. Show all posts
Pharmasave's Greener Plastic
Here's the latest in my "green plastic photo gallery" ...this one is from Pharmasave:
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Save On Foods Plastic Bags
Apparently I'm specializing in photographing plastic bags ;) I think I feel compelled to do this as a way of recognizing organizations that are making a green effort. This one is from Save-On-Foods:
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Staples Plastic Bag
It's not quite as impressive as the London Drugs bag, but still a step in the right direction:
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Recycling Plastic Bags
Here's a handy reference (in Canada), listed by province, of which municipalities will accept plastic bags for recycling:
http://www.myplasticbag.ca/municipaldatabase/default.php
I knew that our neighbourhood was one of them, and have always included them in our blue bin, but have never separated them from the other plastics (oops ;) I now resolve to sort them, per the www.myplasticbag.ca suggestion, as follows:
Here are some other plastic bag recycling tidbits I've learned:
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http://www.myplasticbag.ca/municipaldatabase/default.php
I knew that our neighbourhood was one of them, and have always included them in our blue bin, but have never separated them from the other plastics (oops ;) I now resolve to sort them, per the www.myplasticbag.ca suggestion, as follows:
- Turn bags inside-out to ensure they are empty and free of debris.
- Stuff them all into one bag.
- Tie it closed.
- Include in curbside pick up.
Here are some other plastic bag recycling tidbits I've learned:
- Plastic bags with the number 7 on them are not always recyclable - check with your municipality first.
- Numbers 2 and 4 are recyclable (2 is high-density polyethylene film, or HDPE, and 4 is low density or linear-low density polyethylene film, or LDPE/LLDPE)
- Food wrap (such as saran wrap) is not recyclable.
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Starch Based Shopping Bags - A Plastic Bag Alternative
A Vancouver based company called EPI Environmental Technologies has created an additive to plastic bags that makes them biodegradable. These bags have been sold for years to chains such as Wal-Mart (US), T&T Supermarket (Canada), Thrifty Foods (Canada), The Body Shop (international), Roots (US) and Tesco (UK), to name a few.
My Mother-In-Law told me recently that she had an older plastic bag from one of these stores which crumbled apart when she tried to open it up. She was quite impressed with the way that the bag had broken down, saying that she thinks it was definitely more green that the traditional plastic.
Let's keep these ones! I think that in general a ban on plastic bags is a good thing, but there should be some available for some instances. For example, if I buy a meat product, the packaging sometimes leaks, and I want to be able to put it in a plastic bag. I wouldn't want raw ground beef soaking into my reusable cloth shopping bag.
Let's ban the full plastic bags, and keep the ones manufactured by companies like EPI that crumble as they age. Sounds like a practical and green compromise to me.
My Mother-In-Law told me recently that she had an older plastic bag from one of these stores which crumbled apart when she tried to open it up. She was quite impressed with the way that the bag had broken down, saying that she thinks it was definitely more green that the traditional plastic.
Let's keep these ones! I think that in general a ban on plastic bags is a good thing, but there should be some available for some instances. For example, if I buy a meat product, the packaging sometimes leaks, and I want to be able to put it in a plastic bag. I wouldn't want raw ground beef soaking into my reusable cloth shopping bag.
Let's ban the full plastic bags, and keep the ones manufactured by companies like EPI that crumble as they age. Sounds like a practical and green compromise to me.
A Cue From Costco: No Plastic Bags!
Costco... gotta love that place. Stuff stuff and more stuff, and deals to be had (if you keep on top of prices).
It never occurred to me before, until Susan from http://www.bagsontherun.com/ mentioned it in a post, that Costco doesn't use plastic bags (unless you purchase meat, and this is for sanitary reasons). The rest of your goods must be brought home in used boxes, which they'll provide, or your own tubs or bags that you bring.
We use those purple "bin shoppin' " tubs that you can buy at Superstore - my husband lays them out in the back of the car, and then we fill them from the shopping cart. Many of the things you buy at Costco are in bulk anyway (i.e. flats of juice or canned soup) so bags are irrelevant.
Hmmm... save money AND the environment! Guess we'll keep shopping there :-)
It never occurred to me before, until Susan from http://www.bagsontherun.com/ mentioned it in a post, that Costco doesn't use plastic bags (unless you purchase meat, and this is for sanitary reasons). The rest of your goods must be brought home in used boxes, which they'll provide, or your own tubs or bags that you bring.
We use those purple "bin shoppin' " tubs that you can buy at Superstore - my husband lays them out in the back of the car, and then we fill them from the shopping cart. Many of the things you buy at Costco are in bulk anyway (i.e. flats of juice or canned soup) so bags are irrelevant.
Hmmm... save money AND the environment! Guess we'll keep shopping there :-)
Cloth Shopping Bags
I'm addicted to those cloth shopping bags. I'll admit it - I buy more than I need. I prefer the black or dark coloured ones, with less prominent store branding. I use them for so many things that I never really mind if I've forgotten to bring one and have to buy another (oh well!!).
I was in Superstore the other day and I added a cloth shopping bag to my pile of purchases. Get this - the cashier rang it through and moved it to the "paid" side of her till, where she proceeded to shove it into a plastic bag.
(????)
ME: "um, excuse me - I don't need the plastic bag - that's why I bought the cloth one."
She laughed awkwardly, apologized, and corrected her mistake.
It made me yet more aware of the broad range in our society of "green" living - from not green at all to obsessively so. I fall somewhere in between. I'm comfortable with that, because it's a lifestyle I can sustain, and I am inspired and motivated to improve in little ways here and there.
Like reminding a cashier about the cloth shopping bag.
I was in Superstore the other day and I added a cloth shopping bag to my pile of purchases. Get this - the cashier rang it through and moved it to the "paid" side of her till, where she proceeded to shove it into a plastic bag.
(????)
ME: "um, excuse me - I don't need the plastic bag - that's why I bought the cloth one."
She laughed awkwardly, apologized, and corrected her mistake.
It made me yet more aware of the broad range in our society of "green" living - from not green at all to obsessively so. I fall somewhere in between. I'm comfortable with that, because it's a lifestyle I can sustain, and I am inspired and motivated to improve in little ways here and there.
Like reminding a cashier about the cloth shopping bag.
Banning Plastic Bags
Why not??? It's already done in South Australia and San Fransisco, among other places I'm sure.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said on the news tonight that she thinks that banning bags alone is not the answer, and that there should be a more comprehensive strategy in place to ban other things as well (Styrofoam, etc.). Obviously I don't know as much about this issue as she does, but it seems to me that banning just bags now and other things later is better for the environment than waiting to ban anything.
My guess is it's a cost issue? (Or is my ignorance showing?) I guess only time will tell.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said on the news tonight that she thinks that banning bags alone is not the answer, and that there should be a more comprehensive strategy in place to ban other things as well (Styrofoam, etc.). Obviously I don't know as much about this issue as she does, but it seems to me that banning just bags now and other things later is better for the environment than waiting to ban anything.
My guess is it's a cost issue? (Or is my ignorance showing?) I guess only time will tell.
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