Follow-Up: What Do You Use: Paper, Plastic, or Reusable Bags?
Posted on September 16th, 2008 - 10:20 AMAbout the author: Dominic Bridgers was a summer intern in the Office of Public Affairs.
I never really thought about what bags I use when I go to the grocery store. I usually tend to get plastic, because I feel I can reuse a plastic bag over and over again for taking out the trash, bringing in lunch, picking up the dog’s mess, etc.
I collected data from the July 21st Question of the Week, “What do you use: Paper, Plastic, or Reusable bags?” Among people who use paper or plastic, the answer came down to be pretty even. However, I was very surprised to see that almost all of the commenters said that they use reusable bags. The reason why most people use reusable bags is because they feel as if those bags are sturdier and they hold more. I must say that when that I am in the grocery store, I have not once seen a person with a reusable bag!
Thank you for taking your time in responding to “What do you use: Paper, Plastic, or Reusable bags?”
Tags: paper bags, plastic bags, Question of the Week Follow-up, reusable bags
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Question of the Week
September 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I think the view here is slightly slanted. Was the question asked on this blog? I think a lot of the readers of this blog are already environmentally minded. I’m not sure its representative of the greater population.
You may be happy to know that I saw several people using reusable bags the last time I was at the grocery store. This usually isn’t typical. I think that the .5 cents off that many stores are advertising for the use of reusable bags helps.
I always carry a fold-up reusable bag in my purse for the times I leave the others at home or only need just one bag.
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September 16th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I have used canvas bags for over a decade but not consistantly until new ones were selling at a local grocery store (Pennington Quality Market). Now the local grocery store takes money off my grocery bill for every bag I bring in and reuse which is awesome. Some European markets are getting rid of plastic bags all together. Although I use the plastic one to cleanup my dogs mess so it doesn’t pollute the streams nearby or end up on the bottom of someone’s shoe, I would like to see an end to plastic bags. I would also like to see an end to styrofoam as it is currently used.
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September 28th, 2008 at 10:43 am
If you don’t have a canvas bag already, don’t buy one. That in itself will add to the waste stream eventually. Just use plastic grocery bags that have already been used once. If you don’t have any laying around the house just go to walmart and fish a handful out of the recycling bin. Or pull a few out of just about any trash can. Carry a few with you at all times, so when you are shopping you can use it to carry off what you buy. Much easier to carry around than a bulky canvas bag. When you park your bicycle and it looks like rain put a plastic bag on the seat to keep it dry. If it rains invariably someone will snatch the bag to put on their own bicycle to keep their own butt dry. But I’m OK with that. Just have enough bags in your pocket to replace it.
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