Comments on: Lament for a Paper Bag

By: Rachel V

Rachel V — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:06:37 +0000

Eeek, I know people won’t like my response. I have recently started getting the reusable bags, but I don’t use them for my groceries. I use them as gift bags (disney store ones, super cute), bags to haul my kids clothes to and from their aunties house or just use them to stuff things in when I stash them in my crafty closet.

I purposely ask for plastic bags when I go to the stores. I use them as the “poopy doo bags” for Colbys diapers. Probably a double whammy, right? Not only am I still using plastic bags, but we are still using disposable diapers. The plastic “poopy doo bags” are the only thing to contain that horrific toxic smell from those poopers.

The only time we use paper bags is when I am buying fruit that needs some ripening or ice cream that needs to stay frozen on the ride home.

By: The Sister

The Sister — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:05:45 +0000

I also ask for paper bags if I don’t have my reusable ones…mainly because I find them better for re-using. Although, I have to admit that I LOVE Hy-Vee’s & Target’s paperbags the best because they have handles! EVEN BETTER! I love the idea of cooling cookies on them! Much better than wasting paper towels & wax paper!

By: Normative Behavior

Normative Behavior — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:36:46 +0000

I too request paper bags when I forget my reusables or when my kids’ school runs low on them-they use them for food waste, (& recycle) which gets picked up weekly to be composted. The kids learn the difference between un/renewable waste, recycling & composting. I think that’s an awesome lesson. Plus plastic bags suck-ever try to put a cereal box or a 1/2 gallon of milk in one? It splits down the side as if you’d taken a razor blade to it!
Next post? Lament the lack of training the baggers receive-I often want to ask them if they’ve never taken a bag of groceries home. Tomatoes at the bottom, bleach with my produce. Get outta my way I’ll bag it myself. At least that way I know the rat poison isn’t in the same bag as my pork chops!

By: Billygean

Billygean — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:41:36 +0000

We never had paper in the uk, I’d love to smell the peaches/paper combo!

Why don’t you take your paper bags to the store and reuse them – they will be your reusable bags!

By: The Casual Perfectionist

The Casual Perfectionist — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:45:00 +0000

And out here (in Colorado), they’re trying to ban plastic bags, and some stores have stopped carrying them.

I’ve actually switched to the cloth reusable bags. I know that makes me sound like a crunchy hippie, but I love how strong they are, and how much you can get in each bag without breaking your back. The handles make it possible to carry quite a few at once, and my trips from the car upstairs has been cut down drastically. Plus, the stores where I frequent give me a discount for using the reusable bags. Can’t beat that!

I loved using paper bags as book covers. Did you ever do that? That way, our school books could be protected, and we could personalize them however we saw fit.

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:00:33 +0000

I think a plastic bag is worse for the environment. Sits around for billion years in landfills, floats around forever in our waters and kills animals. Gets stuck in trees and no one can get them down or don’t bother to. At least trees are a renewable, but slower, resource. It’s not a great choice, but better than plastic, in my opinion.

By: Nathan Pralle

Nathan Pralle — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:55:39 +0000

@Matt: True enough — we went to TJ’s just a bit ago and got paper bags in lieu of having reusables (which we forgot because we were on a short vacation and didn’t think to pack them, silly us.) And right, for all I know, they’re better off than plastic bags in the ocean, so…that’s a plus. We have a mostly-single-stream recycling here (paper has to be separate, the rest can be together) so we burn all our paper (we’re allowed to burn in town) as it’s a small enough footprint not to matter too much. But we reuse as much as we can first before doing so.

@Stacey: Never thought about using them as cookie coolers — good idea! I’ll have to remember that. And you’re right, it feels like you “got more” or something when you bring home the groceries in paper, like you really bought something.

By: Stacey Thomas

Stacey Thomas — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:49:02 +0000

I always request paper for chips, baked goods and produce. I recycle them by using them to put hot cookies on. They absorb grease and keep my counters tidy. It also provides me with a bit of nostalgia, as that’s what my mother, grandmother and Mammo (great grandmother) did. I recycle plastic bags too by using them in all the smaller trashcans in my home. There’s just something about coming home with your groceries in paper…I don’t know if it’s a retro thing, or what, but I feel more “satisfied” with paper bags than I do with plastic. Yes, apparently I am a dork.
Stacey Thomas recently posted..The Simple Woman’s Day Book July 11- 2010

By: Matt G.

Matt G. — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:27:43 +0000

And yet, if you shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (both of which are generally patronized by the eco-crowd), the default bag is the classic brown paper bag. I would contend that paper bags are far more environmentally friendly than plastic, provided you live in a town/city that has a decent recycling program. Where I live, we have single-stream recycling (paper, plastic, metal can all be mixed) and a paper bag is the perfect container to sit in the closet, or under the sink, to collect said recyclables. Plus paper, coming from trees and being a renewable resource, is less detrimental to the system if it is left out of recycling. Plastic on the other hand, which is usually petroleum based, must be recycled, or the resource is lost. So be proud, insist on paper bags (if you don’t use reusable ones).