Going Green....Staying Stupid

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have a few of those bags. I never remember to bring them to the store, and now I can't even remember where I put them.

I think they had you in mind in this comic.

That's how I got the '59 Radio-Flyer. Hard to believe that someone would throw out a perfectly-good wagon, even if it was a little rusty. Only thing I had to do to fix it was to fit a few new wheel bearings--eventually it'll get repainted

I also found a discarded Radio Flyer wagon. It was in the dumpster at a nearby house under construction. The handle was bent and the bed was rusty, like it had water sitting in it for a while. The handle is now unbent, and the rust will soon get a coat of Rustoleum.

[mattm04]

Since it is the end of the school year for most colleges my school had a construction roll-off dumpster dropped behind each residence hall in addition to the regular front load containers due to the extra trash from move out. Today I saw some student picking thru the roll-off and pulled out a fan as I tossed a bag of trash out. He said to me "this is a perfectly good fan, we are so wasteful." He took the fan out. later on i the day i brought a bag of cans and bottles out to the recycle dumpster (which the temp roll-off is next to) who shoud I meet but "Mr. I will save a fan." Turns of the fan was broken, and he was placing it back in the dumpster..

[gerund]

Remember to take your canvas bags

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVh15aUt8-c

[protege]

I also found a discarded Radio Flyer wagon. It was in the dumpster at a nearby house under construction.Rustoleum.

Hehe the older ones tend to go on forever. The '59 is actually the second one I found in the trash. The first one, was a beat-up 1970s wooden version. Nothing really wrong with it--the paint was peeling, and some of the stake pockets were missing. Nothing a few cans of spray paint and pipe brackets couldn't fix I got several years of paper-route service out of it before the paper closed in '93-94. Still have it, but it lives a much easier life now

[Evil Queen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVh15aUt8-c

Dude, that was strangely disturbing and hilarious at the same time!

[staticradio]

bags, bags, bags...

I wish my store had $2 canvas bags then the $1 nylon ones (same size as paper handle ones), then I'd use them more often (and have the ability to wash then hand-wash them...plus, they'd fall apart faster then canvas).

[batmoody]

It's disgusting when customers bring in their own bags and they reek like cat pee or there is a crusty wig inside or something. I've seen some nasty bags.

Especially love when the customer hands you a fist full of canvas bags AFTER you have already bagged everything. How much sense does that make?

We also give a .03 cent bag credit for ebery one of their bags we use. Most ppl don't even realize we do this but there are some, every single time "Did you get my bag credit?!"

[Evil Queen]

I wish my store had $2 canvas bags then the $1 nylon ones (same size as paper handle ones), then I'd use them more often (and have the ability to wash then hand-wash them...plus, they'd fall apart faster then canvas).

You can usually get the heavy duty canvas bags at craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Michaels or even Joanne's.

[Naaman]

I wish people, who always need a bag to carry the books they checked out, would just reuse the bags they brought with them with the books they returned. Geez, how many times do I see a bag they used go into the garbage, and they ask for a new bag.

Depending if it's icky garbage, just rummage and hand them their bag back.

Or if you see them about to chuck it ask them for it "to go in the special recycling bin"

[marasbaras]

I like decent quality canvas bags. Nice big handles. Easy to maintain (drop them in the washing machine with the kitchen towels). In fact, I find them more convenient than those stupid little plastic bags.

Encrusted bags, yeech! Canvas bags are washable!

Someone mentioned biodegradable plastic bags. Do they really exist? Or, are these the ones that just separate into billions and billions of little long-chain, indestructable polymers?

[edible_hat]

Someone mentioned biodegradable plastic bags. Do they really exist? Or, are these the ones that just separate into billions and billions of little long-chain, indestructable polymers?

I heard on a science phone-in show that bio-degradable bags don't actually exist, and degradable bags are just regular bags with some heavy metals added. So they're actually worse for the environment - one bag breaks down into a bunch of smaller pieces which can choke more fish *and* they add to heavy metal pollution.

[Difdi]

After a few minutes of thinking about it, I change my mind because you and I and everyone else knows I'll forget the bags when I go shopping.

I have that same problem. But I always have my backpack with me, so I got some mesh grocery bags that fold up so small (into a built-in zippered pouch on the bottom of the bag) that I can always have my bags with me. Two of them fit into the volume of a paperback book.

[the_std]

Weyhauser planted their trees specifically to cut them down and make paper.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. A tree will contribute much to the environment while it grows to the point of harvesting. At least they're not just cutting down any old forest trees without any thought to replacement.

[Geek King]

I heard on a science phone-in show that bio-degradable bags don't actually exist, and degradable bags are just regular bags with some heavy metals added. So they're actually worse for the environment - one bag breaks down into a bunch of smaller pieces which can choke more fish *and* they add to heavy metal pollution.

I mentioned those earlier. I can't really answer this one way or the other, as all I remember about the article was that they degraded better with sunlight, and that it still took about three years for an urban tumbleweed to do so. I always figured that made them worse for repeated use, as they would weaken significantly with use/light exposure. I'm not even sure if that's what they're using now or if there has been something better come along. There hasn't been much bored doctor office time for me to check out random news magazine articles lately.

[Emrld]

A while back I located a pattern to crochet your own grocery bag - by using plastic grocery bags.
I have made mesh bags out of 100% cotton yarn (bamboo yarn is still a touch to expensive for the project)

I have a "basket" that I bought last year in Europe that I frequently use. In Central Market and Whole Foods they know what the bags I bring with me are for and how to use them . . .the other chains have a hard time with me bringing in my own bags.

My routine is to bring in the groceries . . .put them away . . .fold up bags and place by back door with my keys on top of bags. (I don't have anyone else living with me . . .and my dog doesn't go near my keys.) This way I don't forget to place them back in my car.