Recycling plastic bags

bd84 said :

Coles still have the plastic bag recycling from what I saw the other day.

Where?

I don’t have suggestions for recycle depots but google ‘storing plastic bags triangle’ for the best way to store them for your own recycling. 🙂

Some of those excess bags (clean carry bags) may be of use to charity shops. In the past, some of those shops were glad to have as many suitable bags as you could give them.

bd84 said :

Coles still have the plastic bag recycling from what I saw the other day. Not sure if it’s in all stores.

Not at my local, unfortunately. Where did you see it recently bd84? It would be good to know.

Maya123 said :

arescarti42 said :

Maya123 said :

Although for most things I wash the bag after use for using again, I have found that even well washed in soapy water, I can’t get the smell out of the bag after meat or fish has been stored in it, so I don’t reuse these bags. I am starting to use containers more often (which can go in the dish washer and wash better) for storing meat, so plastic bags don’t get used and thrown. Such a waste.

I’d hazard that the real waste is the time, litres of water, and fossil fuel energy to heat it that you use in the name of saving 5 grams of polyethylene.

The time is mine and I would have to be petty and very lazy not to mind taking five minutes off watching TV (and if you want to get into saving energy, saving the energy by not having the TV on for those few minutes), I have solar heated water and about 90% of the days through the year I don’t need the booster, and some of my household water is tank water. But this is irrelevant for the discussion here, because the bags are not washed in water only for them, they are washed with other washing up, so no extra water is used. I have no idea how many grams of plastic I would save. Sure your example of 5 grams is not much, but multiply that by the part of the population who can’t be bothered to reuse the plastic bags and it’s a lot more than 5 grams.
So, it’s my time, and otherwise I would be likely watching TV or other non-earning activity (and this would be similar with most of the population).
No extra water to wash the bags is used if, as I do, they are washed with the other washing up. Sure, I use a dishwasher, but not everything goes into the dishwasher.
Likewise therefore no extra energy is used to wash them.
On the other hand, taken over a whole population, a lot of energy would be saved if everyone did this, and a lot of waste would be saved from going to landfill, or washing down the storm-water drains, etc. I was out by a local watercourse the other day and I was disgusted by the amount of plastic in the bushes, stuck to fences, etc, obviously washed there by the last flood.

My dogs insist that their poop be placed only in a clean, recycled bag.

arescarti42 said :

Maya123 said :

Although for most things I wash the bag after use for using again, I have found that even well washed in soapy water, I can’t get the smell out of the bag after meat or fish has been stored in it, so I don’t reuse these bags. I am starting to use containers more often (which can go in the dish washer and wash better) for storing meat, so plastic bags don’t get used and thrown. Such a waste.

I’d hazard that the real waste is the time, litres of water, and fossil fuel energy to heat it that you use in the name of saving 5 grams of polyethylene.

The time is mine and I would have to be petty and very lazy not to mind taking five minutes off watching TV (and if you want to get into saving energy, saving the energy by not having the TV on for those few minutes), I have solar heated water and about 90% of the days through the year I don’t need the booster, and some of my household water is tank water. But this is irrelevant for the discussion here, because the bags are not washed in water only for them, they are washed with other washing up, so no extra water is used. I have no idea how many grams of plastic I would save. Sure your example of 5 grams is not much, but multiply that by the part of the population who can’t be bothered to reuse the plastic bags and it’s a lot more than 5 grams.
So, it’s my time, and otherwise I would be likely watching TV or other non-earning activity (and this would be similar with most of the population).
No extra water to wash the bags is used if, as I do, they are washed with the other washing up. Sure, I use a dishwasher, but not everything goes into the dishwasher.
Likewise therefore no extra energy is used to wash them.
On the other hand, taken over a whole population, a lot of energy would be saved if everyone did this, and a lot of waste would be saved from going to landfill, or washing down the storm-water drains, etc. I was out by a local watercourse the other day and I was disgusted by the amount of plastic in the bushes, stuck to fences, etc, obviously washed there by the last flood.

Maya123 said :

Although for most things I wash the bag after use for using again, I have found that even well washed in soapy water, I can’t get the smell out of the bag after meat or fish has been stored in it, so I don’t reuse these bags. I am starting to use containers more often (which can go in the dish washer and wash better) for storing meat, so plastic bags don’t get used and thrown. Such a waste.

I’d hazard that the real waste is the time, litres of water, and fossil fuel energy to heat it that you use in the name of saving 5 grams of polyethylene.

Yes, even if one doesn’t take plastic bags when out shopping; not even for fruit and vegetables, it’s amazing how they build up (bread bags, etc), although in my case very slowly. I do use a plastic bag in the kitchen bin which I change every two or three weeks, and I will sometimes use a bag for meat storage. Although for most things I wash the bag after use for using again, I have found that even well washed in soapy water, I can’t get the smell out of the bag after meat or fish has been stored in it, so I don’t reuse these bags. I am starting to use containers more often (which can go in the dish washer and wash better) for storing meat, so plastic bags don’t get used and thrown. Such a waste.
My biggest waste, and a large percentage of my waste stream, is the plastic that the papers come wrapped in. Sometimes after a couple of weeks that’s all that’s in my large bin.

bd84 said :

Coles still have the plastic bag recycling from what I saw the other day. Not sure if it’s in all stores.

I just wish the idiots of this city would stop putting plastic bags in the yellow recycling bins, despite all the signage and promotional material telling them not to. They need a squad of enforcers to go around to houses to beat it into them.

I volunteer at a place that has separate bins for general rubbish and recycling, and VERY well labelled. Amazing how many people can’t be bothered (too LAZY, don’t give a sh…) to sort their rubbish, and many of these people are highly educated.

Coles still have the plastic bag recycling from what I saw the other day. Not sure if it’s in all stores.

I just wish the idiots of this city would stop putting plastic bags in the yellow recycling bins, despite all the signage and promotional material telling them not to. They need a squad of enforcers to go around to houses to beat it into them.