Personally, I think the canvas bags are easier to carry and they don’t split out on me when I am halfway to the house. I would encourage everyone to try them — start out with only 1, see what you think and then purchase more if you like them. If you can believe it, the cheapest bags I have found are at Fred-Mayer. When I bought some, they were 89c, Wal-Mart sells them for $1. The bags all have logos on them, and I have used them at all the stores I shop at — groceries, clothing, etc. No one has yet “challenged” me about the logo.

Bioplast is a manufacturing company of BIOPLAST Branded Biodegradable Garbage Bags and Fridge Bags for the household markets and for the industry as well as Biodegradable Carrier Bags and Vegy Bags for the retail sector using their own patented unique formula of bacteria enzyme base substrate as against starch base as used by other manufacturers world over which is not as strong or durable as polymer (plastic) bags and has a cost addition of 300%-400%. Also starch based products can comprise of genetically modified crops (GM Crops) which contains PLA the substitutes can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites and releases Methane which is 23 times more damaging than the C02 that Al and Goreites have demonized and cannot be recycled in Britain. See The Guardian reported on Saturday on “Corn starch based material can damage the environment”;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/26/waste.pollution

Bioplast is the only Biodegradable technology in the world using bacteria enzyme base substrate which is 100% biodegradable within 6 months after disposal as per ASTM-D 5988-1996 and EN 13432:2000/ISO 14855 standards with the lowest cost addition of 15%-20%.

Bioplast biodegradable products are also compostable and hence enhancing the nutritive value of the remaining soil. All the ingredients of Bioplast biodegradable plastic products are food grade and non-toxic in nature therefore suitable to be in contact with food products.

Bioplast believes that this great innovation will go a long way in preserving the ecological balance around the world which has brought intelligent and affordable solution to the disposal of polyethylene plastic waste problem worldwide.

Now the local and central Governments must ban all non-biodegradable plastic bags and force all the retailers to use ONLY 100% Biodegradable bags in their stores as an alternative to reusable canvas bags which will be the evidence of their sincere concern for the environment and their commitment to tackling the considerable problem of plastic bag waste and the pollution.

We Can All Make A Difference To The Planet

“What will you tell your children? Were you part of the Problem or part of the Solution?”

http://www.bioplast.com.tr

According to the internet research I have done, many plastics, if not all, never biodegrade. Plastics do break into smaller and smaller pieces until they can be ingested by the smallest living organisms. Hair samples reveal that plastic is extensively present in the environment and that humans integrate the compounds present in plastic into our bodies. These compounds affect many body systems, including hormone regulatory systems. In some underdeveloped countries, toddlers are developing breasts secondary to environmental plastic contamination. Sex hormone affects in some animal species are affecting reproduction and decimating populations.

In the Pacific Gyre, there is a mass of floating plastic hundreds of miles across and getting bigger all the time. Sea birds, fish and mammals identify floating plastics as food, ingest them and die when they are unable to digest them. Some parts of our ocean are 6 parts plastic to 1 part plankton. Plankton dies=oxygen not produced=we all die.

You can do whatever you want of course, yet how can you choose to reject this information without really knowing whether or not it is true? And how can you know without doing your own research?

And when you know, how can you continue on as if you didn’t know? We can all just decide could decide we don’t care…or we can start to make small changes in the way we live. And as we do we can remember… with each conscious decision we make…..our children and our children’s children, who will (hopefully), inherit this earth.

What to do? Reduce, reuse, recycle. Reusable, safely produced products, such as organically grown, cotton bags to buy groceries. Paper at least degrades and is a better choice than plastic IF it is produced responsibly (and you forgot your reusable bags). Truly biodegradable plastic (not just degradable) made from corn starch and other carbohydrates seem like a good choice. The first step of course is starting a dialogue and so we have already begun……have we not?

For us average, bill-paying citizens, the ban on plastic bags means spending more time, money and energy carrying our groceries home. Meanwhile, oil consumption will not decrease. Huge SUVs keep rolling out while petroleum companies continue to whimsically raise the price of gas.

Banning the use of plastic bags is an environmental red-herring. Obviously throwing plastic bags on the ground is not good. That’s why there are fines for littering.

Between pouring oil into the atmosphere with our cars and throwing plastic bags on the ground, the former seems worse. I wonder, what is the equivalent in plastic bags to an average car’s 25-gallon gas tank?

Besides, if there’s one thing oil is good for, it’s for making plastic. Plastic is cheap, sanitary and easy to recycle.

Any data out there anyone is aware of? I still recycle, mostly because the big blue bin is the largest one. I wonder, however, if it isn’t some sort of scam by the refuse company (we pay for all three bins and the cost of recycling in our monthly garbage services bill). THIS IS JUST MY LEGITIMATE QUESTION, SO DON’T ATTACK ME!!

I haven’t sung Kumbaya in ages.

I saw a story on display in England about a environmentalist lady who decided to not only have an abortion, but get permanently fixed so as to not leave a larger carbon footprint. Now, you gotta give the lady credit for taking an extreme stand here—even though I don’t agree, at least she walked the talk….kind of like the actor Ed Begley. Begley lives a green lifestyle….travels by bike and uses 100% solar. It is examples like his that probably make more of a dent preventing damage to the planet than 500 people who recycle regularly. While it may make one feel good to recycle, the results are probably negligible at best.

I think you guys are right on the curbside issue. It needs to start smaller, more locally. Are any local churches or other organizations interested in helping their communities recycle?

As for the curbside pickup… It would be easier and more conveinent. When I lived down south, they gave each household three different colored bins for your recycled products. One for glass, paper & plastic. They eventually did away with those bins because it cost the city too much money and it was too time consuming for the garbage men. They eventually came out with these larger bins which could be picked up mechanically by the garbage trucks. The city still lost money with it’s recycling program, but they stayed with it regardless.