What does everyone else use for garbage bags? You probably make the easy decision to just pick them up at Target or the grocery store where you shop. Here is what you need to know; it takes 1,000 years for that trash bag to decompose. That’s a helluva long time. I’m on the search for a better alternative.
After learning how much plastic (Ocean Conservancy) is in the ocean and making a mess of our precious and beautiful land as well I decided to look for a more eco-friendly choice. We ran out of the box of Glad ForceFlex 50-count bags the other day and as I broke the box down for recycling I started thinking about a safer bag. We recycle a lot and think about what goes into our garbage but what if what was surrounding our trash was also a problem. I’ve purchased other eco-friendly choices before but either they were cost-prohibitive or not easily attainable. So I turned to the internet to see if I could find an answer.
I found this great article posted on a website selling compostable trash bags. Of course they want you to buy their compostable bags yet the definitions make sense to me based on what I know already. What I learned is not to buy biodegradable bags because regular landfills do not usually have the key ingredients to biodegrade. Unfortunately the notes didn’t help me find what I need as I’m looking for a trash bag for my NON- compostable materials; the stuff that ends up in landfills. We compost a lot at our house and we just throw that stuff right outside into a rolling bin and in the springtime we used to spread it out on the garden. This is our first spring without a backyard garden so we’ll still find a new place to spread the compost love back into the earth. I don’t know why more people don’t compost; its so easy and it’s literally like giving the earth a gift back.
In my continued search I found this article from the SFGate from the city that’s already banned grocery bags! I like some of Ms. Lovering’s ideas of lining trash containers with paper bags or newspaper. According to my husband our trash pick-up is required to be in tied bags so right now I’m using the few grocery bags my husband carries home because he forgets to bring reusable bags. I have to move forward, knowing I’m working on this issue in my own time, and hopefully along this journey I will find a solution. It’s going to make a difference, maybe not in my life time but for my children and the next generation.
Anyone have a green alternative?
Peaceful Reader 