Sunday 1 July 2018

Plastic Bag Ban?

A simple children's story,  A Bag and a Bird, from the amazingly talented author and illustrator, Pamela Allen, tells a tale of the potential danger that plastic bags pose to our environment and our wildlife. In her story, it's an ibis that gets tangled in one of these lightweight nightmares but it could just as easily have been a pelican or a turtle or any number of other sea creatures. In this story, all ends well but we all know that isn't so outside of the fictional world of children's picture books.


A simple story about a big problem.

The harm plastic does in our environment is, I think, widely known and commonly accepted. So today, when a ban on lightweight plastic bags comes in to force in the Australian state where I live, I found myself asking the question, "What took so long?" As with many things, the wheels of government turn much more slowly than if we just make a personal decision and act on it.  



A little flyer from our local shop.

While lightweight plastic bags, the kind you often (used to) see piled up in supermarket trolleys are now banned here, and in other the Australian states, there are still plastic bags to which the ban does not apply. Heavyweight plastic bags, thin plastic produce bags, bin liners and garbage bags are still going to be available from retailers in the state where I live. Like Cheryl, over at A Simply Good Life, I think that these "acceptable" plastics will just end up in landfill eventually. Why not ditch these plastic bags altogether? Here are the things we do at our place to avoid using plastic bags:

Instead of bringing home groceries in any kind of plastic bag, I have collected fabric bags, some made from organic cotton and some from reclaimed cottons. I 💚 that these can be used over and over again and that they can be washed if they get a bit grotty. I send them, shredded into small strips, to the compost bin when they are beyond repair.  Perhaps, you might be lucky enough to have Boomerang Bags operating in your community and will have that source of reusable bags to use. When I go to the market, I take my basket and a few fabric bags so that I don't bring home any plastic from there either.


A few of our plastic bag alternatives.

Instead of throwaway plastic produce bags, we have a set of little mesh and cotton drawstring bags. I bought mine from an ethical online store, when they were on sale, but they can be readily sewn up from mesh fabric or even old curtain material. Here's a tutorial and a pattern (scroll down through blog post to find it) for how to make them. 

My market basket.

One common question that seems to have been on people's minds, in the lead up to our plastic bag ban, has been, "What will we line our bin with now?" We don't line our little kitchen bin with anything anymore but Liz, over at Eight Acres, uses sheets of newspaper to line hers. We use sheets from the little local newspaper, that lands on our driveway every week, to wrap any "icky scraps" before putting them in the freezer. Now, we don't have many "icky scraps", because we compost our fruit and veg scraps and our dog takes care of most of our meat scraps, but I find that by wrapping and freezing what we do have to dispose of, there's no oozy, smelly stuff in our bin. A quick rinse out and it's ready to go back under the kitchen sink. I just have to remember to put any wrapped scraps in the wheelie bin on rubbish collection day.

Perhaps, remembering to bring along reusable bags when shopping will be one of the biggest challenges in the early days of this plastic bag ban. Having lightweight plastic bags, to plonk our purchases in, is something we've all gotten used to at the checkout. There was a time though when plastic bags did not exist, as hard as that may be to imagine given the way plastics are such an ever-present part of our lives now. That means though that we can get used to doing without them again too.  Perhaps, there will be a happy outcome, just as there is in the story of A Bag and a Bird.


Do you have a plastic bag ban in place where you live? What alternatives do you, or are you planning to, use?

Meg




























25 comments:

  1. We have managed to reduce our food waste to almost nothing, ensuring we cook enough food for two, if we cook more we freeze meals for later use. We do get vegetable waste but I got a wormer last year, and we feed all veg waste to them, they give me wonderful compost and liquid fertiliser. In my cloth bag I car paper bags, which I reuse and refuse a plastic bag. Here in U.K., the big shops can’t give away plastic bags, we have to pay 5p for each bag. The little shops and market stalls can give away bags, but we refuse them.

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    1. It sounds like you are really organised and have a system that ensures you can refuse plastic bags and not pay for any, Marlene. I keep my bags in the boot of my car and I always carry a reusable one in my day bag. We have a worm farm too, aren't they fantastic! Meg:)

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  2. I think the biggest thing that annoys me with the plastic bag ban is they are starting with the consumers and making us pay for bags when they were free before and 80% of what's in the supermarket is actually plastic. While I'm in agreement with it all to protect the environment and wildlife its all the plastic packaging that is ridiculous. This is where they need to focus more attention on.

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    1. I have just come home from the farmers' market, Kathy. My basket is full of lovely fruit and veg and none of it is sitting on styrofoam trays under plastic wrapping. That kind of unnecessary packaging is just senseless waste! I choose to buy my basics from bulk bins whenever I can to avoid packaging too. Reducing and/or avoiding packaging can mean sourcing things in a different way if that is a possibility. The concern I have with shops just charging customers for plastic bags is that plenty of people may just choose to pay whatever they cost. I don't think that helps things in the long run. Meg:)

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    2. There's always a better way to do things however sometimes it's not possible to do it all the time. I buy my bulk things like flour, nuts etc from Simply Good at Alderley however even though it's in bulk it still goes into a plastic bag so it does work but you still end up with smaller plastic bags. I think it's going to take some time. I'm going to start going back to the Kelvin Grove Farmers Markets on a Saturday to get fruit & veg. Our local one that was open on a Sunday sadly shut down however we are at Football 6 months of the year on a Sunday so couldn't get there. Baby steps I think.

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    3. I have reusable produce bags for things like nuts, popcorn, rices, cranberries etc. that I get from the bulk bins. I find they work really well. Flour can be trickier, depending on the fabric these bags are made from. I have put flours in calico bags and in paper bags that I've reused over and over again. It's a shame that your local farmers' market shut down, Kathy. The one I go to is only on once a month and I wish it was more often than that! Meg:)

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    4. Our local market puts the fruit in paper bags, I keep these and carry them in the bottom of my shopper, they take no space at all, and I can reuse them in other shops. The supermarkets over here put most of their fruit and veg on trays and in a plastic wrapper, plus often other items in boxes have a plastic outer wrapper, people are challenging the supermarkets to cut back on single use plastic. Where possible we avoid plastic, but it will take years to stop it coming into our house.

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  3. I’ve lived in South Australia for nine years now and I can’t remember a time when there was any plastic bags at the checkouts other than the ones you have to pay 15cents for. While I’m happy that lightweight plastic bags will no longer be available in other states of Australia I hope that this is just a first step in banning the use of all plastic bags in our supermarkets.

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  4. I hope it's that first step too, Jan. I think though, as I said above, that it's much easier and faster to make the personal choice not to use plastic bags than it is waiting for government to legislate such changes. Meg:)

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  5. Pretty basket! Our grocery plastic bags are so cheaply made, but they are recycled material. We re-use them to pick up our dog's waste on her daily walk. Andrea

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    1. I love my market basket, Andrea. I have had it for years and it holds quite a bit of produce. I also use it to carry library books back and forth too. Meg☺

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  6. Meg I have an ONYA bag that lives in my carry bag as it is lightweight and have been using that for some time. I also have a few supermarket hessian bags and used to embellish the older Woolies ones with fabric flowers. Not sure why customers are abusing the staff on the checkouts. Surely we have all been warned well in advance.

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    1. Having a little reusable bag on hand really helps to avoid plastic ones, Chel. I can't fathom why staff at shops are being abused over it either. The ban was widely advertised and there are alternatives. Meg :)

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  7. In South Australia we have replaced the plastic shopping bags with a durable type fabric bag which is purchased at checkout for 99cents, and if you forget to bring them you soon remember if you don't want to pay! Mine now just go straight back into the car for my next shop. I buy my fruit & veg at my local supermarket which has SA grown & is convenient for me but I take my own bags which are purchased from the supermarket and are the laundry wash bags made of mesh, they come in various sizes and are not expensive. I was going to make some but thought these would do the job and I already had a few so gave it a try and they work and the checkout staff can see the product through the mesh for prices. Works well for me. I think the manufacturers should now get rid of the excess plastic packaging too and if plastic is used it should be the type that breaks down. Our Council supply free little under sink compost bins and biodgradable liners.

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    1. It would be great if manufacturers got rid of excess packaging, Rosemary. That would make a big difference! I pop my bags back into the car whenever I've used them too ... otherwise, knowing me, I'd forget them! Meg:)

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  8. Everyone's lifestyles are different but every little bit will help, and hopefully we will all be able to do what we can to help get rid of some plastics.

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    1. I think that anything people can do to reduce plastics is really positive change. Meg:)

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  9. I have reusable shopping bags, and have for years now. Wales in the Uk was one of the first places to bring in a ban on what is called here 'single use shopping bags'.

    For my produce I just don't bag it. The entertainment value of seeing the checkout operator trying to keep four apples from rolling off the flat scales is much better than a flimsy bag that needs disposing of at home ... I know ... I'm cruel 😉

    At least something is at last being done to raise awareness, this book looks really good.

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    1. It's a great children's book, Sue. Lovely to share and spark conversations with young children about the environment and plastics. Meg ☺

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  10. Hi Meg, I have been using cloth shopping bags for twenty years. I keep them in the trunk of my car. I need to knit some washable produce bags. I love the ones in your photo. We have to buy shopping bags here in California. I have very little garbage, because most of what I throw away is compost. It goes to the chickens, or into the compost pile. I reuse my garbage bags. I also wash out the plastic produce bags, hang them on the line, and reuse them.

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    1. It's great that you keep food scraps out of landfill with a composting system and chickens, Stephenie. And your own fresh eggs are a great bonus too! Meg☺

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  11. I make my own cloth bags, and also make them for Boomerang Bags, as well as smaller ones for produce and dry goods from Wholefoods and it's been many years since I brought plastic home. It's disappointing to see that the supermarkets are still providing the option for people to buy a 'tough' plastic bag, I agree with you Meg, we're going to see them in landfill eventually. I've never used bin liners, nothing yucky goes in, so I just rinse it when I empty it. A friend who works for Coles said it was near-riot last week as people tried to grab handfuls of plastic bags, in panic, saying they had to have them, they would run out otherwise. Scary!

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    1. It's great that you sew for Boomerang Bags, Nanette. They are a great community-driven alternative to plastic bags. We don't have them in our little pocket of suburbia here but there are lots of places that do. Meg:)

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  12. Ahhh now that is the idea I have been looking for to replace my bin liners ... newspaper and into the freezer. Thank you :)

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    1. Works for us! We just use sheets from free local paper that lands on our driveway, or somewhere in the vicinity, each week. Meg☺

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