Grocery bags

I have big shopping bags made out of cheese cloth, canvass, and biodegradable cloth. I love buying the big ones because I use them as laundry bags and sometimes temporary storage for all sorts of junk that we do not want to throw yet. Sometimes a shopping bag can be a good alternative for my purse some sort of a trick I play to ward off snatchers.
 
Our uncle from the US taught us how to fold plastic grocery bags properly so it would be small like a cigar. Where before we throw away excess grocery bags, we now keep them for future use since we learned how to fold it. Some weeks ago, my husband bought a block of ice in the market. The plastic bag he brought was torn not by accident but the plastic seems to be decaying.That's when we knew about those biodegradable plastic that is now popular here. So what's the point in saving those plastic bags when they would rot?
So are you going to let us into the secret of how to fold a plastic carrier bag into a small cigar shape? I bet its one of those things that is really complicated to describe!
 
At last, my chance to ask all you Americans a question which has been bothering me for decades. Why do you have those (usually brown) large paper bags that you carry in your arms rather than bags with handles. I've seen them in so many films and TV shows. We very rarely have them here. It just seems counter-intuitive because it limits what you can carry. Its good though (or is it?), that they are made of paper not plastic. Perhaps I'm watching old films and you don't use them so much now?
 
We've had a 5p charge in Scotland for a year now. It's hard to see much difference other than people buying the "bag for life" that they seem to chuck away immediately. I've been reusing bags for years and we still seem to have a mass of them at home.
I feel rather phobic about flimsy plastic bags. I'm sure they have a breeding programme under the sink rather like coat hangers do in wardrobes. As opposed to socks, which seem to go for trial separation, if not divorce. In fact, in a wonderful elision of subject matter, I store odd socks in one of those plastic bags. And looking at the quantity, they seem to reflect the current stats for divorce in the UK (42%), see Weddings thread.
 
We've had a 5p charge in Scotland for a year now. It's hard to see much difference other than people buying the "bag for life" that they seem to chuck away immediately. I've been reusing bags for years and we still seem to have a mass of them at home.
On the third bag for life in 4 days, second replacement!

Paper bags are not as green as you may think. They can't be recycled properly. Cost outweighs any saving made when handing out plastic bags.
 
I feel rather phobic about flimsy plastic bags. I'm sure they have a breeding programme under the sink rather like coat hangers do in wardrobes. As opposed to socks, which seem to go for trial separation, if not divorce. In fact, in a wonderful elision of subject matter, I store odd socks in one of those plastic bags. And looking at the quantity, they seem to reflect the current stats for divorce in the UK (42%), see Weddings thread.


At least it's only socks or plastic bags that are being horded. It could be a lot worse. Like engine parts, or lumps of metal or small tins or a hundred and one other things (ie junk) that will be kept until hell freezes over amd will never be used, but will always be kept just on the of chance that they may come in handy, although how 50 small tins will ever be used is beyond me.
 
On the third bag for life in 4 days, second replacement!

Paper bags are not as green as you may think. They can't be recycled properly. Cost outweighs any saving made when handing out plastic bags.


Maybe they just have a very short life span.. you know what they say "life's a bitch and then you die".
 
The biggest problem with the the bags you get from say morrisons or iceland is that they take up so much space. I now have a car full of these bags. Then you have to remember to put them back in the car when I empty them.

at lesst plastic carrier bags could be folded down into a small size.
 
Maybe they just have a very short life span.. you know what they say "life's a bitch and then you die".
There's a Very short life span and now there's not fit for purpose, since they're now charging. Further than the door would be very handy though.
 
There's a Very short life span and now there's not fit for purpose, since they're now charging. Further than the door would be very handy though.


I think its a problem with any plastic bag. The bin bags are the same. They are so thin, that you can see through them. How on earth I manage to get even the most meagre amount of rubbish in them before it breaks is beyond me. I end up having to use 2 bags one inside the other to make it strong enough to use. That surely defeats the whole object of the lesson.

the government gets a bee in their bonnet about something, and everyone reacts, and not everything works out in rhe long run.
 
Next one that the bottom drops out off will be returned on the spot, At least with the others it tended to be the handles that gave, allowing them to be relegated to bin duty.
 
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Next one that the bottom drops out off will be returned on the spot, At least with the others it tended to be the handles that gave, allowing them to be relegated to bin duty.
Which shop are you getting these from? I've got a couple of 'bags for life' and they aren't very flimsy. The one's we now have to pay for are, though.
 
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