America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

technologist — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:03:11 GMT

I am going to state the obvious: a little recycling would be a help with the plastic problem. Reuse, recycle; takes a little effort, a short learning curve, but it is worth it.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

bmc — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:00:51 GMT

We use plastic shopping bags for garbage, and drink water out of glass bottles that we refill. It is fine to put an end to the use of plastic shopping bags, but don't you think it's a bit of a joke when no one else seems to be making an effort to curtail the use of plastic? Example: Food companies keep coming up with new single serving items which require more packaging, and there has been an explosion of plastic gift cards. I see them everywhere. So, maybe we should be focusing on the arbitrary, over use of plastic in general.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

triciamc — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:35:59 GMT

The government in Ireland put a large tax on plastic bags so now everyone uses cloth.

Every household was issued with three large plastic wheelie bins. 1. for foodstuff. 1, for plastic and dry recyclables and 1 for unrecyclable. There are exemptions for the invalided and household where there is no side access for the bins etc. (not really fair to drag a stinky bin through a house that may have steps throughout it.)

You will be brought to court if you don't recycle and it has been a huge success as the landfill dumps have been reduced by a huge percentage.
When both the above systems were being introduced there was "blue bl**dy murder from the people but now it is just another part of daily life.

When smoking was banned in all public buildings including pubs there was huge backlash from all areas and now it is like these laws were always there.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

Katie B — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:00:58 GMT

All the grocery chains have reusable bags, and they're cheap. I think India started taxing plastic grocery bags and it reduced their use by ninety percent. It's much better to reduce than recycle, if you can, because think of all the energy it costs to recycle things.

And water does taste so much better when it has been stored in glass (we have a filtering and purifying system). I do not buy bottled water, EVER. What a waste of money!

Now that I think about it though, soda and candy bars are taxed, but it hasn't seemed to faze Americans (they still drive just as fast, even though it burns more gas)--they just buy the junk when it's on sale. Perhaps if the government put a twenty-percent tax on it, but then, is that too much government interference, even though doing so would make health care costs go down? I don't know.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

Katee Roux — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:25:43 GMT

Some months ago, almost 2 years i think, i began using glass for my purified water from home. I know there are suppose to be "safe plastics" but i don't trust them. When 7 plastic first came out they claimed it was safe, now they say it isn't. Yesterday i didn't have any water with me, so for the first time in months i bought some bottled. I know they taste differently depending upon the brand, & whether they add minerals back in. But i bought the brand i used to buy all the time before. It tasted different to me, & drinking out of a plastic bottle was strange after getting used to glass.

We've become such a throw-away society, bent on convenience. I suppose carrying a glass bottle with me is inconvenient, but i'm used to it now. You can get used to whatever, until it becomes habit.

I also carry canvas grocery bags. It is difficult to get the baggers to fill them correctly. Some baggers are used to putting only 2 or 3 items in a plastic bag. My bags are made to carry quite a lot. Well, whatever we can do. Mother Earth!

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

schnauzermom — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:38:26 GMT

I purchased a couple of polycarbonate plastic water bottles. They are the hard plastic and are not supposed to leach out chemicals. They have no plastic taste either. Refill is easy with our RO faucet.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

HealthCoachSandraG — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:43:44 GMT

Using less bottled water WILL trickle down. Just keep spreading the word with regards to why you do not use plastic and if you only influence one person, THAT person may influence many or just one. But it will take hold.

Water tastes better in glass, but if this is not practical, at lease use a reusable bottle. A good water filter on your faucet is way more reliable than the water you buy anyway.

With regards to plastic grocery bags: I often forget my cloth bags, and when I do, I use paper and recycle the paper.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

katieannpc — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:35:22 GMT

I use my cloth bags for shopping, yet I still end up with at least one plastic bag! It is really aggravating. I have to monitor the baggers very closely to get the most use of the cloth bags and not end up with any plastic. Even if I take a plastic bag back with me for meat, they still use a new one. It does really irritate me.....but then I have to remember, I am certainly NOT the norm around here LOL.

I did buy a 24 pack of bottled water, and weekly I soak the bottles in vinegar/water mix then refill. When these are no longer usable, I will be switching to glass!

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

flbooks7 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:39:00 GMT

There is just really no excuse for us to continue using plastic shopping bags. I found some really study cloth bags in thrift stores and just keep them in my van.... now how difficult is that? I also bought a glass bottle to use for water... the water tastes better in glass as well.

re: America's Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags

samurai — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:55:44 GMT

2 weeks ago, I stopped using (plastic) bottled water. Instead, I bought a liter-sized bottle of Voss water (glass), and I refill it with our filtered tap water.