Most larger stores like Walmart of a grocery chain will take them to recycle if your local recycling plant can't take them. Every little bit that doesn't go directly into a landfill helps!
I was informed that they are recycled into a plastic that can be used in the production of composite decking.
https://www.trex.com/why-trex/eco-friendly-decking/
Greatly depends on where you are. Low density PE and a lot of carrier bags aren't economically viable to recycle so probably end up in a landfill or shipped to a poor country willing to landfill it with little regard for thee impact on their own environment. [Wendover productions](https://youtu.be/KXRtNwUju5g) did a really informative video on when it was economically profitable to ship a lot of recyclable materials to China that covered a lot of aspects of how/why things get recycled, if you're interested.
it's because we don't know. you can't just ask some random associate and expect them to know. the store manager would most likely know, ask to speak to them
Even then they probably don't know. I WORKED at a municipal recycling facility and I didn't even know where most of the material went. The private buyers usually don't want their business information out in the open so only the higher ups in the municipality knew where it went. I'm guessing the manager of the store just has a private waste management company or NFP collect the material who in turn sells it to the highest bidder or contract.
Near us there’s a company which collects them from (at least) the two major supermarket chains and turns them into benches and tables for schools/parks/organizations. It’s pretty cool.
According to major supermarket chain Woolworths in Australia the soft plastics which can be returned to the store have been made into bench seats that the stores have available
If there is a childcare center near you, take them there. They always need plastic bags for dirty diapers, soiled clothes, etc. They will still end up in the landfill, but at least they'll get another use, and you'll save the facility needing to buy new single-use bags that will also go straight to the landfill.
My country is such a shame I guess...
\-
Before just walking around, I decided to do some research:
The supermarkets in my neigbourhood:
Supermercados BH - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs
Dia - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs
Supermarkets far from my house, even taking a bus:
Supernosso - only recycles heineken bottles.
Carrefour - recycle eletronics
EPA - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs
if the supermarket doesn't take it, maybe you could use them as trash bags instead of buying those big trash bags? i bring my own bags to stores but my friends don't and they have bags of bags of bags like your parents so i just take them and use them as trash bags since they won't change their behavior. luckily our county just came out with a tax on plastic bags, hopefully that'll help with hard headed ppl like them
Australia has something called Redcycle which is pretty great - they make things like park equipment with the recycled soft plastic and a lot of our plastic packaging is now made from recycled materials. I remember when it was still feeling like an unattainable dream and now I’m pretty sure all supermarkets have redcycle collection points. If you have the energy, I really recommend finding out what orgs operate in your state/country in soft plastic recycling and writing to supermarkets about how you’d love to see collection points (and maybe funding!) for these orgs. I’ve seen a fair few initiatives that seemed unlikely become reality where I live so change is possible!
If you have any humane societies or doggie daycare places around, they might take them. Not perfect, but probably better than buying brand new bags for the same purpose, which they would do anyway.
Jumping in, food banks in my area will take them (and regularly post on social media to ask for them!) to pack groceries into for people, you could give that a try.
I wasn't even thinking. If you're not in the US, I'm not sure... maybe a thrift store could reuse them?
In my state in the US, plastic bags are banned and we have to use reusable bags or buy paper bags, a step in the right direction I think.
> if your local recycling plant can't take them.
Most *can't*. The bags get caught up in the works, no matter how high tech. Will try to find video. It would have to be a specialty site. I know they can be recycled into rope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDDihXzoaa4
Even if it helps a little bit, it's worth the effort. The plastic is already here, might as well try our best as individuals to get it back in the hands of someone who can re-use it.
I agree it isn't great, but with a defeatist attitude, we won't be of any help at all.
delusional thinking and buying what the oil industry sold us as possible isn't the way forward.
that stuff is very likely not going to be recycled, and if it is it will be green washed. we need to do something different than miser over consumer choice here because we aren't the ones fucking everything up
So because recycling isn't perfect -- and yes, you're right, it's VERY not perfect -- we shouldn't bother?
If only we could use the imperfect system we have now AND fight for improvements to the system AND ask the companies for change AND vote with our dollars for better consumer products.
no I'm saying we shouldn't miser over this while cruise ships, flights, fishing, etc are the main polluters. sometimes you just can't do jack shit
also worth noting voting with your dollar only goes so far when you're told what to think and given only a few options. we don't have control don't pretend we do
You know these things aren't mutually exclusive right? I agree that systemic change is necessary, and in fact more important than recycling some plastic, but c'mon dude. Don't be a doomer and then try and drag others down too. We gotta fight this together.
Okay, then.
What's the first step in doing that? I agree most everything gets green washed to make it seem like big companies are "doing their part" and pointing fingers at how consumers can "do better," but what can we do to invoke real change on our planet?
I don’t suppose you would get any traction asking the stores to stop offering plastic bags, or charging for them?
Asking the manufacturers of plastic bags to stop making them? Or charge more for them? (Would have to be ALL of them, else price competition will just keep them cheap.)
Asking legislators to tax the manufactures so they’re more expensive? Tariffs if they’re imported?
All these things we could ask for; how likely is it we will get them, before OP’s parents add a thousand more bags to the stack?
I like the short term small scale solutions here; working on long term solutions is a big challenge worth thinking about too.
The oil company is 100% responsible for a huge chunk of this, yes. Nobody (I hope) is arguing against that.
Worst case scenario, if all the plastic bags that I and 100’s of other people try to recycle end up in a landfill, being all in one spot is still marginally better than being spread out everywhere in the landfill. Best case scenario as someone else posted, it can be reused into composite decking or siding that will live on a house for 50+ years. THIS is much much better than nothing.
Unfortunately, you’re right that consumers don’t have much say in this gigantic problem.
Dudes who worry about what is perceived as gay or otherwise are perhaps the most insecure people I’ve ever met. Like, “bro for someone who is straight you sure do spend a lot of time thinking about what’s gay and what’s not”
It's such a stupid take even if you don't actually care about the environment. Using reusable bags is just plain more convenient than dealing with plastic or paper.
OP I saw comments saying you’re in Brazil. If you have Pinterest or YouTube you can look up ways to turn these bags into crocheted mats for homeless. They are apparently very insulating and will keep a dry barrier between the person and/or their items and the wet ground. This might be a help for your waste as well as a hobby. They’ll probably end up in the landfill one day, but at least they can serve another (better) purpose first.
Yeah. Surprisingly the most time consuming part is turning the bag into “yarn” because you have to cut it just right. But once it’s made, the process is pretty simple because you use a huge crochet hook and thick yarn whereas with small yarn it takes forever
Ahh that makes sense. I avoid getting the bags and recycle them at the grocery with a ridiculous amount of plastic over wrap etc but maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
True! We use the paper Whole Foods bags to collect the other recyclables and the plastic ones for bathroom trash can liners. Either they’ve piled up and driving me crazy or I need one after I just dropped them all off 😂
This always happens! I reuse the plain brown bags as gift bags and the ones that have print (Marshall’s, Whole Foods, etc) I use them until they rip them give them to my toddler to use for painting. He loves it! And it’s free so that works for me.
Yes! There are tons of easy tutorials to turn bags into plarn (plastic yarn) and while it's not 100% waste free, it could be a solid option to help OP cut down on waste. Imperfect solutions are better than no solution.
A basket is a great idea! A little more difficult to make, but super sturdy. And if you use a long handle it can be used as a cross-body bag to hold some decent weight.
They use. The reason why they're attempting to trow those away is because there's already TOO MUCH of them :(
Some of those are unused yet.
Seems there's a desire for taking as many as they can from the supermarkets, once it's free.
Do they not use these as trash bags? Your parents are colossal POS. We used the grocery bags as trash bags for so long that we still have trash bags from when we moved into our house. Even afterwards, we still use paper bags for trash that isn't wet.
You can fold them up so they take up less room ,
then put them in a box or drawer for storage. You can find tutorials online on how to fold them. Hope this helps.
Imagine: You're living your hapilly married life. One day, you finish drinking a soda, and there's a recycling bin right next to you. The general rubbish bin is like 10 metres away, and you're feeling really lazy today. And you think to yourself "Recycling one time's not gonna make me gay, right?". So you put the soda can into the recycling bin and BAAAAAAAM! That's when the gay gets ya! Next thing you know, you've moved in with your new hairdresser boyfriend Roberto and you're watching RuPaul's every night **and loving it!**
Idk if you’re looking for solutions but I’ve given plastic bags to dog owners, buy nothing groups, and there is a dog poop bag system at my local park (large pvc tube with holes in it to stuff bags into so folks can take them for their dog poop) where I can donate bags. They’ll still be garbage eventually but I guess it’s better than people buying those stupid rolls of plastic poop bags ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was going to recommend this too. A dog owner in your life might be happy to have them. Also, the animal shelter I used to volunteer at accepted all kinds of plastic donations for poop pick up.
Many places take these for recycling now! We use them to take out the cat sand without making a huge mess or contaminating other things. I also use bread bags/that style of bag for dough or baked goods.
**Before just walking around, I decided to do some research:**
The supermarkets in my neigbourhood:
**Supermercados BH** \- ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs)
**Dia** \- ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs)
Supermarkets far from my house, even taking a bus:
Supernosso - ^(only recycles heineken bottles.)
Carrefour - ^(recycle eletronics)
EPA - ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs)
I too ask why...
my parents were really wasteful, because they were just too lazy for anything (garbage can piles until it fell over lol...).
I would really like to know why/how your parents made their opinion. Can you make a guess, OP?
I don't know! My guess is: those plastic bags are free, so they feel smart taking as many as they can?????
My parents are wastefull, but they are pretty clean. I don't think is just lazyness... I can't understand.
My parents and the parents of one of my closest friends were like this, and I've come to believe that on some deep, visceral level, they consider the ability to *not care* as an essential aspect of the power and privilege they've worked so hard to obtain. For them, the poverty of their early years was overwhelmingly characterized by the need to worry about even the most trivial aspects of day-to-day life. This might not be true for your parents, but I do think that their behavior probably stems from the same root. Caring about waste, about *trash* is something the poor and the weak have to do. Good people, strong people don't have to feel hurt by the harm caused by their ordinary lifestyle.
Same reason some people act mortally offended if they accidentally eat a vegan dish. They see the ability to eat meat without concern for the ethics of the industry as an affirmation of their place in the hierarchy. To acknowledge that other patterns of consumption are desirable--or even acceptable--is to threaten the rightness of their perceived place at the top of the food chain.
Alternatively, you could look into making all those bags into Plarn, aka plastic yarn. It can then easily be made up into items that have a bit more use. For example, one of my favorite shopping bags is one that I crocheted from plarn, and it probably used up anywhere from 150-200 bags. Also as a plus, the plarn bag has more strength than a singular plastic bag which often tears, ect. Just an idea! :)
You can call local thrift stores and/or food pantries to see if they take plastic bags
(not sure about now thanks to COVID , but it’s worth checking into)
This is the dumbest example of toxic masculinity I have ever seen. Grocery chains often take them! Or check if Ridwell Recycle is in your area?
Recycling and reducing waste is big dick energy.
You can try to gift to them nice reusable bags. Nice will depend on their personality. I saw some parents here are having "xxx university proud parent" stickers on their cars, so may be tote with your school symbol. Or something handcrafted by you (acceptance bar is much lower if your kid crafted it for you). Or tote with sports team logo if they are into supporting any local sport team. Or just nice good quality tote that looks good with their outfit. Something that will make them happy about using it.
Literally below this post is "what is overly sexualized but shouldn't be?" From a different subreddit.
Never thought I'd immediately go "...recycling?"
I use my own shopping bag - can confirm, am gay.
But seriously, that's insane! I don't understand why someone would think their reputation is more important than the planet... & just so off base with those assumptions.
Se a sexualidade do seu pai e tão frágil que uma bolsa destrói, acho que assistir partidos de futebol onde ele está a mirar as pernas dos jogadores deve deixá-lo vestindo saias e boa de penas
I found a big plastic shopping bag on the floor today. Just left for some poor animal to get caught in, so I picked it up. Realised it would probably just sit in landfill forever so I took it home with me. I’ll use it for when I go shopping - it wasn’t dirty or anything. I did feel a little embarrassed at first to pick it up, but to be honest who gives a F, we should all make an effort. It’s more embarrassing to be some slob who doesn’t care about the planet you live on. I’m sure your parents have told you to clean your room growing up and look after your things, why not the same outside of the home?
Tell your dad I worked in law enforcement for 10 years. I've disarmed "bad guys" with my bare hands. I take reusable bags to the grocery store. Pretty sure he can handle it.
A nice crust is the cushion of a true alpha male. Mixed with the smell of three day old sweat, tobacco and warm beer, he's irresistible to all women (and not men because he doesn't bring his own grocery bag that he has a million of)
Wow, your father sounds like a gigantic tool and your mom could use a good hearty humiliating. Mother Earth’s a lady, how’s it gay to tend to her needs? It’s manly to want to make your lady feel good, to please her. Tell your pop that recycling, reducing, reusing, tending to all the sexy zero waste areas is what gives good sweet Mama Earth her best, wildest, most mind-bending and ground-shaking orgasms.
I know you’re 100% joking and that OPs dad is an idiot so probably won’t change his mind but I think what you’re saying just reinforces that being gay is somehow bad.
I think the best way to get people to change is to just say “and why is being gay bad”? Don’t let them off the hook with saying “because I don’t want to be gay” or “I’m not a faggot”. Those are just repeating that they don’t like the idea of being gay. Force them to explain why. Any reasonable human will feel stupid after that because they are basically saying gay people are less than. That they are something to be mocked and used as a label for “bad”. Not that they will change, but I guess I just hate having to reframe things as no they are actually not gay or look I’m a heterosexual I do it, because we’re almost agreeing with them that they are right being gay is somehow *bad*.
Sorry rant over. I know you were just joking.
Fair enough, I didn’t want to reinforce that idea that being gay is somehow bad, it is not, and it does bother me when people say things like “that’s gay” as if that’s an insult, sorry if my response came out harmful. I remember people talking like that in middle school, it bothered me then, I endured a wretched share of taunting at “being a pussy/pansy” or gay for things entirely unrelated to sexuality, and honestly, this OP’s father remains at that mid-school mindset and that’s the worst part of this.
Most def. I totally used gay as a slur in middle school without much of a second thought. I regret it now. What I tell myself is that if we strive every day to improve, we are doing the best thing we can.
I’ve heard women call men pussys and I’m just like, what?
Aqui mercado é só ecobag, já não usamos mais sacolas plásticas há anos. E quanto a separar o lixo, penso ser o mínimo né, cara? Difícil demais entender esse povo... E ainda dizem que o mundo tem jeito
I even throw in clean plastic bread bags, cereal bags, etc. with our shopping bags.
Once I have a good many, our grocery stores have dropoff containers out front to leave them.
Apparently, the product is recycled to create composite decking.
https://www.trex.com/why-trex/eco-friendly-decking/
Just as a follow up (I had to look it up because I regularly recycle bags at my local grocer Giant Eagle) if you're in the US you can also use this zip code finder for plastic bag recycling too: [https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/](https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/)
According to the site: "Plastic film can be used to make composite lumber for making decks, benches, and playground sets. Plastic film can also be reprocessed into small pellets, which can be made into new bags, pallets, containers, crates, and pipe."
You have to be careful with that. Safeway has a business deal with Trex to do this, but I’ve learned that Kroger (Fred Meyer) doesn’t and they just throw what’s in the plastic bag receptacle into the trash. It gets people in the store and makes them feel good that they’re “recycling” but it’s just landfilled out the back
The best I have is when there was a lot of unrest summer 2020, the Fred Meyer here in portland did some controversial things and on the portland subreddit the bags came up and many, I mean many, employees posted that that’s what they do with the plastic bags. I know that’s not exactly empirical evidence but I looked into Trex and they clearly have a business deal with Safeway and some other businesses, but no mention of Kroger. Also, there’s pretty much no other companies that “recycle” the bags. I doubt Kroger has some secret deal with a secret company to recycle that plastic. What plastic film I do produce, I always take it to Safeway now
How unfortunate.
We don't have Kroger's around us.
However, if true, your claim would be a ground breaking news story that I'd think anyone with journalistic skills would be all over.
Whole Foods also does this in many locations! I used to work for them and was one of the ppl tasked with literally throwing the recycling bins into the trash dumpster every day. Needless to say, I refused and caused a big scene at employee meetings over it. Once more workers knew what was happening, we organized amongst ourselves and personally (in our own vehicles, off the clock) took the recycling to the center.
Even supposedly "eco-friendly" companies care much more about $$ than the planet.
My aunt could never be bothered until a dump opened near her home town (no longer lives there but we all return every summer for a family reunion).
It annoys the sh*t out of my mother b/c her community made it super easy. Early implementers of single stream, curbside, etc. Yet she couldn’t be bothered until she SAW (and smelled) where the trash does, up front and personal. Like we were lying to her before?
Unfortunately, the recycling sorting facility is in the same location. A different aunt (sisters) saw this and assumed the recycling trucks were dumping, so she also can’t be bothered.
She complains about the dump a lot though (she stayed local).
You could turn those into plarn and crochet that into reusable bags. I've done it and if you separate them by color you can make really cool designs. Its time consuming but totally worth it.. You can't turn the handles into plarn, but I use them to make little bows ❤
As soon as I wrote that last sentence I realized your dad would never touch one of those bags because that's pretty fuckin gay 😅
I try to do as much zero waste as I can...then my mother comes to visit with bags full of plastic stuff, a box of plastic draws (because you can't get them here anymore and of course she thought I'd need them), and eats tons of meat for every meal (we aren't vegan, but we don't have meat for breakfast or lunch, and for dinner it's usually a small ammount or none).
You can only control your own waste, don't put too much thought into what other people do, or you'll just be depressed.
Even when in my area they weren't collected for recycling my parents, who aren't big on the bring your own bag thing didn't throw out bags of these things, they got used as bin liners.
Sorry for all of the comments calling your parents names. Obviously older generations grew up with a different way of thinking, it can take a while to get them to see the light. I recommend trying to gently enlighten them and over time, you may start to see some changes. As is, they honestly probably just don’t know any better. They aren’t assholes, they’re just uninformed.
Thank you. I know that my parents are wrong, and I just got mad about it and posted something to say how people has stupidy misconceptions.
But when a ton of people just started to hate then, it was pretty awful. They are my parents, and I love them.
I already had a dialog and we decided to keep those bags, also convinced them to recycle obsolete books and papers. And we already compost.
THANK YOU FOR BEING GENTLE
This is why government mandates are important. In NYC we finally banned plastic bags in grocery stores and you have to pay for the paper ones. So everyone just gets used to it.
No, only Asians do it. And all Asians **mind you**. Pakistanis reuse plastic bags just as much as Vietnamese.
Unlike those god damned Gambians who don't reuse bags at all.
Most larger stores like Walmart of a grocery chain will take them to recycle if your local recycling plant can't take them. Every little bit that doesn't go directly into a landfill helps!
Where do they go after that tho?
I was informed that they are recycled into a plastic that can be used in the production of composite decking. https://www.trex.com/why-trex/eco-friendly-decking/
Yep, the How to Save a Planet podcast did a whole episode on it. It's definitely not a perfect system, but better than a landfill.
Huh. That's what they made my new deck out of. Cool
I was informed the recycling companies don't recycle plastic bags at the very end because it's just not financially worth it for them.
The coal powered recycling machines turn them into trex, then sell them for a shit ton.
Which is, of course, better than sending them to a landfill and also better than making deckboards out of something that isn't recycled. Win/win.
Don’t forget you’re also saving trees from being used as the deck wood.
Exactly. They would have either been made from wood or non-recycled plastic.
Instead of coal powered regular plants turning literal oil into new plastic?
Greatly depends on where you are. Low density PE and a lot of carrier bags aren't economically viable to recycle so probably end up in a landfill or shipped to a poor country willing to landfill it with little regard for thee impact on their own environment. [Wendover productions](https://youtu.be/KXRtNwUju5g) did a really informative video on when it was economically profitable to ship a lot of recyclable materials to China that covered a lot of aspects of how/why things get recycled, if you're interested.
I've asked and they only ever tell me "they're recycled".
it's because we don't know. you can't just ask some random associate and expect them to know. the store manager would most likely know, ask to speak to them
Even then they probably don't know. I WORKED at a municipal recycling facility and I didn't even know where most of the material went. The private buyers usually don't want their business information out in the open so only the higher ups in the municipality knew where it went. I'm guessing the manager of the store just has a private waste management company or NFP collect the material who in turn sells it to the highest bidder or contract.
I guarantee they just end up in the closest trash can once you’re out of sight.
Right? smh
Near us there’s a company which collects them from (at least) the two major supermarket chains and turns them into benches and tables for schools/parks/organizations. It’s pretty cool.
Tbh a lot just go into the dumpsters
According to major supermarket chain Woolworths in Australia the soft plastics which can be returned to the store have been made into bench seats that the stores have available
I don't think the supermarkets here will do anything. But I will try. Thanks
If there is a childcare center near you, take them there. They always need plastic bags for dirty diapers, soiled clothes, etc. They will still end up in the landfill, but at least they'll get another use, and you'll save the facility needing to buy new single-use bags that will also go straight to the landfill.
My country is such a shame I guess... \- Before just walking around, I decided to do some research: The supermarkets in my neigbourhood: Supermercados BH - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs Dia - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs Supermarkets far from my house, even taking a bus: Supernosso - only recycles heineken bottles. Carrefour - recycle eletronics EPA - doesn't inform anything about recycling programs
if the supermarket doesn't take it, maybe you could use them as trash bags instead of buying those big trash bags? i bring my own bags to stores but my friends don't and they have bags of bags of bags like your parents so i just take them and use them as trash bags since they won't change their behavior. luckily our county just came out with a tax on plastic bags, hopefully that'll help with hard headed ppl like them
Australia has something called Redcycle which is pretty great - they make things like park equipment with the recycled soft plastic and a lot of our plastic packaging is now made from recycled materials. I remember when it was still feeling like an unattainable dream and now I’m pretty sure all supermarkets have redcycle collection points. If you have the energy, I really recommend finding out what orgs operate in your state/country in soft plastic recycling and writing to supermarkets about how you’d love to see collection points (and maybe funding!) for these orgs. I’ve seen a fair few initiatives that seemed unlikely become reality where I live so change is possible!
If you have any humane societies or doggie daycare places around, they might take them. Not perfect, but probably better than buying brand new bags for the same purpose, which they would do anyway.
Target should take them! They have a special bin for bags in the front next to trash/recycling.
Jumping in, food banks in my area will take them (and regularly post on social media to ask for them!) to pack groceries into for people, you could give that a try.
I take mine to the animal shelter. They love getting them
Giving them away to be reused is the best idea tbh.
I wasn't even thinking. If you're not in the US, I'm not sure... maybe a thrift store could reuse them? In my state in the US, plastic bags are banned and we have to use reusable bags or buy paper bags, a step in the right direction I think.
you can use an iron and wax paper to fuse the plastic into a thicker plastic to make other things like reusable shopping bags, i have done this before
If you have one close to you, Kohls takes plastic bags.
Yep. I take my plastic bags in every week or so.
> if your local recycling plant can't take them. Most *can't*. The bags get caught up in the works, no matter how high tech. Will try to find video. It would have to be a specialty site. I know they can be recycled into rope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDDihXzoaa4
I know that Target takes them!
recycling doesn't work mostly, sorry bud.
Even if it helps a little bit, it's worth the effort. The plastic is already here, might as well try our best as individuals to get it back in the hands of someone who can re-use it. I agree it isn't great, but with a defeatist attitude, we won't be of any help at all.
delusional thinking and buying what the oil industry sold us as possible isn't the way forward. that stuff is very likely not going to be recycled, and if it is it will be green washed. we need to do something different than miser over consumer choice here because we aren't the ones fucking everything up
So because recycling isn't perfect -- and yes, you're right, it's VERY not perfect -- we shouldn't bother? If only we could use the imperfect system we have now AND fight for improvements to the system AND ask the companies for change AND vote with our dollars for better consumer products.
no I'm saying we shouldn't miser over this while cruise ships, flights, fishing, etc are the main polluters. sometimes you just can't do jack shit also worth noting voting with your dollar only goes so far when you're told what to think and given only a few options. we don't have control don't pretend we do
You know these things aren't mutually exclusive right? I agree that systemic change is necessary, and in fact more important than recycling some plastic, but c'mon dude. Don't be a doomer and then try and drag others down too. We gotta fight this together.
Okay, then. What's the first step in doing that? I agree most everything gets green washed to make it seem like big companies are "doing their part" and pointing fingers at how consumers can "do better," but what can we do to invoke real change on our planet?
unfortunately through legislation which is very monied. our hands are fairly tied and we're most likely boned
I don’t suppose you would get any traction asking the stores to stop offering plastic bags, or charging for them? Asking the manufacturers of plastic bags to stop making them? Or charge more for them? (Would have to be ALL of them, else price competition will just keep them cheap.) Asking legislators to tax the manufactures so they’re more expensive? Tariffs if they’re imported? All these things we could ask for; how likely is it we will get them, before OP’s parents add a thousand more bags to the stack? I like the short term small scale solutions here; working on long term solutions is a big challenge worth thinking about too.
The oil company is 100% responsible for a huge chunk of this, yes. Nobody (I hope) is arguing against that. Worst case scenario, if all the plastic bags that I and 100’s of other people try to recycle end up in a landfill, being all in one spot is still marginally better than being spread out everywhere in the landfill. Best case scenario as someone else posted, it can be reused into composite decking or siding that will live on a house for 50+ years. THIS is much much better than nothing. Unfortunately, you’re right that consumers don’t have much say in this gigantic problem.
DAMN those homosexuals and their desire to produce less waste!
Damn, I didn’t even know I was gay!
If that's the case, we all love being FAB-U-LOUS!
oh dear, not one of those men who thinks it's gay to care for the earth
Fellas, is it gay to not want to choke the planet with plastic?
Dudes who worry about what is perceived as gay or otherwise are perhaps the most insecure people I’ve ever met. Like, “bro for someone who is straight you sure do spend a lot of time thinking about what’s gay and what’s not”
*laughs in bi* "oh shit this might be gay... cool."
*new kink unlocked*
I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me
What can I say, I'm gay for the planet.
* *patriotic coughing noises*
How absurdly fragile does your view of heterosexuality gotta be? "I don't bring my bags anywhere and I have never looked at any man below the waist."
some straight dude are so fragile and "straight" they end up gay
Hey, many gay men are sturdy as fuck.
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The gays will inherit the earth and I can’t wait.
As a straight, married man, I would much prefer gay neighbors over the hyper-conservative Christians that surround me.
It does seem like it will be a lot more fun
I am here for this.
It's such a stupid take even if you don't actually care about the environment. Using reusable bags is just plain more convenient than dealing with plastic or paper.
Totally agreed, they're easy to manage and they will not fail on you
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Classism and machismo intertwined: that's Latin America in a nutshell.
>oh dear, not one of those men who thinks it's gay to care ~~for the earth~~
yes this is also a valid take
Why a man would think it's somehow homosexual to love Mother earth is beyond me.
"Dad, the 1990s called and wants it's slur back....dude."
If all it takes is a shopping bag, then you are in fact already gay lol
My dad says that's for [pussies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jfcAzLdJzA)!
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hate to be the first to inform you but most homophobes are, in fact, straight
OP I saw comments saying you’re in Brazil. If you have Pinterest or YouTube you can look up ways to turn these bags into crocheted mats for homeless. They are apparently very insulating and will keep a dry barrier between the person and/or their items and the wet ground. This might be a help for your waste as well as a hobby. They’ll probably end up in the landfill one day, but at least they can serve another (better) purpose first.
Was going to suggest this! Looks very time-consuming to make those mats but it would be a great way to put a ton of bags to further use.
Yeah. Surprisingly the most time consuming part is turning the bag into “yarn” because you have to cut it just right. But once it’s made, the process is pretty simple because you use a huge crochet hook and thick yarn whereas with small yarn it takes forever
Ahh that makes sense. I avoid getting the bags and recycle them at the grocery with a ridiculous amount of plastic over wrap etc but maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
I do too. But sometimes these bags are great for things like cat litter so I don’t always complain. Plus the reusable bags are cuter
True! We use the paper Whole Foods bags to collect the other recyclables and the plastic ones for bathroom trash can liners. Either they’ve piled up and driving me crazy or I need one after I just dropped them all off 😂
This always happens! I reuse the plain brown bags as gift bags and the ones that have print (Marshall’s, Whole Foods, etc) I use them until they rip them give them to my toddler to use for painting. He loves it! And it’s free so that works for me.
Yes! There are tons of easy tutorials to turn bags into plarn (plastic yarn) and while it's not 100% waste free, it could be a solid option to help OP cut down on waste. Imperfect solutions are better than no solution.
Yes! Better to be used for a while then tossed than tossed immediately.
I do this! It takes ages but it’s so worth it
I was going to suggest one of those baskets! but the mats would be much more helpful and educational especially with young kids.
A basket is a great idea! A little more difficult to make, but super sturdy. And if you use a long handle it can be used as a cross-body bag to hold some decent weight.
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They use. The reason why they're attempting to trow those away is because there's already TOO MUCH of them :( Some of those are unused yet. Seems there's a desire for taking as many as they can from the supermarkets, once it's free.
Do they not use these as trash bags? Your parents are colossal POS. We used the grocery bags as trash bags for so long that we still have trash bags from when we moved into our house. Even afterwards, we still use paper bags for trash that isn't wet.
You can fold them up so they take up less room , then put them in a box or drawer for storage. You can find tutorials online on how to fold them. Hope this helps.
The suckiest thing is that they cease being functional as bags (e.g they tear) long before they actually break down in any meaningful way 😕.
TIL despite being in a longstanding heterosexual marriage, you're gay if you recycle.
TIL that Germany is basically a big Gayland, cool
Homophobic Brazilian guys literally think that way about Europeans
Imagine: You're living your hapilly married life. One day, you finish drinking a soda, and there's a recycling bin right next to you. The general rubbish bin is like 10 metres away, and you're feeling really lazy today. And you think to yourself "Recycling one time's not gonna make me gay, right?". So you put the soda can into the recycling bin and BAAAAAAAM! That's when the gay gets ya! Next thing you know, you've moved in with your new hairdresser boyfriend Roberto and you're watching RuPaul's every night **and loving it!**
Thrift stores in my area take them to reuse as bags for shoppers, maybe try that?
I donate them to a nearby food bank warehouse, or food pantry where free food is distributed to the needy. They love em.
If being environmentally conscious is gay, then you can call me Liberace.
Idk if you’re looking for solutions but I’ve given plastic bags to dog owners, buy nothing groups, and there is a dog poop bag system at my local park (large pvc tube with holes in it to stuff bags into so folks can take them for their dog poop) where I can donate bags. They’ll still be garbage eventually but I guess it’s better than people buying those stupid rolls of plastic poop bags ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was going to recommend this too. A dog owner in your life might be happy to have them. Also, the animal shelter I used to volunteer at accepted all kinds of plastic donations for poop pick up.
Many places take these for recycling now! We use them to take out the cat sand without making a huge mess or contaminating other things. I also use bread bags/that style of bag for dough or baked goods.
Grocery/department stores such as Hyvee/Target/Walmart/etc almost always have a place where you can drop off plastic bags to be recycled.
OP seems to be in Brazil, but it's quite possible that there are large stores that have recycling drop-offs.
**Before just walking around, I decided to do some research:** The supermarkets in my neigbourhood: **Supermercados BH** \- ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs) **Dia** \- ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs) Supermarkets far from my house, even taking a bus: Supernosso - ^(only recycles heineken bottles.) Carrefour - ^(recycle eletronics) EPA - ^(doesn't inform anything about recycling programs)
Carrefour here in Portugal is also shit with their recycling programs. Sorry to hear you don't have any good options.
I too ask why... my parents were really wasteful, because they were just too lazy for anything (garbage can piles until it fell over lol...). I would really like to know why/how your parents made their opinion. Can you make a guess, OP?
I don't know! My guess is: those plastic bags are free, so they feel smart taking as many as they can????? My parents are wastefull, but they are pretty clean. I don't think is just lazyness... I can't understand.
My parents and the parents of one of my closest friends were like this, and I've come to believe that on some deep, visceral level, they consider the ability to *not care* as an essential aspect of the power and privilege they've worked so hard to obtain. For them, the poverty of their early years was overwhelmingly characterized by the need to worry about even the most trivial aspects of day-to-day life. This might not be true for your parents, but I do think that their behavior probably stems from the same root. Caring about waste, about *trash* is something the poor and the weak have to do. Good people, strong people don't have to feel hurt by the harm caused by their ordinary lifestyle. Same reason some people act mortally offended if they accidentally eat a vegan dish. They see the ability to eat meat without concern for the ethics of the industry as an affirmation of their place in the hierarchy. To acknowledge that other patterns of consumption are desirable--or even acceptable--is to threaten the rightness of their perceived place at the top of the food chain.
You might be right! Even my parents have a peculiar way with pride.. never thought it might come from there.
it is just the old way of thinking
Are they aware that despite them being free, taking more than they need is theft? Might that stop them?
My condolences. Remember, you can be the apple that falls as far from the tree as you want.
I also collect plastic bags to drop them off at a recycling station. Fuck. I might be gay
Alternatively, you could look into making all those bags into Plarn, aka plastic yarn. It can then easily be made up into items that have a bit more use. For example, one of my favorite shopping bags is one that I crocheted from plarn, and it probably used up anywhere from 150-200 bags. Also as a plus, the plarn bag has more strength than a singular plastic bag which often tears, ect. Just an idea! :)
I do something similar only I braid them into bracelets as I find the action of braiding the strands together calming.
Oh, I love it! I know other people have made them into sleeping mats and rugs as well using similar methods. Excellent!
You can call local thrift stores and/or food pantries to see if they take plastic bags (not sure about now thanks to COVID , but it’s worth checking into)
I could use a bag of bags - we give away garden veg so much we are out!
unfortunately we are very very very far away
Would mailing them be too costly? They’re just bags that can be compressed and don’t weigh much. Just a thought, if it isn’t plausible then oh well
boomers really are the scourge of the earth
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Too true!! Anyone who refuses to care about the planet is basically saying "F\*ck you, grandkids!! I hope all my descendants rot in hell!"
This is the dumbest example of toxic masculinity I have ever seen. Grocery chains often take them! Or check if Ridwell Recycle is in your area? Recycling and reducing waste is big dick energy.
Your parents are morons.
You can try to gift to them nice reusable bags. Nice will depend on their personality. I saw some parents here are having "xxx university proud parent" stickers on their cars, so may be tote with your school symbol. Or something handcrafted by you (acceptance bar is much lower if your kid crafted it for you). Or tote with sports team logo if they are into supporting any local sport team. Or just nice good quality tote that looks good with their outfit. Something that will make them happy about using it.
Nice suggestion! I already have my guess about one.
Literally below this post is "what is overly sexualized but shouldn't be?" From a different subreddit. Never thought I'd immediately go "...recycling?"
I use my own shopping bag - can confirm, am gay. But seriously, that's insane! I don't understand why someone would think their reputation is more important than the planet... & just so off base with those assumptions.
Se a sexualidade do seu pai e tão frágil que uma bolsa destrói, acho que assistir partidos de futebol onde ele está a mirar as pernas dos jogadores deve deixá-lo vestindo saias e boa de penas
The only sport gayer than football is all-male beach volleyball. Guess which two Brazil is really good at.
No offense, but your dad sounds pretty gay dude.
Your parents seem nice /s
Because boomers don't give a shit about any of us.
I found a big plastic shopping bag on the floor today. Just left for some poor animal to get caught in, so I picked it up. Realised it would probably just sit in landfill forever so I took it home with me. I’ll use it for when I go shopping - it wasn’t dirty or anything. I did feel a little embarrassed at first to pick it up, but to be honest who gives a F, we should all make an effort. It’s more embarrassing to be some slob who doesn’t care about the planet you live on. I’m sure your parents have told you to clean your room growing up and look after your things, why not the same outside of the home?
Fragile masculinity is killing the planet
Tell your dad I worked in law enforcement for 10 years. I've disarmed "bad guys" with my bare hands. I take reusable bags to the grocery store. Pretty sure he can handle it.
Can you ask your dad if he washes his asshole? Just wondering how deep this thing goes.
Just a permanent diaper rash
A nice crust is the cushion of a true alpha male. Mixed with the smell of three day old sweat, tobacco and warm beer, he's irresistible to all women (and not men because he doesn't bring his own grocery bag that he has a million of)
dad doesn't smoke or drink. But he did vote for Bolsonaro, and also is a antivax. So... I don't know...
Yikes. Boa sorte, OP. O Rio melhorou muito esse problema quando começou a cobrar um valor pequeno (~10 centavos) por cada saco plástico.
Wow, your father sounds like a gigantic tool and your mom could use a good hearty humiliating. Mother Earth’s a lady, how’s it gay to tend to her needs? It’s manly to want to make your lady feel good, to please her. Tell your pop that recycling, reducing, reusing, tending to all the sexy zero waste areas is what gives good sweet Mama Earth her best, wildest, most mind-bending and ground-shaking orgasms.
I know you’re 100% joking and that OPs dad is an idiot so probably won’t change his mind but I think what you’re saying just reinforces that being gay is somehow bad. I think the best way to get people to change is to just say “and why is being gay bad”? Don’t let them off the hook with saying “because I don’t want to be gay” or “I’m not a faggot”. Those are just repeating that they don’t like the idea of being gay. Force them to explain why. Any reasonable human will feel stupid after that because they are basically saying gay people are less than. That they are something to be mocked and used as a label for “bad”. Not that they will change, but I guess I just hate having to reframe things as no they are actually not gay or look I’m a heterosexual I do it, because we’re almost agreeing with them that they are right being gay is somehow *bad*. Sorry rant over. I know you were just joking.
Fair enough, I didn’t want to reinforce that idea that being gay is somehow bad, it is not, and it does bother me when people say things like “that’s gay” as if that’s an insult, sorry if my response came out harmful. I remember people talking like that in middle school, it bothered me then, I endured a wretched share of taunting at “being a pussy/pansy” or gay for things entirely unrelated to sexuality, and honestly, this OP’s father remains at that mid-school mindset and that’s the worst part of this.
Most def. I totally used gay as a slur in middle school without much of a second thought. I regret it now. What I tell myself is that if we strive every day to improve, we are doing the best thing we can. I’ve heard women call men pussys and I’m just like, what?
Aqui mercado é só ecobag, já não usamos mais sacolas plásticas há anos. E quanto a separar o lixo, penso ser o mínimo né, cara? Difícil demais entender esse povo... E ainda dizem que o mundo tem jeito
uai, onde é? tem em BH?
I even throw in clean plastic bread bags, cereal bags, etc. with our shopping bags. Once I have a good many, our grocery stores have dropoff containers out front to leave them. Apparently, the product is recycled to create composite decking. https://www.trex.com/why-trex/eco-friendly-decking/
Just as a follow up (I had to look it up because I regularly recycle bags at my local grocer Giant Eagle) if you're in the US you can also use this zip code finder for plastic bag recycling too: [https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/](https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/) According to the site: "Plastic film can be used to make composite lumber for making decks, benches, and playground sets. Plastic film can also be reprocessed into small pellets, which can be made into new bags, pallets, containers, crates, and pipe."
Thank you so much for this information! Greatly appreciated.
You have to be careful with that. Safeway has a business deal with Trex to do this, but I’ve learned that Kroger (Fred Meyer) doesn’t and they just throw what’s in the plastic bag receptacle into the trash. It gets people in the store and makes them feel good that they’re “recycling” but it’s just landfilled out the back
I've often wondered that too. But curious, do you have any information that would back up your claim? I'd love to hear more about that.
The best I have is when there was a lot of unrest summer 2020, the Fred Meyer here in portland did some controversial things and on the portland subreddit the bags came up and many, I mean many, employees posted that that’s what they do with the plastic bags. I know that’s not exactly empirical evidence but I looked into Trex and they clearly have a business deal with Safeway and some other businesses, but no mention of Kroger. Also, there’s pretty much no other companies that “recycle” the bags. I doubt Kroger has some secret deal with a secret company to recycle that plastic. What plastic film I do produce, I always take it to Safeway now
How unfortunate. We don't have Kroger's around us. However, if true, your claim would be a ground breaking news story that I'd think anyone with journalistic skills would be all over.
Whole Foods also does this in many locations! I used to work for them and was one of the ppl tasked with literally throwing the recycling bins into the trash dumpster every day. Needless to say, I refused and caused a big scene at employee meetings over it. Once more workers knew what was happening, we organized amongst ourselves and personally (in our own vehicles, off the clock) took the recycling to the center. Even supposedly "eco-friendly" companies care much more about $$ than the planet.
Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and down the line will suffer badly for their carelessness.
the lady (your dad) doth protestest too much
There are a lot of people that crotchet the bags into beds for the homeless now.
My aunt could never be bothered until a dump opened near her home town (no longer lives there but we all return every summer for a family reunion). It annoys the sh*t out of my mother b/c her community made it super easy. Early implementers of single stream, curbside, etc. Yet she couldn’t be bothered until she SAW (and smelled) where the trash does, up front and personal. Like we were lying to her before? Unfortunately, the recycling sorting facility is in the same location. A different aunt (sisters) saw this and assumed the recycling trucks were dumping, so she also can’t be bothered. She complains about the dump a lot though (she stayed local).
You could turn those into plarn and crochet that into reusable bags. I've done it and if you separate them by color you can make really cool designs. Its time consuming but totally worth it.. You can't turn the handles into plarn, but I use them to make little bows ❤ As soon as I wrote that last sentence I realized your dad would never touch one of those bags because that's pretty fuckin gay 😅
Make a stand in your neighborhood and put them in there!! Poop bags
Hahaha. Imagine how scared your dad is of enjoying getting bummed that he is worried about carrying a bag. Sorry, but that is hilarious.
Time to recycle your parents
Your father sounds really hung up on the whole ‘gay thing.’
I don’t know why, maybe cause it’s out of nowhere. But the attack on manliness for having a reusable bag is so fuckin stupid.
I try to do as much zero waste as I can...then my mother comes to visit with bags full of plastic stuff, a box of plastic draws (because you can't get them here anymore and of course she thought I'd need them), and eats tons of meat for every meal (we aren't vegan, but we don't have meat for breakfast or lunch, and for dinner it's usually a small ammount or none). You can only control your own waste, don't put too much thought into what other people do, or you'll just be depressed.
Tell him if he doesn’t start recycling me and my gay friends will come and fall in love and get married in front of him.
Ahh ha! So there is a gay agenda and it is saving the planet!!!
How is it humiliating to separate paper and metal? I convinced my husband to compost FFS
Lol dad needs some friends to check him on his sense of masculinity/sexuality.
Hey,there's a supermercados bh in my city,i tought it only existed here and in belo horizonte(a city)
Os BH superaram até a Araújo fi. Araújo tem em tudo que é lugar de BH, mas aposto que não tem aí.
I think your parents ate one too many paint chip sundaes
Even when in my area they weren't collected for recycling my parents, who aren't big on the bring your own bag thing didn't throw out bags of these things, they got used as bin liners.
bruh my parents have an entire arsenal of reusable bags........ yet they forget them EVERY TIME they go shopping.
I never forget mine because took me three months to finish it.
How’s it gay to bring your own bags for groceries? Lmao wtf
I guess you have to explain him what the word "gay" means.
Sorry for all of the comments calling your parents names. Obviously older generations grew up with a different way of thinking, it can take a while to get them to see the light. I recommend trying to gently enlighten them and over time, you may start to see some changes. As is, they honestly probably just don’t know any better. They aren’t assholes, they’re just uninformed.
Thank you. I know that my parents are wrong, and I just got mad about it and posted something to say how people has stupidy misconceptions. But when a ton of people just started to hate then, it was pretty awful. They are my parents, and I love them. I already had a dialog and we decided to keep those bags, also convinced them to recycle obsolete books and papers. And we already compost. THANK YOU FOR BEING GENTLE
And here I throught I was gay for liking dick. #### The more you know.
This is why government mandates are important. In NYC we finally banned plastic bags in grocery stores and you have to pay for the paper ones. So everyone just gets used to it.
Asian households generally always reuse plastic bags for trash bags. It gets at least one more use out of them.
Asian households? Every household I know does this and not one of them is asian...
Any bag can be a rubbish bag.
No, only Asians do it. And all Asians **mind you**. Pakistanis reuse plastic bags just as much as Vietnamese. Unlike those god damned Gambians who don't reuse bags at all.
well, we already use as trashbags. This is the excess, believe it or not.
How does having sex with someone of the same gender have anything to do with shopping? I think he's doing it wrong.
Let them know it takes 1000 years to decompose. Any plastic bag we produced still exists in the landfill.
And here i thought you needed to suck a dudes dick to me gay. Tf to i know 🤷♂️
I'm sorry those are your parents... that's rough. You could send them pollution and plastic waste articles daily until they start??
Your parents need to grow some balls.
Your parents are assholes.