How to Dispose of Your Epic Pile of Plastic Bags
Grocery Store Plastic Bags
Everyone, it seems, is against plastic bags. They pile up pretty quickly. They’re flimsy and sometimes barely make it from the grocery store to your car, so you double-bag it and end up with even more bags.
At home, you try to reuse them. Maybe you take them back to the store to use in your next round of groceries. But more than likely, after you’ve done all you can with them, you throw them away. And hope they break down before becoming a whale’s main food source.
Or, you can bring reusable bags to the store.
Reusable Bags Instead of Single-Use Plastic Bags
I tried this for the first time recently. I gathered all the reusable shopping bags I’ve acquired over time from green markets, where they give them to you when you arrive. And also from grocery stores in London where you have to buy them. I’ve also purchased a few from my local Miami grocery stores, where it was optional.
One has a thermal lining, which is great for the frozen foods. The one from Sainsbury’s is made from 33% recycled materials.
I hadn’t noticed how many I had collected over the years, always intending to take them grocery shopping next time.
I strolled into the grocery store, determined not to leave with a single plastic bag. At checkout, I told the cashier, “Please, no plastic bags. I’ve brought my own.” I packed my reusable bags as quickly as possible while the people in line stared, and the cashier rolled her eyes at how long it was taking. However, I didn’t let any of that deter me.
I was happy to discover I hadn’t even used all the bags I’d brought. I bounced back to my car, grinning with glee at my environmental accomplishment. Unpacking the car at home was quicker because I didn’t use as many bags as when the cashier packed them. I was quite proud of myself.
It’s More Than Shopping Bags
At home, looking at the unpacked groceries, I saw plastic bags everywhere. The fruit I put in the lightweight plastic produce bags. The bread bag. The bag the potatoes came in. The toilet paper wrap. These were all versions of plastic bags I had never considered before.
It left me feeling a little defeated and wondering, “How do I recycle all of this?”
There is more to the “plastic bag” than just shopping bags. I know it helps to avoid adding a load of plastic bags to the garbage bin. Nonetheless, I had a realization. We need some plastics, regardless of how we feel about it.
Plastic bags and films are too lightweight and clog the recycling machinery. So, you can’t usually recycle the bags through your curbside pick-up programs.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t recycle them.
Store Drop Off for Recycling Plastic Bags
You can take plastic grocery bags and several other kinds of plastic wrap back to the grocery store and place them in a designated bin for recycling plastic bags and films. Many major grocery chains have plastic bag recycle bins available.
There are several ways to find the closest drop-off location.
The Plastic Film Recycling site has a plastic bag drop-off directory. Type in your zip code to see a list of the grocery stores near you that will accept plastic bags, films, and wraps for recycling. The bags don’t have to be from that store. Any participating store will accept bags and wraps from another store. Just be sure to check what is allowed at each location because it varies.
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Earth911 provides more detail about recycling, including a quick search list for various recyclables.
If you search for “plastic,” you get a list of the kind of plastic in relation to its resin identification code and where you can drop it off based on your zip code.
What is a resin identification code?
A resin identification code is the number in the middle of the recycling arrows on some products. Each number represents a type of plastic determined by its properties. Typically, for plastic bags, resins #2 and #4 are recyclable.
High Density Polyethylene – Used for milk, water, shampoo, laundry detergent and dish wash bottles, cereal box liners, grocery bags, and retail shopping bags.
Low Density Polyethylene – Used for dry cleaning, newspaper, bread, fresh produce, and household garbage bags. Also used for shrink wrap, milk carton and hot/cold beverage cup coatings, squeezable bottles, and toys.
That’s a lot to take in (and lookup) when you just want to know what bin to put something in when you’re done using it. That leads to another helpful website.
How2Recycle is a standardized labeling system that is sorely needed. It skips over the resin numbers and instead clearly explains how to recycle the packaging, removing a lot of the mystery of “How do I recycle this?”.
Environmentally conscious brands that have partnered with How2Recycle have these labels on their products. And there is an impressive list of brands. The site provides plenty of information about recycling that we need to know but don’t usually look up.
If you’re thinking it’s just a few bags, consider that in 2015, the EPA reported about 4.13 million tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were generated. Only .53 million tons of that was recycled. Around 2.89 million tons ended up in landfills. And quite a bit of that ended up in our waterway systems and oceans. That was years ago. Imagine the numbers today.
We tend to feel comfortable separating our garbage into green or blue bins and not looking back. Yet even if we avoid taking another plastic shopping bag from the grocery store, we will still have to dispose of other kinds of bags. We should do that as responsibly as possible.