Plastic Bag Recycling Do’s And Do Not’s

Photo Credit: Flickr/wokka

I think there is a pretty common opinion that I share with most of society - plastic bags suck!  (Of course this is not to suggest that there aren’t still people that love plastic bags, but that is a conversation for a different day!)  I do my best to limit my acceptance of plastic bags into my life and try to find something responsible to do with the ones that I have collected over the years.  And now that I have just about mastered the art of bringing my own bag I have very few new plastic bags coming into my life, but there are still a few that creep into my house.

Most of us know that plastic bags are recyclable and that those bags in the right hands can become things like composite wood product or carpeting or even a sweatshirt.  But we often limit our recycling to those handled bags that the store sends our food home in.  What about all of the other plastic bags that we bring home?  How do those fit into our recycling practice?  I have compiled a few tips following the three R’s model for you to consider as you ponder the plastic bag problem:

This may seem like a given but reduce the amount of plastic bags that you bring home with you.  And I’m not just talking about the grocery bags, how many plastic bags do you buy that contain bread, produce, or paper products?  If you took a look around your house, you might be surprised!  Are there options for you to buy items that aren’t packaged in plastic or can you bring your own reusable bags instead of taking a fresh one?

Next in line is reuse, but I actually shy away from this for the grocery bag.  Of course you can bring your used plastic grocery bags back to the store to use them for the same purpose but your bagger may not appreciate having to negotiate your bundle of tangled plastic.  I used to reuse the bags for collecting my garbage but I stopped when I realized that I was still putting a bag in the landfill that won’t decompose.  Those bags can break free of the dump and end up in the ocean to cause problems for the little fishies.  Use biodegradable bags for your trash or, try no bag at all.  Better to just move on to the final R.

So, recycle your bags!  When I finally realized that using bags for garbage was not a good idea, I gathered all of my bags for the recycling station, thinking I would never again have a plastic bag in my house.  Wrong!  I no longer have grocery bags coming into my house but I do occasionally have those food-type bags to deal with.   Well, many of those are recyclable too!  Bread bags?  Give them a shake to get the crumbs out and then it is recyclable.  Toilet paper wrapping? Yes, although it is difficult to call it a bag, it can still go in the bag recycling.  Produce bags? As long as they are dry, yes you can recycle them too.  You can also recycle dry cleaning bags, bag scraps and pieces, the bag your newspaper comes in, even zippered food storage bags.   Whatever bags you are putting in the recycling though, just make sure they are clean and that they are NOT the biodegradable kind.  Those don’t last long in the recycling process.

So you have gathered the bags, now what do you do with them?  Bundle them in one bag and tie it off so that you have a bag of bags.  Deliver them to a collection station at your local grocery store.  They are usually located by the entrance and are pretty well marked.  But please make sure that the store actually intends on recycling those.  Some stores will throw the collected bags away in their garbage!  I know, it is hard to believe but it does happen.

In some cities, you can actually put those right in your curbside recycling.  But as always, please check with your local waste management company first. 

Eco Home Consultations provides green living consultation services in the Seattle area, focusing on practical ways to integrate green living into your household.  Learn more at www.ecohomeconsults.com or email questions about this blog or other green living issues to Melissa@ecohomeconsults.com.