Plastic bags and reusable bags

[Guest guest]

" plastic bags made of petrolium and the environment "

 

Other considerations are the effects of plastics on HUMAN health.

I have noticed a chemical smell from the ( fairly) new bags at PCC. PCC claims

they are biodegradable. Well when I can smell something like that I certainly

would not want to biodegrade back into the earth, smells toxic to me.....

.. At one point I tried calling the 800 # in the bag and they said " We dont make

the bags " and when I asked they said " they did not have a # for the

manufacturer. " well thats suspicious ! I have written PCC and gotten 0

responces.

That goes for the plastic produce bags also. I would love to find a good

alternative to them. I tried the green ones that you can use over and over but

they were not desirable to me....I thought perhaps they nylon mesh ones would

work but have not tried them yet. Also to purchase glass storage ware for the

refrige.

For now I use the paper bags and use them untill they fall apart then I recycle

them, at least they dont smell toxic to me.

 

Catherine

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Catherine,

I think the smell on most plastic bags is more from the ink than the bag itself.

Likely during the printing process there is only a very brief time for the ink

to dry and outgas before being wound up on a spool of bags. Most of the coop

type stores have some unprinted bags in the produce department, and I use those

instead of the others with ink on them because they have little to no smell, and

are made from a plastic with less plasticizer in it. Who wants plasticizers or

ink solvents to soak into their organic produce?

 

I started using the 1 gallon ziplock freezer bags as reusable bags for shopping.

They're about the right size, clear and colorless and easy to see through, and

seal well. You can also pre-age them if you are really sensitive to chemicals.

 

I just clean and dry the ziplock bags, and store them in the bottom of my canvas

shopping bag, and use them as needed while shopping. With a canvas bag, and the

ziplock bags, I don't have near the worries about ripping/tearing/splitting bags

that I used to, and can reliably carry a really serious load of heavy fresh

fruit and vegetables.

 

If you are sensitive to even slight amounts of plastic outgassing or

plasticizers, you can pre-age any plastic you use by hanging it up somewhere and

letting it age and outgas for a few months before using it. I've had to do this

before and it worked just fine except for my impatience when a few things needed

to age for many months before the smell went away.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, progress, and warm laughter,

Roger

 

-

" Catherine " <wildraven

 

Sunday, March 25, 2007 9:08 PM

Plastic bags and reusable bags

 

 

> " plastic bags made of petrolium and the environment "

>

> Other considerations are the effects of plastics on HUMAN health.

> I have noticed a chemical smell from the ( fairly) new bags at PCC. PCC

claims they are biodegradable. Well when I can smell something like that I

certainly would not want to biodegrade back into the earth, smells toxic to

me.....

> . At one point I tried calling the 800 # in the bag and they said " We dont

make the bags " and when I asked they said " they did not have a # for the

manufacturer. " well thats suspicious ! I have written PCC and gotten 0

responces.

> That goes for the plastic produce bags also. I would love to find a good

alternative to them. I tried the green ones that you can use over and over but

they were not desirable to me....I thought perhaps they nylon mesh ones would

work but have not tried them yet. Also to purchase glass storage ware for the

refrige.

> For now I use the paper bags and use them untill they fall apart then I

recycle them, at least they dont smell toxic to me.

>

> Catherine

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks Roger,

I didn't know about pre aging.

I have not found anything that stores fruit and

veges so well in the fridge as what plastic bags do.

But then there are the obvious draw backs.

So this sounds like a good middle of the road

solution.

 

When I shop I just take cardboard boxes and have a

huge ice box in the car. It's the storage after that

is my " challenge " ....

 

Toni

 

Searching for the best free email? Try MetaCrawler Mail, from the #1 metasearch

service on the Web, http://www.metacrawler.com

[Guest guest]

I never thought that the reusable bags might be a problem. Anyway I found

out when I brought my reusable bag to Top Foods that they gave me a 5

cent bag refund. Also through e-mail, you can also get a 5 cent rebate for

using your reusable bag at Fred Meyer if you ask for it or key in a certain

code if you are using U-Scan. At least I'm not using any more plastic

bags at these stores now also.

Ron

 

, " Roger Padvorac " <roger

wrote:

>

> Hi Catherine,

> I think the smell on most plastic bags is more from the ink than the bag

itself.