Bags for a Buck at Freddie's

[Chief]

At the risk of getting chewed out again by Louis for "advertising", I'm posting this as a good deed...

The Missus wanted me to put in a plug for the one dollar shopping bags that Fred Meyer is selling. These are reusable grocery bags with decent handles, black in color, made of recycled materieal themselves, and are $1 apiece, or three for free if you buy enough groceries.

Mrs. Chief brought home 2, and after I took a look, I encouraged her to get a few more, and keep them in the car. Every Tuesday when I put out the garbage can, I'm always amazed at how much trash the two of us generate in a week, so anything that cuts down the waste stream is definitely in order at our house.

The Missus informs me we will use about 400 fewer plastic bags in the coming year, if we stick to using these.

Sounds good to me...

;D

[Waterbuffalo]

Any thing that cuts down on trash is a good thing to me. I have seen those Fred Meyer things.. Though I all ready have a satchel I use to go shopping and would make those bags redundant.

[karma]

We have for years carried an earth bag in the van. Love it and will check these out, but again if you recycle the bags?? What the difference, are they going to lover your bill for using these bags?

[tefen]

My work has a community involvement event every hear that features "goody bags" which come in good quality canvas bags. Last year I grabbed up a few of the extras and have been using them for trips to the corner store. When I remember, I like to take them to Safeway, but they often aren't kept in the car, so I sometimes forget.

On the positive side, the wife and I only generate about a bag to a bag and a 1/2 of garbage each week. It probably is time to sit down and see what we can stop throwing away though, it's been a while since the last "trash audit".

[Waterbuffalo]

tefen: Can I call it the "Final Exit" trash edit?

I generally don't create a lot of trash now unless I can recycle it or find another way to deal with it. There are probably a multitude of ways to take care of this from composting, recycling efforts to coming together with neighbors to take leaves to a central disposal point or shredding. (Old Northwest neighborhood idea and Chief's idea combined.

Wonder what it would take to come around to doing a trash edit? What ideas do you have an this tefen?

[Chief]

I am trying to amelioreate the size o four trash stream by composting the neighborhood leaves...

Have any of you ever read about what recyling nazis the Japanese are?? I understand that in Tokyo there are over 400 different kinds of recyclable material, and they have people who come around and make sure you are sorting your trash correctly...

Not my idea of Democracy, nor of a recycling program that I would care to either implement or run; just a good comparison to how lame our local efforts are. I think we're actually backsliding now that we've gone to the " big blue can" concept...

[tefen]

My father-in-law in the Hough neighorhood got the big blue can.... In my neighborhood I've still got the individual bins. I don't understand it. I kind of like the bins though, 'cause I can put 'em right in the house and sort the garbage as it's generated.

[Waterbuffalo]

Chief:

Yeah, the japanese live on tiny islands and where do you think they are going to want to stick their trash? Don't think they have a lot of places to stick that stuff and its probably prohibitively expensive for what little they don't recycle into other products.

They import a heck of a lot of their basics of fuel, shelter, and many other things, do you think they are not going to recycle or reuse what ever they can to keep it from being incinerated or dumped off the side of the barge into an ocean? Don't think there are too many places left that they can dump their trash on the islands unless they want to compete with Fish Kill, NY for the lousiest dump site in the world.

Plus I might add if you add in the prices that recyclables are getting on the world market (glass, metal and some plastics) are getting so ridiculous its not even funny. Why do you think the meth heads here are going after any thing that will make them cash to snort up their nose?

To tefen: Sounds like a wonderful idea, those drop in a can and let someone else do the sorting. Yes, its probably a huge labor cost to do all of that in one bin but it saves the rest of our community valuable time taking their sorting out all of the recycling the night before, bring out three bins out in the morning and dealing with blowing paper and other stuff instead of just cleaning out the stuff and making sure its not got food on it or is nasty.

Seems to me a triple or higher win-win situation?

[tefen]

In an apparent case of oneupsmanship, I just went through Safeway to get a few small items for lunch and they offered me a re-usable tote. Free.

[Waterbuffalo]

I also go to Safeway and get the same style of a few cents off my purchases for using my backpack instead of plastic bag galore.

Also WinCo also does this. Gives you a few cents off each bag if you talk to the Checker and tell them how many you have before you start bagging..

[Chief]

Really? We shop at Winco a lot, so I'll let the wife know about that, and we'll check it out this weekend when we hit the stores for Thanksgiving shopping...

[Waterbuffalo]

Room mate taught me that one! (About the used bags..)

Its only a few cents per bag but every thing helps?