Seattle Bag Tax

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

Although I live just outside Seattle, the bag tax issue caught my attention.

For years, since plastic grocery bags became available, I've used them (after hauling groceries home in them) as garbage can liners. They work much better than paper grocery bags (if one must throw out something wet and sloppy) and most of them are biodegradable (where the plastic trash bags are not). As a result, I haven't bought plastic trash bags for years. And that's not just me, but quite a few people I know do the same.

So, I got thinking: If I had to pay a bag tax, and was eventually persuaded to bring my own reusable grocery bags, I'd have to start buying trash bags again. So, I got to wondering: Who stands to gain if the public shifts from reusing grocery bags to buying trash can liners?

Where do companies like Glad stand on this issue?

[squirltop]

Interesting, we reuse trash bags and don't use them in the garage trash. If something will smell just toss it in a grocery bag and put it in the freezer. Would use reusable canvas bags and all but never really know how much we will get at the store

[Doug Brown]

I think it is a common fallacy that biodegradable plastic bags actually degrade in a landfill. It is my understanding that the anerobic nature of most modern landfills creates conditions where organics simply do not biodegrade and the result is that the plastic bag, paper plates and hamburger will still be there 1000's of years from now.

[The Daring Dufas]

The archaeologists are gonna have a lot of fun with us. Some have already started digging up 20th century landfills.

TDD

[Bob F]

I do that, but now have 7 freezers full of smelly garbage.

There's got to be a better way.

[Miche]

Plastic bags are 5c each at the checkout in some chains here. We rarely bother with them, but occasionally pick up one or two to use as rubbish bags.

Miche

[Stormin Mormon]

I wonder how many otherwise servicable items have been landfilled. Automobiles, shavers, toasters, and maybe the occasional tommy gun from the prohibition era. Some states like Arizona are dry enough that the landfills are still pristine, if some what dessicated.

[HeyBub]

SOME of it is degrading - there's a market in harvesting Methane from landfills.

[HeyBub]

Think: "Be Neighborly!"

[HeyBub]

Saw a Home Depot droid on a morning TV program demonstrating paint application devices. The only thing I got out of the demo was when he showed how you could use a Home Depot plastic bag as a seal when putting the lid back on a paint can.

'Course he pointed out this only worked with HOME DEPOT plastic bags...

[stan]

On Aug 25, 4:37=A0am, Miche wrote: .

. That's shocking!

[stan]

Thinking that in future time humans will be mining existing garbage dumps and 'recovering' the minerals? Right now enough wood goes to our local dump to heat not only city hall but many homes at same time. We are very much a throw-away society!

[benick]

The Moonbat Libs tried to pass the "bag tax" here in Maine last year to get folks to stop using them as well but due to public outcry it was dropped...They get re-used for EVERYTHING...Couldn't be more green...LOL

As a side note the tax was more about getting for funding for Maine's FAILED publicly funded healthcare (Dirigo) then it was about being green...FWIW....

[benick]

Thinking that in future time humans will be mining existing garbage dumps and 'recovering' the minerals? Right now enough wood goes to our local dump to heat not only city hall but many homes at same time. We are very much a throw-away society!

That is changing....Here in Maine we have 2 large trash incinerators that burn trash to make power. They are large enough that we import trash....The stacks have scrubbers and little or no pollution escapes..Several Biomass (wood chips) Boilers that produce power have started up as well with scrubber stacks....A local White Pine lumber mill (Robbins Lumber) has a boiler that burns all the waste (bark , sawdust , ect. ) and produces it's own power and manages to sell some as well...

[ransley]

Good idea, put those dead squirrels, rabbits and dog turds in the freezer, maybe some drunk guest will think its a snack and eat it.

[The Daring Dufas]

The Iraqis buried some jet fighters. *snicker*

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

I heard on the radio, about a year ago. That some place up north in Canada is separating out disposable diapers. (Would that be a brown box, at the curb?)

The cellulose can be broken down by intense heat, and makes a servicable low grade liquid fuel for oil fired boilers.

I'll leave it to others to insert the obligatory potty jokes.

[Stormin Mormon]

That, and tank, so I've heard. And we found no WMD, of course.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 8/25/2009 10:09 AM Stormin Mormon spake thus:

That's because there were none.

• I wouldn't have to put this note in if you didn't top-post.

[Doug Miller]

That's not true.

That's not true either.

There weren't anywhere nearly as many as we expected, but the amount is non-zero.