Reading material: About Paper Cups

[pll]

Question about mugs: I actually use my own glass mug at the office, but I wonder what the cost of water to clean said mug is (and what the tally would look like if everyone in the building did it), factoring in dish soap and cleaning agents for the sink. In an office without a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink with coffee stain is very unattractive....

[Veronica]

We're doing our state math test right now. I told my students they had to do any figuring in their test booklets, to please not use scratch paper since it would just end going to the landfill. There is a lot of empty space in the test booklets and they are allowed to write in them.

I still get my groceries in plastic bags. They fit my kitchen trash can nicely and I've also started using them when I scoop the kittens' litter box. It keeps my garbage can from being so stinky.

V.

[mimitabby]

PLL the cost of the water is far less than the cost of the water to feed the tree, the cost of the petroleum products to harvest, transport, and process (and the water for that too) Water is renewable a lot faster than trees are. or petroleum is.


At the grocery store, we like to give positive reinforcement to whomever is bagging our groceries. WOW, you got a lot in THAT bag!! GOOD WORK!!

[Veronica]

Water isn't actually renewable, it's a cycle.

Did you know the water you are drinking this morning in your coffee could have been water that a dinosaur stood in or Lewis and Clark canoed through, or Shakespeare washed with?

V.

[OakLeaf]

Water isn't actually renewable, it's a cycle.

Did you know the water you are drinking this morning in your coffee could have been water that a dinosaur stood in or Lewis and Clark canoed through, or Shakespeare washed with?

V.

Ewwwwww.... Richard Nixon's pee.... I'm switching to beer.

[Veronica]

You know there is water in beer.

V.

[7rider]

You know there is water in beer.

V.

Yeah, but the alcohol kills the cooties!

I generally don't get coffee at coffee shops, so the whole paper/styrofoam cup thing is lost on me. I either drink coffee at home b/f work or carry coffee from home in a vaccuum thermos that fits in my bottle cage on the bike. I have a mug at the office that I use and re-use.

Re: grocery bags. I have a fairly large selection of cloth-bag options, and sometimes, I even remember to take them to the store with me! I save all the plastic bags I've gotten for re-use. I get all itchy if I just throw them out without at least using them for some other purpose (like freezer trash or whatever). Last time I was in Trader Joe's, they didn't have any slips for the drawing for those who re-use bags. I was kind of bummed about that...not that I've ever won or anything. My local grocery stores also give you a credit of any where from $0.03 to $0.05/bag re-used.

Oh...and haven't found an option for kitchen garbage bags (the 33 gallon sized - or is it 13??). : (

[Blueberry]

How 'bout these bags: http://www.ecokitchen.com/shop/biode...tchenbags.html

I haven't tried them, but they are a corn plastic. And are biodegradable.

I definitely have biodegradable dog poop bags. Of course, if we get plastic bags despite our best efforts, we also re-purpose those to poop duty.

CA

[Jolt]

Ewwwwww.... Richard Nixon's pee.... I'm switching to beer.

LOL--as soon as I read Veronica's post that you quoted I thought "or somebody's urine..."; I guess I'm not the only one!

[jesvetmed]

I still get my groceries in plastic bags. They fit my kitchen trash can nicely and I've also started using them when I scoop the kittens' litter box. It keeps my garbage can from being so stinky.

OK.. Here's my question. I do the same and "reuse" multiple times. Starts as a grocery bag, is then used as a lunch bag, and graduates after that to kitchen garbage bag.

Is there a good alternative to garbage bags? I have tried to find ANY garbage bags that are from recycled material and just haven't seen anything.

So, if I have to buy garbage bags, haven't I made things even worse in the long run? At least the grocery bag gets three uses this way.

I've been having guilt about this for awhile (do I need a life? )

THANKS for any input!
Jes

[jesvetmed]

I lost this thread on my listing .
Wondering if anyone has a comment on their use of plastic bags / garbage bags.... See my above post. Thanks!
J

[mimitabby]

OK.. Here's my question. I do the same and "reuse" multiple times. Starts as a grocery bag, is then used as a lunch bag, and graduates after that to kitchen garbage bag.

Is there a good alternative to garbage bags? I have tried to find ANY garbage bags that are from recycled material and just haven't seen anything.

So, if I have to buy garbage bags, haven't I made things even worse in the long run? At least the grocery bag gets three uses this way.

I've been having guilt about this for awhile (do I need a life? )

THANKS for any input!
Jes

After years of throwing away trash in the brown paper bags that my groceries came in, my husband bought a garbage can for inside and bought plastic bags for it. As a result, not only are we now using plastic for the trash, if we're not real careful, it STINKS HORRIBLY because unlike paper bags, it doesn't breath and gets disgusting fast.
If it was just me, I would be using whatever bags were around, and even with taking cloth bags to the store, we STILL have oodles of plastic bags around here from assorted places. I use them as well for cat litter.
When I had more brown paper bags, I doubleed them and used them for cat litter too. I use feed bags to dispose of litter, as well as the bags the litter came in.