Globe West had an interesting story today about the challenges Brookline merchants are having getting ready for their town’s new ban on disposable plastic bags and finding replacements for polystyrene (Styrofoam) containers
Retailers unable to find eco-friendly plastic bags
by Greg Reibman | Jun 9, 2013 | Newton | 8 comments
I believe Russos uses biodegradable plastic bags. And the cardboard trays must be available from somewhere.
@Marie: Do you mean cardboard food containers as an alternative to Styrofoam? Yes they are certainly available but the cost is much more.
In addition, merchants are concerned that once polystyrene isn’t permitted, suppliers will raise the price for alternatives, both because of rising demand and knowing that merchants would have no choice.
I can see that being a problem. I checked out the link that popped up on the screen, an add for All Green Packaging, and those prices are high. And merchants cannot pass the additional cost on to their customers, when they can go over the town line to Newton or Boston where the styrofoam is still permitted. We all got used to cheap prices while we polluted the world.
There will always be some challenges to any kind of change, especially regarding consumer habits. It’s just part of the process. The goal is really to bring your own re-usable bags , and there are many good water resistant ones. Also the bans don’t usually apply to the heavier duty plastic bags, which can also be re-used . I am wary of the so called biodegradable or compostable plastic bags. There is often quite a bit of “greenwashing” involved with these products. . Most of these bags break down into micro-plastics, and will stay as such in the environment. Really bad in the marine environment where it displaces food concentration.
Greg regarding your comment about the cost difference between Styrofoam and cardboard food containers; I don’t believe the cost is more for cardboard when you consider the environmental impacts of Styrofoam which are very significant.
There are food items I don’t buy because they’re packaged in styrofoam (even at Trader Joe’s, which kind of surprises me). I certainly wouldn’t go to a different town to buy something in styrofoam to save a few cents.
I’ve been seeing plastic bags high up in trees in residential parts of Newton. They seem able to blow anywhere. Happy to ban in Newton until we can ban statewide. Like Alison, I am also skeptical of their biodegradability — whether it happens in practice, and what it breaks down into. If it’s still chemically plastic, just very small or molecular, it could end up in drinking water for people, as is happening with pharmaceuticals.
I agree with Alison and Julia. When our family does weekly grocery shopping we always bring reusable tote bags (just be sure to keep them clean). More often, if I have to go to the corner store or pharmacy for one or two items, I just carry them out without a plastic bag if I do not have a tote bag. And the more I hear about “eco-friendly” bags, the less eco-friendly they sound to me.
What drives me nuts is when the stores insist on double-bagging everything (TJ’s is an offender, as are most stores w/plastic bags). I try to intercept that when I can, if for some reason I don’t have a reusable with me. Plastic bags make their way into my house when my ex brings things over for our son, or the like. I’ve found they fit in a purse nicely because they scrunch up small and weigh next-to-nothing, so I just re-use them until they tear.
Well for containers, Rox uses a nice compostable paper based container for take-away that works very well, I compost it quite nicely right in my home composter! Also Whole Foods uses sugar cane waste to make compostable containers for their take home foods. For trash bags we use a product from BioBags that is certified compostable. It works great and since we generate so little trash can actually start breaking down in our trashcan because it is in there for so long (with various meat products that I think start reacting causing it to break down). http://www.biobagusa.com/ They have t-shirt shopping bags of two different weights plus produce bags! There are options that “cost” a bit more upfront and are better options. We don’t pay the cost of styrofoam and disposable plastic bags, so we don’t see their true costs unfortunately (due to the system of externalizing the social costs)
I don’t envy the work that has to happen for folks to find alternatives but since the state won’t put a tax on plastic and/or paper bags they are leaving it up to the cities to outright ban them (a tax won’t work per city, I know Cambridge looked into that). The true solution is for the state to institute a fee per bag used at all retails locations, I believe Ireland does this, it has been shown to reduce usage significantly while still allowing bags that are cheap for the businesses for emergency like situations.