Biodegradable Plastic Shopping Bags

[Bear Dale]

Biodegradable Plastic Shopping Bags

In 1 week we will have had a biodegradable plastic shopping bag hanging up in full sun and rain for 18 months, besides some light fading of the printing on the bag, you could still use it.

I suppose they must get away with it because its like stating the 'Sydney Harbour Bridge' is biodegradable - It may just take 50,000 to 100,000 years!

[Mark L]

Faster biodegradable needs enzymes and worms in a compost heap to work. Hanging something out somewhere takes a lot longer to break down and doesn't mean it's not biodegradable.

[Mary Anne]

In 2006 when I bought my Canon 20D and accessories from Teds here in Brisbane I packed all the boxes in the computer room wardrobe.
Folded up the two large white/yellow/black bags as they always came in handy and popped them into another plastic bag from the local supermarket.
Went to get one of those Teds bags cannot remember how long later to find those two bags had broken down into little flake like pieces in the supermarket bag.
When I picked the supermarket bag up they flew everywhere it was a terrible mess to clean up as those flakes clung to my arms and clothes also.
Same thing happened under the kitchen sink with some printed bags .. They were stored in the Garage after that, not my worry then.

I wonder what caused those printed plastic bags to break down in the wardrobe maybe the ink who knows ?

Though I guess the bags from the Supermarket have to be a little stronger to hold the bottles and cans that still managed to rip them in those days.

[ameerat42]

Bio-degradable is a term that's bandied about mindlessly. - Like a lot of other "ideas".

Certainly, the proliferation of plastic (breakdown products in the wilderness, plastic islands, etc)
is a concern. Fancy, we're (as a species) so far behind in managing our own waste!:rolleyes:

[Bear Dale]

MA & AM, when these shopping bags started to get used in our local area there was a big hullabaloo about how great they were for the environment in the local paper (of course along with the ubiquitous photos of local politicians).

We were told that they were oxo bags and that they had in there manufacturing process minutes amounts of different metals added so that the plastic would degrade in the presence of oxygen and sunlight, so that if they got into waterways, the ocean or bushland they would disintegrate quickly.

MA, Jenny and I had the same thing happen that you mention above with some plastic bags that we stored things in the mezzanine area of our garage. They literally turned to confetti.


This is an interesting article to read on how much microplastics we consume -

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/microplastics-in-drinking-water-united-nations-world-health-organization-study/

[Mary Anne]

Thanks for that BD Interesting reading.
When we built our home here in Brisbane 20 years ago I bought a two stage water filter, Plastic outer covering of course to connect to our kitchen water supply from their tap.
Coming from Townsville I was shocked at how terrible the water tasted here and the only way I could drink it was boil it first and let it go cold.
Lived in Melbourne for 45 years no problems with the water there or in Townsville, makes me wonder what is in our water in this City that made it taste so bad for me.

[Bear Dale]

MA, interesting you mention town water. We have a filter like you and your husband have as well and the water is great out of it. If we go into town and have a glass of water in a restaurant, coffee shop, friends house etc its honestly undrinkable. The smell and taste of chlorine is so strong its like they've just taken it out of an over chlorinated swimming pool.

Here's another interesting read -

We 'eat a credit-card worth of plastic' a week. Do water filters help?
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/we-eat-a-credit-card-worth-of-plastic-a-week-do-water-filters-help-20190826-p52kse.html