What do I do without plastic grocery bags?
Originally published in the Morisset and Peninsula Bulletin, August 2018.
Submitted by Morisset and Peninsula Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (MAPS). Photos and article by Lindi Bowen.
Submitted by Morisset and Peninsula Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (MAPS). Photos and article by Lindi Bowen.
Just as Bunnings did years ago, Woolworths and Coles are no longer providing those thin breakable shopping bags for your groceries.
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Woolworths and Coles shops stopped providing bags only recently. If you have travelled in Britain or Ireland in the past decades, you will be familiar with this approach.
So what can I use to carry my groceries? If you are just grabbing a couple of items any basket or bag will do. My grandmother always went grocery shopping with her cane basket. All her meat, fish and cheese items were wrapped in butcher’s paper. Fruit and vegetables which have their own protective wrapping – their skin – were put into paper bags. And children’s lollies, joyfully selected from jars brimming with pretty options, were popped into little paper bags too. Cans and jars of foods were already well protected. |
Image: Lindi Bowen
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My mum used to get groceries in boxes, just like buying items at Bunnings now. If you are only buying a few more groceries get yourself a wheelie trolley bag. You can put all your groceries in it without using bags at all. By not using bags you will be able to fit more in too.
If you can’t remember to bring bags with you, you will be able to buy those thicker plastic bags at 15 cents each, or buy the reusable bags. The reusable freezer bags and durable plastic bags Woolworths and Coles have been selling for years are made from recycled plastic bags and are able to be recycled again through the plastic wrap/bag recycling bins at the front of their stores.
If you can’t remember to bring bags with you, you will be able to buy those thicker plastic bags at 15 cents each, or buy the reusable bags. The reusable freezer bags and durable plastic bags Woolworths and Coles have been selling for years are made from recycled plastic bags and are able to be recycled again through the plastic wrap/bag recycling bins at the front of their stores.
Here are some other options of reusable bags:
You can purchase these polyester mesh produce bags made in Bega NSW by a group of people with disabilities. The bags will hold up to five kilograms of produce. www.letsgonatureal.com.au/collections/reusable-bags/products/reusable-produce-bags-bytulgeen.
Drop into some of the local markets. Sometimes you will find stalls selling lovely handmade cloth bags.
Or you can make your own bags. Drop into our local sewing shop at the top of Dora Street Morisset and they can provide you with all the materials you need. Or buy second-hand material or clothing items from our local op-shops in Morisset and Bonnells Bay and upcycle them into interesting, fun and colourful bags. Upcycling Newcastle runs workshops to help you with knowledge and skills on how to make bags from old clothes.
You can purchase these polyester mesh produce bags made in Bega NSW by a group of people with disabilities. The bags will hold up to five kilograms of produce. www.letsgonatureal.com.au/collections/reusable-bags/products/reusable-produce-bags-bytulgeen.
Drop into some of the local markets. Sometimes you will find stalls selling lovely handmade cloth bags.
Or you can make your own bags. Drop into our local sewing shop at the top of Dora Street Morisset and they can provide you with all the materials you need. Or buy second-hand material or clothing items from our local op-shops in Morisset and Bonnells Bay and upcycle them into interesting, fun and colourful bags. Upcycling Newcastle runs workshops to help you with knowledge and skills on how to make bags from old clothes.
I used to use those old plastic shopping bags for my rubbish; what do I use now?
What did we ever do before we had plastic bags to line our bins at home? We didn’t have bin liners. You put your rubbish straight into the bin, and then tipped the little bin into the big bin. If your item was smelly or wet, you first wrapped it in newspaper – or the butcher’s paper from your shopping trip. If the bin got dirty (which it does anyway even with bin liners), you washed it.
If you are desperate for bin liners, use paper or use other plastic bags you acquire.
Problems of managing food waste have now been resolved with the start of the kerbside food collection in the green waste bins on July 30th. Put all your food scraps (including meat bones, prawn shells, green forgotten things from the back of the fridge and orange peels you can’t compost at home) into the food caddy bucket which you can line with compostable green bags provided free by Lake Macquarie City Council. The compostable green bags will also be able to be used for collecting and disposing of dog droppings into the green waste bin. Note however that for safety reasons cat litter and droppings cannot go into the green waste bin because of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can transmit from cats to humans causing toxoplasmosis which causes flu-like symptoms and may affect foetuses and pregnant women. For cat litter, keep the bag it comes in to reuse for waste disposal.
What did we ever do before we had plastic bags to line our bins at home? We didn’t have bin liners. You put your rubbish straight into the bin, and then tipped the little bin into the big bin. If your item was smelly or wet, you first wrapped it in newspaper – or the butcher’s paper from your shopping trip. If the bin got dirty (which it does anyway even with bin liners), you washed it.
If you are desperate for bin liners, use paper or use other plastic bags you acquire.
Problems of managing food waste have now been resolved with the start of the kerbside food collection in the green waste bins on July 30th. Put all your food scraps (including meat bones, prawn shells, green forgotten things from the back of the fridge and orange peels you can’t compost at home) into the food caddy bucket which you can line with compostable green bags provided free by Lake Macquarie City Council. The compostable green bags will also be able to be used for collecting and disposing of dog droppings into the green waste bin. Note however that for safety reasons cat litter and droppings cannot go into the green waste bin because of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can transmit from cats to humans causing toxoplasmosis which causes flu-like symptoms and may affect foetuses and pregnant women. For cat litter, keep the bag it comes in to reuse for waste disposal.
