Plastic State of Mind

December 12, 2010 10:03 PM

I enjoyed Green Sangha's Plastic State of Mind.
posted by serazin (13 comments total)

Is good. Thanks serazin.
posted by boo_radley at 10:27 PM on December 12, 2010

Me too.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:46 PM on December 12, 2010

I don't use single-use plastic bags. I use them a second time to keep my plastic bags in.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:52 PM on December 12, 2010

But what to do with all of these bags I already have?
posted by carsonb at 11:12 PM on December 12, 2010

I went to Pass Christian, MS after Katrina to participate in clean-up efforts. That town was ground zero for Katrina landfall and a Walmart right on the beach road in the middle of town had the hell blown out of it. One of the most memorable things was the Walmart plastic bags covering what was left of every tree for miles around. It was a nightmarish sight.
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:13 PM on December 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine owns a record store in Toronto where, by law, stores must charge a nickel for a plastic bag. He says people bitched like crazy but swears bag requests are down 99%. "I'd say that 99 out of a hundred people used to ask for a bag. Now it's one in a hundred."
posted by dobbs at 11:45 PM on December 12, 2010

I've become so accustomed to using my backpack or messenger bag to carry groceries/beer/etc. that I have to consciously remind myself to ask for a plastic bag once a week or so, just for lining my garbage can. But hey, it keeps me from purchasing actual plastic garbage bags so ... win?

Like the video though, if only for the ridiculous shots of those guys partying with plastic bags in the supermarket,
posted by mannequito at 11:49 PM on December 12, 2010

Take your canvas bags when you go to the supermarket
Why use plastic bags when you know, you know the world can't take it
Take your canvas bags when you go to the supermarket, market, markeh heh yeh yeh
Don't you use those plastic ones, no no no, don't you know that you'll feel better for it
posted by KChasm at 2:36 AM on December 13, 2010

dobbs: A friend of mine owns a record store in Toronto where, by law, stores must charge a nickel for a plastic bag. He says people bitched like crazy but swears bag requests are down 99%. "I'd say that 99 out of a hundred people used to ask for a bag. Now it's one in a hundred."

In Ireland we introduced a levy on all plastic bags in 2002 (it's 22c at the moment) and it's been a huge success, according to our Department of the Environment annual plastic bag usage dropped from an estimated 328 bags per capita to 21 bags per capita.
posted by nfg at 2:45 AM on December 13, 2010

I think it would help if cashiers asked customers whether they wanted a bag before automatically loading one up, in the case of single bag situations. This may of course be annoying for the cashier though.
posted by orme at 4:00 AM on December 13, 2010

People are always shocked when I say I don't want a bag. Last week I bought a jacket. "Are you sure you don't want a bag?" No, it's a waterproof coat; what do I need to protect it from, outdoors, where I'm going to wear it?

"You don't want me to put your comforter in a bag?" Um, it's already in a bag. Etc.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:38 AM on December 13, 2010

What are these people using to put the cat shit in, when they scoop out the litter box?
posted by steef at 7:29 AM on December 13, 2010

yeah it's awesome
posted by cybergb at 9:01 PM on December 13, 2010 [1 favorite]