The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on March 24, 2011, 05:14:19 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=442x106
Oh my.
But wouldn't this cause a loss of jobs in the plastics industry, in this lousy 0bamaconomy?
Denninmi (689 posts) Sat Feb-19-11 07:34 PM
Original message
Reusing plastic zipper bags???
Does anyone do this?
Perhaps its an exercise in foolishness, but I decided that I was being wasteful by using zipper type storage bags and then just throwing them away. So, I saved all of the bags I emptied this past week -- bags I used to pack my lunch for work, that I emptied from things I had frozen at home (produce, meats, cheese, bread), and those I used to repack fresh produce in the fridge.
I washed them with Dawn and hot water, turning them inside out a couple of times and swishing them around really well. Then, they were all rinsed in weak bleach solution. I didn't think it would be very practical to dry them all - hand drying would take a LOT of time, and I don't have any kind of rack to let them sit and fully air dry. So, instead, I shook as much water out of them as possible, and then flattened, rolled, and popped them into the freezer.
This seemed to work well. None of them seem to have any residue (I was most concerned about grease), nor any residual odor.
But, it is time consuming.
I counted them today -- in a week, I've used and then recycled for reuse about 30 bags of different sizes -- sandwich, quart, and gallon.
Not sure it's really worth the effort, but it seems like one way to stop being so wasteful. I really dislike the fact that out society throws so much away.
Yeah. franksolich really dislikes the fact that our society throws away unborn infants too.
Curmudgeoness (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-19-11 08:29 PM
Response to Original message
1. OK, I will admit it. My mother always did this, and my sisters do it too.
Mom was a depression era child and took the "waste not, want not" mantra to heart. People think we are nuts, but I could care less. I always buy the freezer bags because they hold up better over the long term.
We don't wash them as diligently as you do, we just wash them when we do the dishes (yes, we do dishes in the sink) so it isn't a big chore for us. I just wash them and rinse them. To dry them, I have refrigerator magnets and I put them inside the bag and stick it up on the frig so that the bag is open. Try to make sure they are shaken out well first or they will drip all over the floor. Note: if it matters to you what people think, don't have the bags all over the frig when company comes. People just don't get it.
This keeps you from wasting them, it takes no space to dry them, and saves tons of money. I will have the same box of zip-locks for five years before I have to buy another box. However, I have found that the zippers do not hold up as long as the zip-locks. For some reason, the zippers just break.
Good luck with this, if you have that many bags in such a short time, it looks like this will be a great money saver for you.
But that "money save" might cost jobs in the plastics industry, right when the 0bamaconomy should be creating jobs, not eliminating them.
lizziegrace (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-19-11 09:39 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I wash as many as I can with Dawn and very hot water.
I hang them on the clothesline to dry when it's a calm day. I freeze produce from the garden with vacuum sealer and wash and reuse many of those expensive bags too.
I use reusable containers mostly and use extra canning jars for storage in the pantry and refrigerator.
Curmudgeoness (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-19-11 11:03 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. It's good to know I am not alone. But tell me, do you wash your aluminum foil and reuse it? Again, just like with the heavier duty bags, I buy the heavy duty foil.
I like that you have canning jars and instead freeze the garden produce, I do that too. So much easier and I am lazy when I can.
Uh oh. Now fewer jobs in the aluminum foil industry, right when the 0bamaconomy should be creating jobs.
lizziegrace (1000+ posts) Sat Feb-19-11 11:24 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. I don't reuse foil but I do rinse and recycle it. I figure they take aluminum cans, right?
I use my freezer for produce until it's full (small chest freezer) and then can. I don't want my entire harvest to be tied up in a freezer that could fail. Or we could have an extended power outage. (I live on 4 acres in a pretty rural area.)
As the produce gets used up, I stock up on chicken and fish on sale.
Paper Roses (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-20-11 06:50 AM
Response to Reply #1
5. I do the same thing as you. Not only do I use the zip and sliders,
I have some of the 'green bags'. Wash in dishwater, wipe inside and out, then magnet them open and attach to refrig.
Takes only a day to dry. I then add them to my 'bog of bags' that I have in the kitchen closet. I have never had any problem doing this. When the bags get to the point where they won't seal, I may use an elastic over the folded bag. Too far gone, then into the trash.
This habit came to me easily, Mom used to do the same years ago when plastic bags were a novelty. Every economy helps.
CaliforniaPeggy (1000+ posts) Thu Feb-24-11 12:14 AM
THE POETESS CALPIG PRIMITIVE, #05 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2010
Response to Original message
9. I reuse mine till they get a hole, or mold...
I too have a plastic bag dryer. It looks like this one:
http://www.greenfeet.com/itemdesc.asp?kw=Plastic-Bag-Dr...
It doesn't take up much space, and it's good for bottles too.
I wash mine with anything I need to handwash after dinner, and the bags are normally dry by the next morning.
BTW, this link is not where I got mine. But it looks identical.
lbrtbell (705 posts) Mon Feb-28-11 09:38 PM
Response to Original message
10. A very important thing to bear in mind
Not all bags are free from chemicals like BPA, that can leech onto your food--they're not even safe during the first use. I use Zip-Loc for foods, because they're said to be BPA-free. But once I put food in those, I ditch them; I've had food poisoning enough times, thankyouverymuch.
I do use off-brand zipper bags for all sorts of non-food storage solutions, and I re-use the heck out of those. Bags like that are a godsend when traveling!
GoCubsGo (1000+ posts) Tue Mar-08-11 03:41 PM
Response to Original message
11. I will reuse mine up to a point.
If I can't get them clean, or they start turning opaque, they become disposal units for used kitty litter. Also, I tend to avoid reusing any that once stored chicken or any other sort of meat.
trud (413 posts) Mon Mar-21-11 09:40 AM
Response to Original message
12. I try not to get them in the first place.
It can be done, although not perfectly.
I used a metal lunch box and paper bags for sandwiches before I retired. Paper bags fr that can be reused up to a point. I'm more a canner than a freezer, plus then stuff won't spoil in a power failure in a disaster.
Oh my again.
It doesn't seem the primitives are doing their part--in fact, they're doing the opposite--to get the 0bamaconomy back up to where it was when George Bush was president.
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I use the small clip seal bags for portioning out bulk meat products. If I'm marinating that particular portion then I'll just add the marinade to the bag. No reuse.
When I do a roast - I use the larger bags for marinating and do reuse them once. That's because I'm descended from a scottsman, not for any other reason.
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I use the small clip seal bags for portioning out bulk meat products. If I'm marinating that particular portion then I'll just add the marinade to the bag. No reuse.
When I do a roast - I use the larger bags for marinating and do reuse them once. That's because I'm descended from a scottsman, not for any other reason.
Oh Hades, I just went into the kitchen to count.
There's three Zip-Loc plastic bags in this house, two sizes, all of them empty at the moment, but used before.
franksolich is not a conspicuous consumer.
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I re-use plastic bags, aluminum foil, don't buy paper towels, turn in my used motor oil a place that adds it to coal to boost BTUs, don't buy overly packaged and processed food, blah, blah, blah. I believe in not wasting what you have and am also cheap.
I suspect, from reading the DUmp's bragging, that my own carbon footprint is a size 6 to their 12.
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
:lol:
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We re-use a good chunk of our plastic bags.
Hell, we re-use pretty much any form of storage that hasn't come into contact with food and can't be thrown in the dishwasher.
All that rinsing and bleaching is absurd, though. If it's dirty enough to need all that, it's dirty enough to throw away.
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I suspect, from reading the DUmp's bragging, that my own carbon footprint is a size 6 to their 12.
I bet so too, madam.
After all, conservatism permeates all aspects of our lives, not just our politics.
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I throw all my plastic bags away. I even went to the store today and took extra bags home with me just so I could throw them in the garbage.
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I throw all my plastic bags away. I even went to the store today and took extra bags home with me just so I could throw them in the garbage.
:-) H5
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I throw all my plastic bags away. I even went to the store today and took extra bags home with me just so I could throw them in the garbage.
Hi5 for bucking the system. Keep up the good work.
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Considering the cost of plastic bags, why would you WANT to reuse them?
It would cost more in chemicals and hot water to clean them than to replace them.
I'll continue to use my 2 sandwich bags/day, thank you. :-)
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
:lol:
A little hot water, dawn soap, and magnets to hang them from the fridge while they dry.
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:lol:
A little hot water, dawn soap, and magnets to hang them from the fridge while they dry.
DAMN! :lmao:
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We re-use a good chunk of our plastic bags.
Hell, we re-use pretty much any form of storage that hasn't come into contact with food and can't be thrown in the dishwasher.
All that rinsing and bleaching is absurd, though. If it's dirty enough to need all that, it's dirty enough to throw away.
They waste more chemicals and energy on trying to clean the bags in hot water with soap, bleech, then more hot water to rinse....
Nothing like the using a zip lock bag that smells like dawn & bleech for that batch of granola trail mix. :tongue:
They must be heating the water over a fire in the back yard. We all know those water heaters are evil carbon footprints....
Don't they know that plastic bags are made from petroleum? Those poor little baby seals.
Being thrifty is one thing, using it to gain street creed on DU is stupid... :loser:
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
You can actually buy reusable tampons... Etsy has some scary stuff.
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You can actually buy reusable tampons... Etsy has some scary stuff.
How do they work out?
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That's it! I'm double bagging everything to make up for the DUmmies. :-)
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Not sure it's really worth the effort
I am. It's not.
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
Why would you need to?
http://www.divacup.com/
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I seem to remember a post on DU about a member using a reusable pad. Ughhhhh. They are so uncivilized.
I bought a giant box of zip lock freezer bags at costco. I rarely reuse them, except for scraps that are going in the trash (no garbage disposal here). Normally, though, I repackage meat in freezer paper.
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That's it! I'm double bagging everything to make up for the DUmmies. :-)
I never could come close to the miracles my mom could achieve wrapping sandwiches in wax paper. I mean, the egg salad stayed in a desk by the radiator all morning long and you could hardly smell it, on Fridays it was always tuna, and then there was PBJ or cheese or peanut butter and fluff. Hot lunch meant the desk was too close to the radiator. :fuelfire:
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That's it! I'm double bagging everything to make up for the DUmmies. :-)
:rotf:
Don't worry. Any person that sleeps with a DUmmie is already double bagging!!!!!
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I'm betting the DUmmies reuse a lot of little plastic baggies.
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I seem to remember a post on DU about a member using a reusable pad. Ughhhhh. They are so uncivilized.
I bought a giant box of zip lock freezer bags at costco. I rarely reuse them, except for scraps that are going in the trash (no garbage disposal here). Normally, though, I repackage meat in freezer paper.
I use to use butcher paper for meat but switched to the vacuum package system. It costs more but there is almost never any freezer burn. I cut the meat the way I want it and pack it in my choice of portion size.
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I use to use butcher paper for meat but switched to the vacuum package system. It costs more but there is almost never any freezer burn. I cut the meat the way I want it and pack it in my choice of portion size.
The place where I take my deer started using vacuum packing. It's great! You can go at least a year without a trace of freezer burn.
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I use to use butcher paper for meat but switched to the vacuum package system. It costs more but there is almost never any freezer burn. I cut the meat the way I want it and pack it in my choice of portion size.
I've thought about using one, but never have purchased. I normally wrap small amounts in freezer paper and then load that all in a freezer bag. I've never had freezer burn, but that's probably because I don't have enough meat in the freezer to last that long :)
What type of vacuum sealer do you have?
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Vacuum sealers are great for meat. I had 40 pounds of salmon after a trip to Alaska (the folks kept the rest) a few years ago and it lasted for over a year. I only threw out one piece due to freezer burn.
If you get good bags or the rolls, you can re-use them as long as the seals are okay. I've washed and re-used those expensive freezer bags a few times.
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I've thought about using one, but never have purchased. I normally wrap small amounts in freezer paper and then load that all in a freezer bag. I've never had freezer burn, but that's probably because I don't have enough meat in the freezer to last that long :)
What type of vacuum sealer do you have?
Food Saver Model 1050. It must be older than dirt by now seems like I have had it forever. I don't use many pre made bags, checked the price yesterday at BJ's about $20 for 44 quart bags. I do buy some for when I am in a rush and don't want to make my own custom from the roll stock.
I like to not have to run to the store all the time, micorwaves do a great job of defrosting and having having plenty of stuff on hand makes meal planning a snap.
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I heard they make ziplock bags from puppy skins. Maybe the DUmmies should quit using them at all.
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I heard they make ziplock bags from puppy skins. Maybe the DUmmies should quit using them at all.
The Japanese will make some great ziplock bags from radiation-poisoned dolphins...and whales...oh, my god, no..not the whales!
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The Japanese will make some great ziplock bags from radiation-poisoned dolphins...and whales...oh, my god, no..not the whales!
Single payer healthcare now! :rotf:
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They waste more chemicals and energy on trying to clean the bags in hot water with soap, bleech, then more hot water to rinse....
Nothing like the using a zip lock bag that smells like dawn & bleech for that batch of granola trail mix. :tongue:
They must be heating the water over a fire in the back yard. We all know those water heaters are evil carbon footprints....
Don't they know that plastic bags are made from petroleum? Those poor little baby seals.
Being thrifty is one thing, using it to gain street creed on DU is stupid... :loser:
BUTT...cleaning those nasty hydrocarbon artifacts and reusing them just feels sooo liberally good. And, as a boner, ya gets mounds of DUmp cred for bragging about it.
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Perhaps its an exercise in foolishness
Uh...duh!
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The Greenies have ALWAYS ignored the activities that cannot be seen, such as energy and chemical use in recyclng. They just pretend it doesn't exist, and wander happily off. It's always been this way, and there's no banging it through their heads. You can see it today, with the coal-powered cars they love so much.
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The Greenies have ALWAYS ignored the activities that cannot be seen, such as energy and chemical use in recyclng. They just pretend it doesn't exist, and wander happily off. It's always been this way, and there's no banging it through their heads. You can see it today, with the coal-powered cars they love so much.
We reuse the plastic bags--one time each, if we use them to get Oreo's leavings in her litter box.
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I reuse our plastic bags from the stores. I use them as garbage bags for the bathroom garbage. I have a number of plastic ziplock bags for every store I shop at, I put my coupons/shopping list in them. That way I have them fairly organized. I'll continue using those bags until they start to rip/tear. I rarely ever purchase ziplock bags because we do not use them that often.
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We reuse the plastic bags--one time each, if we use them to get Oreo's leavings in her litter box.
This too. I'd hate to buy litter bags or whatever they are called. Waste of money when I have a two year supply of plastic bags laying around.
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I use the plastic shopping bags as trash bags for my bathroom trash cans. And as lunch sacks too. I will reuse a plastic freezer bag if it isn't messed up, or too dirty. I would say probably about 75% of my bags get rotated. I truly don't do it to be an annoying hippie about it, I do it because I don't like wasting money.
The lessons I was taught as a youth, in frugality, are now "green."
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I'm mystified.
Some here have mentioned using used plastic food bags for cat-litter.
How does that work, exactly?
A cat-litter box holds a lot of litter, far too much to fit in a plastic food bag.
Since I live out in the country and use cat-litter that's simply baked clay, no other ingredients, I just take the whole box and toss it outdoors, to where the garden grows. Great fertilizer.
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I'm mystified.
Some here have mentioned using used plastic food bags for cat-litter.
How does that work, exactly?
A cat-litter box holds a lot of litter, far too much to fit in a plastic food bag.
Since I live out in the country and use cat-litter that's simply baked clay, no other ingredients, I just take the whole box and toss it outdoors, to where the garden grows. Great fertilizer.
I scoop their waste into the plastic bags and then toss them out.
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I think the DUmmies are referring to plastic shopping bags. If you double-bag them, I suppose they would hold quite a bit of cat litter.
Can't imagine sitting around filling sandwich bags with used cat litter. That would take too long.
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I scoop their waste into the plastic bags and then toss them out.
Right; you live in a city, and so you have to do that.
For me, it's just easier to up-end the plastic litter-box over where I want the ground fertilized, dumping the whole thing.
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I wonder if they reuse tampons too.
This subject came up one day at work, what to do with a used tampon. Thank heavens we were at work, had we all been in a bar it could have gotten really bad.
Soak used tampoms in wax and use as candles for holidays.
Used tampons can make great curtain tie backs.
Two or three hanging from the rear view mirror is a statement.
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I reuse the plastic grocery bags for all kinds of stuff. Usually trash.
I will reuse zip locks depending on what was in them. I don't reuse them for food, unless it was one that was the outer bag of something frozen, I will reuse it again for double bagging.
I buy mine at the Dollar Tree. I think there are about 18 to a box, and they have the zipper tags on them. They work just as well as the expensive kind.
Dollar Tree also had cat litter bags.
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I'm mystified.
Some here have mentioned using used plastic food bags for cat-litter.
How does that work, exactly?
A cat-litter box holds a lot of litter, far too much to fit in a plastic food bag.
Since I live out in the country and use cat-litter that's simply baked clay, no other ingredients, I just take the whole box and toss it outdoors, to where the garden grows. Great fertilizer.
Vegetable garden, Frank?
I think they were referring to the plastic shopping bags you get at the grocery store. I could be wrong.
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I scoop their waste into the plastic bags and then toss them out.
Same here, Coach.
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Vegetable garden, Frank?
I think they were referring to the plastic shopping bags you get at the grocery store. I could be wrong.
Hummmmmmm and here I have been trying to discourage cats from using my vegetable and flower gardens as a cat box. If that is the system why not just cut of the middle man, dispense with the litter box, and let nature takes course? Unless of course the cats don't go outdoors which I guess might be an issue some places.
I much prefer my organic fertiliizer not quite so ripe. I do not enjoy finding clumps of stuff clinging to my feet whether with or with out shoes.
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Cats going outside is an issue everywhere.
Unless you consider road-kill kitties, predation and shelter over-population positives.
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Hummmmmmm and here I have been trying to discourage cats from using my vegetable and flower gardens as a cat box. If that is the system why not just cut of the middle man, dispense with the litter box, and let nature takes course? Unless of course the cats don't go outdoors which I guess might be an issue some places.
I much prefer my organic fertiliizer not quite so ripe. I do not enjoy finding clumps of stuff clinging to my feet whether with or with out shoes.
The cats here are sort of odd.
The ones who are mostly "indoor" cats like outdoor plumbing.
The ones who are mostly "outdoor" cats like inside plumbing.
But it works; this is a pretty big property, with several gardens first planted during the 1880s.
Myself being no gardener, every spring I just let what wants to spring up, spring up.
Broccoli and cucumbers is about all that I swipe out of it, though; the rest, I let sprout, grow, ripen, and then rot back into the soil.
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:lol:
A little hot water, dawn soap, and magnets to hang them from the fridge while they dry.
Look and ye shall find: reusable cotton and bamboo tampons!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/27349116/5-organic-cotton-and-bamboo-tampons-with
I picture a sunny summer afternoon in Lawrence, Austin, or Boulder. A house on a quiet street has a clothesline in the back yard. A dozen freshly-washed tampons gently wave, like tiny white churchbells in the faint breeze.
Damn near poetic!
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The lessons I was taught as a youth, in frugality, are now "green."
Exactly. I'm thirfty to save money, not the earth. :lmao:
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That just makes you selfish. Doing things for your own benefit are what separates genuine, caring, tolerant liberals from the scum-of-the-earth RethugliKKKants who want to rape the middle class and the poor with their SUV's and McMansions.
</DU>
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That just makes you selfish. Doing things for your own benefit are what separates genuine, caring, tolerant liberals from the scum-of-the-earth RethugliKKKants who want to rape the middle class and the poor with their SUV's and McMansions.
</DU>
:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:
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Exactly. I'm thirfty to save money, not the earth. :lmao:
Yup. I am thrifty. Now, my boyfriend? He is downright miserly. Seriously. :thatsright: Although both of our cities have free recycling pickup, we take most of ours to a recycling place to get paid. Why? Why give the city something else to make money off of us. Yeah..........
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Right; you live in a city, and so you have to do that.
For me, it's just easier to up-end the plastic litter-box over where I want the ground fertilized, dumping the whole thing.
So, you are going to create a cat shit mountain instead of pig shit?
:-)
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So, you are going to create a cat shit mountain instead of pig shit?
:-)
I wonder what the name of this one will be . . .
The 'Bobbolink' . . .
The 'proud2Blib' . . . :fuelfire:
Any others?
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So, you are going to create a cat shit mountain instead of pig shit?
:-)
Well now, it would take a very long time for the cats to create something as massive as the William Rivers Pitt.
Remember, it took tens of thousands of pigs 75 years to create the miniature Jungfrau here.
Actually, the gardens are so vast no one even notices how they're fertilized.
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Well now, it would take a very long time for the cats to create something as massive as the William Rivers Pitt.
Remember, it took tens of thousands of pigs 75 years to create the miniature Jungfrau here.
Actually, the gardens are so vast no one even notices how they're fertilized.
Searching the inter net for a company that sells these disposers for dog and cat manure. I will have to go back and look under worm farming as this may be where I found it.
Seems one can order a set up that is to be buried in the ground for the disposal and with the order one gets a box of special worms that turn the offal into garden soil. Like composting using only plant material and night crawlers.
I have been told [true or not?] that the pot growers use a waterdown form of Pig offal never straight from the hog to grow their crops in corn fields. Something about the offal from a carnivore is way too strong to be used in its original state---Like a dog that pees in one area will kill the grass. Is this the Ammonia in the offal that does this???
In Panama and some parts of the back woods in the USA people plant their gardens over the septic tank or leach field, Seems to work out well for the farmers that plant their crops, as for those that do not live in the area that 5 pound tomato you bought will give you 3-4 days of the trots.
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Searching the inter net for a company that sells these disposers for dog and cat manure. I will have to go back and look under worm farming as this may be where I found it.
Seems one can order a set up that is to be buried in the ground for the disposal and with the order one gets a box of special worms that turn the offal into garden soil. Like composting using only plant material and night crawlers.
I have been told [true or not?] that the pot growers use a waterdown form of Pig offal never straight from the hog to grow their crops in corn fields. Something about the offal from a carnivore is way too strong to be used in its original state---Like a dog that pees in one area will kill the grass. Is this the Ammonia in the offal that does this???
In Panama and some parts of the back woods in the USA people plant their gardens over the septic tank or leach field, Seems to work out well for the farmers that plant their crops, as for those that do not live in the area that 5 pound tomato you bought will give you 3-4 days of the trots.
I can't remember where I saw the doggie septic systems ( gardener's supply?) either vesta but you are correct about it working with worms. When I had my larger dogs who use to use the back yard I would clean and pile it in the fall to ferment over the winter before turning it in. Darn if in the spring I didn't have some of the best worms in the neighborhood, I mean real huge night crawlers.
It is not advisable to use fresh manure ( a great euphemism for fecal matter) because as you say it will burn crops. Fresh manure is fine on hay fields in the fall or turned in to gardens in the fall. For growing gardens it is best to use 'composted' or cooked manure. I really don't want to think what is in fresh manure but for a short idea, I just had to have the beagle treated for hook worm. This is why it is important to pick up, which lots of people don't do where I often walk her; and, as with kids, sometimes you just cant catch them fast enough when they put something into their mouths. You can also get hook worm through contact with infected fecal matter.
Spring is coming. I have some crocus up. Amazing how they can push through frozen ground.