Bag It, Friday Night Mountainfilm Feature

[Jdarg]

Lat night's feature was a special treat- not only did we get to see a phenomenal movie about the single-use plastics industry, but the starring family is in town and were at the show last night- Jeb, Ann, and their darling little boy, William.

It is always such a thrill to be able to talk to the people involved in the Mountainfilm movies (remember Red Gold?).

I bet there will be many more reusable grocery bags used at Publix today!

What stuck with me most from the film are the cities and countries worldwide who have already outlawed the plastic grocery bags, or at least charge a fee for them.




"A powerful and deceptively simple movie that is sure to change the way you look at every day objects. I didn't expect a movie about plastic bags to change my life in such a deep and profound way. Gripping, funny, intelligent and sure to change your life."
- Louie Psihoyos, Director of The Cove


Bag It The Movie

 

[seaschnells]

I agree. It was great! Makes you think!

 

[scooterbug44]

I think this movie needs to be shown to every schoolkid in America!

I knew we had a problem, but did not realize the scope and the extreme effects it was having on us and the world - or how little of "recyclable plastic" was actually recyclable or recycled.

100 billion bags used in the US each year - using 12 million barrels of oil.

Step #1 needs to be banning ultrathin single use plastic bags (already done by the environmental paragons China, India, and Mexico City) or charging people to use them - the most effective way to change habits.

Step #2 needs to be getting Americans to stop drinking so much bottled water and drinks. Each liter of water takes 3 liters to produce it and .25 to .5 liters of oil to make it and transport it.................so you can drink municipal tap water out of plastic.

Look at the bottle of water or juice. Imagine it half full of oil. Look at the Gulf. It is worth it?

Step #3 get rid of unnecessary packaging and use biodegradable options instead of plastic whenever possible.

Plastic is a great thing - but it never goes away and doesn't need to be used in many cases. Do you really need a plastic egg carton instead of a cardboard one? Why does something in a box or other container need to be wrapped again in plastic?

 

[TreeFrog]

One of the interesting themes in the film was that recycling plastics isn't as effective as we all think.

For a consumer today, it would be really hard to get away from ALL single-use plastics. Switching from bottled to canned soft drinks and drinking tap water are easy (and fortunately effective - we use a LOT of both and made both switches long ago), but some things aren't.

When I went to Publix yesterday, here are a few of the things I buy regularly that simply weren't available at all without some type of plastic:

Popcorn
Yogurt
Dental floss
M&Ms
Shampoo
Toothpaste
Any produce that isn't loose - mushrooms, for instance
Lettuce
Hot dogs
much, much more

Some others were available both ways:

Peanut butter - some glass jars
Soft drinks - cans and plastic
Olive oil - lots of glass jars
Cheese, at the deli.
Sliced lunch meats, at the deli
Eggs - a few types in cardboard cartons (which we can't recycle in Walco)

God bless Planters Peanuts, they are only available in either cans or glass bottles.

I suppose you could ask the butcher and deli to wrap cut your stuff on the spot and wrap it in paper, that might be an interesting experiment. If you grocery shop at WalMart, you'd probably be laughed out of the store.

Don't forget that Publix does their own recycling that accepts items you can't put in the blue trailers. Out front of the store, they have bins for plastic bags, paper bags, and styrofoam.

 

[Carol G]

One of the things I miss most about Wild Oats/Whole Foods is the bulk foods section. I would love to see Publix install these in their local stores, along with the re-usable drawstring nutsa..., er, bags. Nuts, popcorn, flours, sugars, grains, pastas, cereals, candies, etc... there's really no reason to waste all of that packaging for those items, plastic or not.

 

[scooterbug44]

I was having "I see plastics everywhere" moments all day saturday. :roll: Fricking stuff is EVERYWHERE.

The frustrating thing is that there are easy biodegradable or truly recyclable substitutes that could greatly reduce our use w/ little to no change in quality or safety, but it is hard to get them.

The biggest offenders in my house are food items (many that I do think are a good idea to have in plastic like meat, cheese, yogurt, etc.), toiletries (bar soap instead of liquid is an easy change I am going to make), cleaning products, and storage items (ziploc, saran wrap, and gladware).

I have the reusable bags for groceries, but have been stymied by the produce, so going to see if I can get reusable bags for those like shown in the film.

Am going to get one of those drying racks, turn into Grandma, and wash out the ziploc bags. :roll:

May also embrace my snowbird heritage and bring my own tupperware "to go box" when I can't finish my meal (me taking it off my plate and putting it in my container causes no cross contamination issues), but it would be far better if local restaurants could use cardboard or biodegradable containers.

Ditto for things like the Publix Mushroom containers. Cardboard would work just fine for "non-juicy" produce they won't sell loose.

Decided I am going to get glass storage containers instead of plastic - they still have plastic lids, but it is FAR better for the planet and me that it is mostly glass and I don't have to worry about the toxins going into the food from being in and being heated in plastic. Pyrex? Products ? Making Cooking a Little Easier

I know that the biodegradable Sunchip bag was rejected by consumers for being too noisy, but why not other products where it is a one time short "noise" - like wrappers for unpopped bags of microwave popcorn?

 

[TreeFrog]

I know that the biodegradable Sunchip bag was rejected by consumers for being too noisy, but why not other products where it is a one time short "noise" - like wrappers for unpopped bags of microwave popcorn?

Geez, and that's one of the things I liked about 'em. Nobody could sneak a munch of my Sun Chips and get away with it. :roll:

 

[TreeFrog]

Decided I am going to get glass storage containers instead of plastic - they still have plastic lids, but it is FAR better for the planet and me that it is mostly glass and I don't have to worry about the toxins going into the food from being in and being heated in plastic.

These are great. Been using them about a year, now. No worries about the plastic off-gassing when you heat them. The Pyrex will heat on the stove or in the oven, not limited to microwave like the plastic. And, the plastic ones tended to crap out when you heated tomato-based stuff like spaghetti sauce or chili. The sauce sorta "bonded" to the container and wouldn't wash off.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

I was having "I see plastics everywhere" moments all day saturday. :roll: Fricking stuff is EVERYWHERE.

The frustrating thing is that there are easy biodegradable or truly recyclable substitutes that could greatly reduce our use w/ little to no change in quality or safety, but it is hard to get them.

The biggest offenders in my house are food items (many that I do think are a good idea to have in plastic like meat, cheese, yogurt, etc.), toiletries (bar soap instead of liquid is an easy change I am going to make), cleaning products, and storage items (ziploc, saran wrap, and gladware).

I have the reusable bags for groceries, but have been stymied by the produce, so going to see if I can get reusable bags for those like shown in the film.

Am going to get one of those drying racks, turn into Grandma, and wash out the ziploc bags. :roll:

May also embrace my snowbird heritage and bring my own tupperware "to go box" when I can't finish my meal (me taking it off my plate and putting it in my container causes no cross contamination issues), but it would be far better if local restaurants could use cardboard or biodegradable containers.

Ditto for things like the Publix Mushroom containers. Cardboard would work just fine for "non-juicy" produce they won't sell loose.

Decided I am going to get glass storage containers instead of plastic - they still have plastic lids, but it is FAR better for the planet and me that it is mostly glass and I don't have to worry about the toxins going into the food from being in and being heated in plastic. Pyrex? Products ? Making Cooking a Little Easier

I know that the biodegradable Sunchip bag was rejected by consumers for being too noisy, but why not other products where it is a one time short "noise" - like wrappers for unpopped bags of microwave popcorn?

You might want to check second hand stores for your Pyrex. I get a lot from Nook and Cranny here in town, along with some super cool Fire King glassware with lids

 

[scooterbug44]

I love Pyrex - already have measuring cups, mixing bowls, baking pans, and tiny storage containers - this movie (and Christmas) are my excuses to get the storage containers.

The only thing I drink out of plastic (besides occasional milk) is Ocean Spray juice with a cash deposit in California and 5 cents back in Maine and Hawaii.

The "plastic machine" in Germany fascinated me. Obviously huge manufacturers like Coke and Ocean Spray are already reusing bottles, so why can't we do that here?

One other biggie - garbage bags. I only use them in the kitchen, but would love to get biodegradable ones (current ones are 65% recycled plastic). Anyone have a source?