Believe it or not, the plastic garbage bag is a relatively recent convenience item on the scene. Many of us do not remember a time before big plastic bags of garbage, but our grandparents likely would remember when garbage accumulated more slowly and a trip to the dump was necessary once a month, maybe. Items were reused, burned as fuel when appropriate, or tilled back into the garden without there being any public education campaigns about it. But at some point oil became cheap and plentiful and more and more throw-away packaging was developed that people couldn't reuse. Trips to the dump were necessary more and more often, until public outcry caused municipalities to offer garbage pick-up. But heaps of garbage sitting out by the street waiting for pick-up would be a public health hazard (as many other countries had already discovered). Necessity is the mother of invention, so a very large plastic bag was developed for the express purpose of containing our garbage. Landfills had already existed for a while, but they became more and more choked with plastic film. CBC recently did a very good documentary on this subject. The link is below. Again, necessity being the mother of invention, something has come along to try to relieve some of this congestion. OXO Biodegradable garbage bags are now available in grocery stores and specialty stores around Peterborough. While information about what they are made of and where is not readily available, we are told that they are made in Canada and that they are biodegradable in two years (as opposed to the hundreds of years it takes a normal bag). They do not biodegrade in a home composter, so don't use them for your compost. They are intended for the landfill. So write to your favourite companies to encourage them to reduce plastic packaging, refuse to buy products that have too much plastic packaging, and when you do have some garbage to send to the landfill, put it in one of these bags-until out of necessity we come up with something better!
Specialize in solar and wind power generation, solar hot water and solar heating for home, commercial and industrial. Also carrying biodegradable plastic bags.
Many towns and even some countries in the world have already banned plastic bags for various reasons. Find out more, and see the world's largest collection of plastic bags, in this fascinating documentary.
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