Plastic bag recycling

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

I Googled around, and searched davis_square's archives specifically, and didn't find anything about this. Is there anywhere in the vicinity - Medford/Somerville/Cambridge, or maybe further afield - where I can recycle plastic bags (i.e. regular shopping bags & other #4-plastic bags)? Does Shaw's or another supermarket have a return? I've got a whole trash bag full of them, accumulated by my roommates and me over the course of the year, and I'm moving out Sunday, so any help is highly appreciated. Thanks! (or if you can use a whole bunch of LDPE, let me know!)

Comments

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

Shaw's in Porter has a return.

[damsel-ophelia.livejournal.com]

yup, Shaws has a receptacle to drop plastic shopping bags in!

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

Oh, fantastic. Thank you both!

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

was just going to say this. Also, I use them as my regular garbage bags, which helps. I also have quite a few folding reusable bags which help reduce the consumption a lot; you can find really nice ones at Cambridge Naturals. They've designed them now so that they fold up like an umbrella and you can just fit them in your purse.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Most all grocery stores have a plastic bag recycling bin. It is usually located in the same area as the can and bottle return machines.

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

Yes, I actually have a large canvas tote bag that is the only container I use for shopping, but my roommates (who have all moved out before now) didn't, so I guess that's how we got to having quite so many plastic bags.

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

absolutely; I have a ton of them too. I just love the folding ones because I tend to grocery shop on impulse quite a bit (or remember when I'm at the gym that I need something at Shaw's) and it's nice to have a bag or two stashed away in my purse just in case.

[summerrose.livejournal.com]

Greenward also has some pretty cool reuseable bags.

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a folding one would be highly useful to me too (my regular one folds up into my work bag but it takes up a relatively large volume), so maybe I'll avail myself of one.

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

Actually I've been looking around for one too, and most places I shop *don't* have a plastic bag recycling facility -- Wild Oats, Shaws at Twin City Plaza, Stop n Shop in Medford. Good to know Porter has one. I hate that store but will stop in next time I'm banking.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Market Basket near Union Square has one.

[twe.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure Stop & Shop over on McGrath has a return. Can they go in your recycling bin?

[ron_newman]

No, Somerville does not accept plastic bags for curbside recycling.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Like others have said, just about every grocery store has a receptacle for used bags these days. Personally, I wonder if these bags don't just end up in the trash anyway...

Shaws actually sells halfway decent re-usable bags for $1.00. They don't appear to give you any credit for using them, however. If you bring your own bags to wholefoods or wild oats, you will get a $0.05 credit for each bag not used.

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

Yes! I always get the wooden nickel at Wild Oats (when the cashiers remember the refund). I only get one nickel because I only have the one bag.

bags + market basket

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

just read the thread @ groceries and Market Basket came up a lot as a good place to get produce, etc. I like it a lot - but one thing that always stuns me is the sheer number of plastic bags they pack my stuff in. If I don't say something they will put in like one or two items per *bag*.

Maybe they think bags grow on trees... or something ;-)

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Yes, I got a set of Envirosax there that I like quite a lot. They pack down small, and there's no extra little storage pouch to lose.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

which is a useful source of bags if you forget to bring your own and don't want to waste plastic on new bags.

Re: bags + market basket

[voynaren.livejournal.com]

Maybe they think bags grow on trees... or something ;-)

They don't?? But I always see them growing there...

Laminated crafts

[mysilentcry.livejournal.com]

One can make things ^_^ There is this option:

http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-overdue-fusing-plastic-bag.html

other examples:
http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html

Re: Laminated crafts

[jbdowse.livejournal.com]

That's cool! I bookmarked those links for future reference. I dropped off these bags already though.