Q:
Dear Ashley,
Assuming that I am already using reusable shopping bags (for groceries and any shopping!), reusing fruit/vegetable bags and recycling as much as possible... What is the best option for garbage bags? I am reusing old/used plastic grocery bags (from someone else). Is there really any advantage to using compostable or bio-degradable plastic bags for the landfill? I didn't think they would break down much in landfills if there is little air or water.
Thanks,
Debbie
A:
Dear Debbie,
I'm not sure there is anything today that embodies our collective guilt over trashing the planet more than plastic. It is such a pervasive substance that many people want only to avoid it altogether; perhaps because it feels uncomfortably permanent. And permanent it is. According to Tony Andrady, the world's foremost expert on plastics in the environment, apart form a small amount of plastic that has been incinerated, all of the plastic created in the past 50 or so years still lingers somewhere in the environment. Lavish amounts float atop the world's vast oceans, making plastic debris the most common surface feature on the oceans today. Less conspicuous, but equally undeniable, is the vast quantity of plastic that persists in landfills. The absence of oxygen, sun and water, as you correctly noted, ensures that they'll be preserved for thousands and thousands of years.
Knowing this, concerned citizens have worked tirelessly to reduce their consumption of plastic. Reusable shopping bags have helped reduce our dependence on plastic on one front but it seems that it is impossible to completely avoid plastic altogether. Compostable/biodegradable plastics have become more widely available and while these may seem like a reasonable option, they, as with all organic material buried in a landfill, break down through anaerobic (without oxygen) decomposition, releasing methane (CH4) in the process. I'm sure you've heard it before but methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 20 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). This is why composting is such a beneficial exercise. By aerating (introducing oxygen) the compost heap a person inhibits the growth of bacteria that produce methane, leaving a healthy and complex soil amendment instead.
So, what are you to do with the remaining trash that goes to the curb? Your plan to use others’ grocery bags is not a bad one but eventually they, too, may realise the benefits of using reusable shopping bags, leaving you high and dry. Another possibility would be to do away with garbage bags altogether. After combing over the City's waste bylaw it doesn’t appear that putting loose trash in a trash container is a problem. If you are already composting and recycling this might be a real possibility, especially if you empty your household bins regularly. For those places where this could be a messy proposal (i.e. the kitchen), those hand-me-down plastic shopping bags or recycled plastic trash bags may be the answer. Combining reused and recycled bags with a goal of reduction will certainly have a positive impact.
If we all do our part to reduce waste, compost and recycle, and reuse materials to their fullest potential, then eventually we’ll reach the ultimate target - zero waste!
Persistently,
Ashley
Ashley Lubyk, BSC in Environmental Science, formerly a Calgary Materials Exchange Program Assistant at Clean Calgary Association.
Please send your question concerning Water, Waste, or Recycling to Ashley Lubyk
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