What is the purpose of a “tall kitchen garbage/waste bag?“ In my household, it is to keep all the non-recyclable trash together until it reaches the landfill. An amazing amount of that waste is plastic packaging used on food. So the plastic garbage bag keeps all this plastic and some paper together both in the home and on the truck. When driving behind a garbage truck, I see a lot of those plastic “grocery bags” flying out the top or back of the truck to litter the environment or work it’s way into a waterway. A garbage bag minimizes that.
To me, it does not matter if the garbage bag itself will break down because it is going to be sealed in an air tight landfill and will probably still be there for centuries.
Compostable Plastic Trash Bags
These are made mostly of corn (maize). They actually do compost into organic material. Back in 2015 I tried some of these bags. I wish I could say I was impressed but I can’t. The bags are expensive and not strong enough. I had to use two bags, one inside of the other which doubles the cost and even then they were barely strong enough. The corners of trash would slit them too easily and they were leak prone.I do see some uses for this technology from BioBag. They might work as lawn and leaf bags, grocery store produce bags (if strong enough) and dog waste pickup bags, but not for general kitchen trash that is going to end up in a landfill anyway.
Responsibly Sourced Trash Bags
So the trash bag will end up in a landfill anyway, so how do we make trash bags more environmentaly responsible? Either make them from recycled plastics or plastics derived from renewable sources.Seventh Generation Drawstring Kitchen Trash Bags: I bought these in 2017. They are 65% recycled plastic (somebody has to use up the plastic sent to recycling). To my surprise, these are pretty darn good. Strong, reasonably priced and I like the drawstring. They are also sized right. They help the environment by creating a use for some of that plastic we recycle and they take less energy to produce. I would buy these again.
Hippo Sak Tall Kitchen Bags: So far I like these the best. The material is 85% plant based from sugar cane. They are not any more environmentally friendly after you use them than any other plastic bag, but they use less petroleum products so that’s a win. They are very strong and resist leaking. I didn’t think I would like the handles but I found it just as easy to tie then off to secure the top as any draw string bag. I will buy these again.
Your routine and circumstances may vary from mine.
