owlmoose | Unintentional consequences

Some time ago, the city of San Francisco outlawed the use of plastic grocery bags. I remember hearing about this at the time, and Whole Foods made the switch awhile ago, but it still came as a surprise when we walked into Safeway last week and the only bags in sight were paper.

It's not so much the carrying groceries in paper bags rather than plastic -- I'm pretty neutral on that, although the Safeway paper bags aren't great; the handles are pretty flimsy. But I use plastic bags for other things, and I know I'm not the only one: we use them to line garbage cans, when traveling, to clean the litterbox. That last thing I'm particularly concerned about. We can use paper bags in most of the other garbage applications, but how am I going to clean the litterbox every day without a plastic grocery bag? The only thing I can think of right now is to buy more plastic bags. Somehow, I don't think that's what the environmental groups who supported this law had in mind.

Well, I'm sure I'll think of something. The results aren't all bad. We went back to Safeway today, and they're giving out a free cloth bag with every $25 purchase. It's pretty flimsy as cloth bags go, but it's still more reusable than paper. So that's a win. I wish Whole Foods would do that, too -- their bags are a lot more substantial.

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my brother uses the little brown paper bags (like lunch bag size) for his cat, if that helps...

That's an idea, but it would still mean buying more bags, and I'm not sure they would be big enough to clean up after two cats. Thanks though! I may try it if other ideas don't pan out.

So here's what I do when cleaning my cat's litterbox.

I keep an "empty" litter carton - I buy the huge 27-lb plastic buckets - with lid. Every day I scoop the mess out of the litter box and dump it into the empty bucket and put the lid on. Since I use the clumping litter, this keeps the kitty box nice and fresh with the addition of the Arm & Hammer baking soda litterbox stuff. I can usually go between two and three weeks of actual full litter changes this way.

We get our cat food in containers like that, so this is definitely worth a try once we have a spare. Thanks for the suggestion!!

To clean the cat litter boxes, I actually use biodegradeable bags that are designed to pick up dog poop. There are ones with handles that I like a lot - they are called Pooch Pick-Up and they are made with cornstarch. The company that makes them is Kyjen. I find them in the more "boutique-y" pet stores (I don't think you can find the ones with handles at PetFood Express or Petco), but I checked and you can also order them from Amazon - it's about $7/box for 100 bags.

We have a boutique pet store right around the corner from us, and a lot of dog owners in the neighborhood, so I will definitely look for these. I rebel a little bit at the idea of buying something new when I've been "reusing" for so long, but if I have to buy it might as well be something environmentally friendly. Thanks for the tip!!

I use plastic grocery bags to line the container in the electric litter box. It's easier than removing the plastic container and much cheaper. I have two paper bags full of those bags, far more than I need, and since we haven't outlawed them here I can still get more when I need them. Would you like me to send you a bunch? I must have collected hundreds of them before I finally started using reusable bags. Just tell me how many you want.

My email is i.iambe at gmail.

Thanks so much for the offer, but I think I'll be okay. I got some good suggestions and it's only the city of SF that's outlawed them, so if I get desperate I can always go shop in the suburbs. ;) I appreciate the thought, though!

Like i.iambe, we have a ton of plastic bags. We need to make several trips a year to recycle them (usually a local grocery store). I do wish they'd recycle them at the curb. Moreover, I wish vendors would encourage the concept of reusing them. I try to bring used ones to stores (eg, bagging fruits and veggies), but what drives me nuts are farmer's markets. Many of the vendors there *insist* on giving me new bags, even as I pull mine out to reuse. I wish they and more stores got into the habit of asking, "Would you need a bag for that?" rather than the usual waste waste waste.

I was at Petsmart buying cat food today when I noticed that she'd put my 7.5 lb bag of cat food in a grocery bag for no apparent reason. I told her I didn't need it and asked her to just reuse it for the next person. She took the bag off and said "oh, I'll just throw it away then" and tossed it in the trash. I asked her why she didn't reuse it and she said it was easier to use a new one.

I stood there sputtering until my BF gently steered me towards the door.

I have carried my own reusable bags to the grocery store for more years than I care to admit. After a while, it becomes the natural thing to do and one feels awkward not doing it (as when making an unplanned stop.)

Question: does your newspaper come in a plastic sleeve? We save those - particularly the sturdy ones from the NYT - and use them to clean the cat pans. They work perfectly with a spoon shaped scoop.

We actually don't get the paper -- T and I both read all our news online. But since I live in a building with a lobby, papers aren't usually delivered in sleeves anyway. Thanks for the suggestion anyway!

We'll get used to reusable bags, I'm sure; just a matter of developing the habit. The checkers are also still working on making it part of their routine -- the first couple of times at Whole Foods, the hand-over was fairly awkward.

One of the tricks I learned was to write my last name on my fabric bags with a marking pen. That way, the checkers did not try to charge me for a bag I had already paid for. I find the reusable bags more comfortable to carry and far better for handling heavy items; they do not tear. Besides, one feels so continental and sophisticated carrying one's own shopping bag. Heh!

We have zillions of plastic bags from the corner store and from Safeway, which hasn't caught on yet to Oakland's plastic bag ban. You're welcome to a bunch of them if you want them.

Thanks! I may take you up on that. Maybe the next time you come to dinner? I'll email you.

I use flushable kitty litter, which makes the whole plastic bag question moot... and is much easier to clean up. And it's not really all that much more expensive than the regular little, you may just have to give your cats a couple of weeks to get used to the new stuff. At this point my cats are fine with pretty much any of the natural flushable options and i use them interchangeable (though of course I have favorites :) )

We can't use flushable litter here -- a parasite that's common to cats and doesn't hurt them gets into the ocean and makes sea otters sick. They're actually trying to make flushable litter illegal in CA for just that reason, although so far they've only gotten warning labels.

Otherwise it would be tempting! But I can't do anything against the interest of sea otters.

You are welcome to our zillions of plastic bags as well.

Unintentional consequences

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