Recycle Plastic Bags In Your Home

Recycle Plastic Bags In Your Home

Plastic pollution is today one of the most serious environmental problems affecting the oceans. Once in the natural environment, plastic can take up to 500 years to disappear and impacts wildlife on a daily basis. Drifting between two bodies of water it can strangle or smother any number of animal species. The danger goes further: under the influence of the sun, it fragments into microplastics that are ingested by fish and so enter the food chain. It is therefore also a potential threat to human health.

How do you recycle the recycled? Typically, we put it in a plastic bag and leave it out for the people to wake us in the morning with their large trucks. There are, however, better ways. Here are eight ideas on how to recycle plastic bags in your home

1. You Can’t Just Put Them In the Bin

Your recycling bins and containers may be useful for many occasions. However, it may surprise you to know that a majority of the communities that are green-healthy don’t accept plastic bags in the recycle bin, primarily because they are ill-equipped to sort each one, ensure that the materials the bags once held are removed and put them back on the line.

Your best bet on how to recycle plastic bags is to dispose of them at the local grocery store, not your own can. There are better, safer and more convenient ways to reuse bags.

2. Shopping

A lot of Canadian chains now charge you a bit extra for a plastic bag, assuming the ill-prepared shopped will not be able to carry their groceries and need to shell out an extra fifteen cents at the counter.

While most people now carry their own personal shopping bags, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Simply save the bags you’re given at the store once and reuse them until they’re thoroughly worn out.

3.Ensure Bags Are Clean

When it comes to how to recycle plastic bags, cleanliness is next to Green-liness. A dirty, soiled bag is likely to be rejected even at the most willing recycling centre, as it would be deemed unusable. So be sure to check for any debris before sending it off for prepossessing. Any receipts, gum or other such objects should be removed.

4. Check the Recycling Symbols

Plastic bags typically have a number 2 or number 4 inked on them. This will help you determine if the bag is recyclable or already made by recycled materials. If the bag has either number on the bottom, it’s best to use around the house for other purposes.

5. Collect In One Large Garbage Bag

The average garbage bag can fit around 50 to 100 smaller plastic bags, if necessary. Scrunch the bags up tightly to conserve every available centimetre of space and fill up one each month, at least. Or, better still, just buy a grocery shopping bag, already. These days, it makes you look harried and lazy when the cash register attendant asks if you want a bag. Even the busboys give you a look.

6. Bag RecycIing Bins

Most major store outlets – Target, Safeway to name a few – will have a bag collection bin near their exits or entryways. Once you’ve collected all your smaller bags into one large bag, it should be easy enough on your next shopping excursion to dump a bunch of them right in the bin, preserving both the state of your home and the environment.

7. Reuse At Home

It’s a no-brainer to line your own garbage cans with plastic bags. Once they’re worn through, you can resort to other methods, but this is the most logical way to make good use of all that crinkly white paper floating around your home.