Reiterating the lesson driven home to us in those old "Hefty Hefty Hefty, Wimpy Wimpy Wimpy" commercials, the anguished writer explains why it's better to shell out more money for tough sacks:
We bought low-end garbage bags once. Of the first nine bags we used, two of them ripped and dumped their contents all over our kitchen floor on the way to the trash can. Each mess took at least ten minutes to clean up - one mess was almost entirely dry stuff, so it was fairly easy, but the other mess involved some sticky items, including a glass bottle that cracked and leaked some maple syrup on the floor.
The time lost cleaning up these messes almost immediately ate up the "value" we got in buying the low-end brand versus the price we would pay buying better bags in bulk.
Since then, we've stuck to the brand we trust - Glad Forceflex tall kitchen bags - which have won garbage bag comparisons in both Real Simple and Consumer Reports. We can get these bags in bulk for about eighteen cents a bag, compared to roughly fifteen cents a bag for generic. Given that we have, in three years, only had one breakage of our preferred kind of bag, we'll stick to our preferred brand, thank you.
Whenever I make a comment along these lines, people almost always suggest not filling the bags as much. "If you only filled the generics 80% full, then you wouldn't have the breakage!" Well, let's look at that scenario. If I have five 13 gallon bags and I fill each of them 80% full, I've got 52 gallons of trash. On the other hand, if I have four 13 gallon bags and I fill each of them to the brim, I have the same amount of trash — 52 gallons.
So, I can either use five generic bags (which cost fifteen cents a pop), empty the trash 25% more often, put more plastic into the environment, and spend a total of 75 cents, or I can use four of our preferred bags (which cost eighteen cents a pop), put less plastic into the environment, and only spend 72 cents.
I really like how he not only applied stats to the situation there, but also mathematically proved how "wimpy wimpy wimpy" destroys the environment. Impressive work, The Simple Dollar.
The Cheap Garbage Bag Dilemma [The Simple Dollar]
(Photo: Clean Wal-Mart)
An episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit backs up his argument.
I'm not saying I agree, I'm just giving you a possible source to his claim.
]]>Do you have a source for this claim or are you just making it up?
]]>There's no point in using shopping bags when the quality is so bad that you can't find enough that don't have small holes in the bottoms. I used to use them until the quality dropped and kitty litter would spill out of the bag.
]]>Depends on the type of trash...
Plastic grocery bags (Kroger, Wal-Mart, etc) are great for lining smaller bathroom and bedroom trash cans. They're also handy near the kitchen sink for wrapping food scraps and other food waste you don't want to waste water and energy tossing in the garbage disposer (and did I mention they're FREE?).
Larger store bags (Macy's, Toys "R" Us, etc.) are great for emptying smaller bedroom and bathroom cans into. They can also be used to line your paper shredder when disposing of those pesky "pre-approved" credit card offers. Agaun, they're free and this is a great way if recycling them.
For the heavy stuff, I go with Members' Mark (Sam's Club). I've never had one break (even with broken glass in it). The 39-gallon ones are so strong I use them as cat box liners - when the cat box mess hits critical mass, flip 'em inside out, pull the drawstring and toss 'em in the trash can.
]]>I think that some municipalities require them to be available for purchase.
Mil is often listed as μ
]]>Recycle more.
I use paper bags I get from the grocery store. Haven't had a problem yet.
]]>Plus there's the whole cat litter thing. Ideally, that wouldn't go in the trash at all, but I don't think my homeowners' association would go for a giant pit in my backyard for burying used litter. (Besides, there's an easement to another drain in the corner of our yards ... might as well just have flushed it at that point.)
]]>Who will take up the blue shirt and beard to fill his shoes?
]]>We did recently try the Hefty bags w/ the odor blocker in them, and we liked them ok, although they are a far cry from 'unscented' as the package claims. The smell of the bags literally started to me nauseous before we ran out of bags and I wound up giving them away on Freecycle.
]]>Sometimes when I've pulled the handles, the top of the bag ripped. Could just be "too much garbage", but the bags are kind of weak.
]]>Here's a better solution, and sorry to criticize the OP: Wash out empty food containers (plastic, glass, cans) before you toss them. And separate containers from other trash, recycling where possible.
Even if you don't care one whit about the environment, cleaning out the packaging of stuff you bought will reduce smell, mess, and the risk of bugs invading your house until trash day. And it will reduce the risk of your bags tearing or leaking.
]]>@mbz32190: Wow.
]]>My city has also gradually reduced the thickness of these yellow bags over the years to save money, and it's bordering on useless at this point. Other towns around us use a sticker system that lets you use any bag you want, within reason.
]]>We recycle a lot, and anything big or smelly goes right into the trash outside.
]]>I've had a generic bag rip on me once and that was when I had broken a bottle and didn't want to bother fussing with all the tiny shreds of glass by taking them out to the bin. But then again, I learned from my grandmother who lived through the Depression. The woman would roll up or manually compact her trash before disposing of it. She got EVERY inch of space out of her garbage sacks and only had to pay the garbage men to come out once a month for two bags. It got the point where my mom would collect the sacks at the end of the month during one of their grocery days and put it out with our bags to save her the five bucks. When I was a kid I was simultaneously grossed out and amazed. Now I'm just amazed. That woman wasted NOTHING. EVER.
]]>@Cant_stop_the_rock: I've had Costco's bags break - but that's only in the past couple of years. Previously, they were the best thing out there.
I have multiple kitties, so my garbage bags are put to the test.
Walmart's are the absolute biggest waste of money anywhere.
]]>@loudambiance: I haven't had a bag break or tear on me yet... but the handles/drawstring always seem to tear or break off. So frustrating!
]]>@catastrophegirl - just add kittens: I am so happy to know that I am not the only one that does this. I always double-grocery-bag my spent cat litter, but holes there are always holes! >.<
]]>@outoftheblew: Just dogs and raccoons? In my part of the world, trash can = lunch box for bears.
]]>As for kitty litter, just double up some grocery bags. If you don't have any, just go to a grocery store and grab a handful out of a recycling bin (the stores will thank you--those things cost money to get rid of) It isn't really that big of deal.
]]>@mbz32190: My city has regulations about what kind of bags need to be used (any standard trash bag will do) so using wal-mart bags to hold garbage isn't going to work.
And before everyone goes all nanny-state bonkers, the ordinance actually has a purpose. It allows the city to issue citations to idiots who don't put their trash in a bag, or in a proper bag, which results in trash all over the streets on collection day. Even with the ordinance, it's still a problem since this is a college town, and generally, kids away from home are complete idiots the first year with regard to basic living skills. But, they're smart enough not to get 2 citations, for the most part.
]]>@jonc20: I used to use grocerie bags for everything, but then we moved and changed stores, and let me tell you.. Kroger grocerie bags are just about as worthless as they come.. Once they get home they seem to decentegrate automatically. I stopped saving them all together because they are so worthless.
I'd like to start using reusable bags but I just don't see how I would remember to use them, and not only that.. but I think my husband just wouldn't bother. (He does most of the shopping, or we do it together.)
If they start charging fees for disposable bags.. then we'll probably do something.
]]>I reuse the few I get (I take reusuable bags to the store) but I usually can't put anything dripping or small in them because there's a hole in the bottom.
]]>Me, I use the cheap Ruffies 4 & 8 gal(.35 mil), Target kitchen 13 gal (.65mil), and Sams Club 39gal (1 mil). That's because I don't overfill the cans before I haul out the garbage. Same with the kitchen - I empty it before it gets overloaded. If it has something majorly stinky in it, then tying it off and getting another bag isn't the issue it would be with a bag that cost 3-4 times as much. I use the heavier lawn bags in my big trashcan to hold it all together.
]]>@nffcnnr: I initially read that part as the container was thrown away because it was broken not that it had gotten broken in the fall. My reading comprehension fail.
]]>@gfonner:
We buy the large Costco trash bags (don't know the size, but they are black with a red pull tie) and have always liked them to use in our smaller kitchen garbage can.
They were always as good as name brand until we bought the last box. This whole box the pull ties don't work, they just would stretch and tear unless you manually work them through (the plastic tie is basically sticking to the bag). It's inconvenient and wasted a few bags at first. Plus the ties seem to stretch easier, so you can't carry the bag with them as intended.
Probably going to switch back to name brand after this box is empty or, if I do get them from Costco again with the same issue, return the box.
I understand that in many cities there's a place like this that's open to the public at wholesale prices.
]]>Last time I moved, there was a bag of the Force Flex garbage bags around so I used it. (And you know how it is when you're moving; it's amazing how in a short span of time, you can end up surrounded with so much that doesn't need to come 400 miles with you to the next place.) I kept putting holes in them while throwing out those big plastic bubble packages that everything comes in. (The kind you need a machete and half an hour to get open.)
Although interestingly enough, the mangled and smashed IKEA desk didn't put a hole in the garbage bag.
]]>This is why I still have a lanyard keychain that I got in a college program in 1997.
]]>@sponica: Put your keys in your pocket.
]]>@Jim Topoleski: Umm, what is in your soil that causes glass and aluminum to break down relatively easily?
]]>@winshape: Sadly, all infomercials will now be minus Billy Mays.
]]>@lotussix: Neither does mine. That's why I periodically take it to the recycling center myself.
]]>Cheap bags are for people that don't like trash stagnating in their house overnight. Looks like your into that sort of thing.
]]>@chersolly: Ditto. I prefer Target's bags. I have super-thin ones that I use for the bathroom and bedroom, but heavier ones for the kitchen, which is then the one that all others get put into and gets taken to the curb. Never had problems ... like you, I must be picking the appropriate bag for the appropriate situation.
@catastrophegirl - just add kittens: LOL @ a duck digging ripping into the trash! That's gonna stick with me today. Here in the midwest, it's just dogs and raccoons.
]]>One "mil" is a thousandth of an inch. Which makes sense. Your plastic bags aren't anywhere near even a half-mm thick (If they were, they'd be heavy like a tarp!)
]]>@gfonner:
My Costco bags although less expensive than 'name brand' are up to par w/ the name brand. We use all the trash bags Costco carries, lawn/garden, kitchen, etc and have never had a problem stuffing them w/ garbage. With 2 pre-teens who take care of the trash....believe me they stuff them pretty well!
]]>I've only double bagged perhaps twice this year. Considering I get 100 "cheap" bags for the price of 20 of the better quality glad bags (I checked, this is WalMart's "Maximum" brand vs. Glad's similar sized bags), I'm doing pretty damn well.
I also prefer to fill the bags to less than bursting full. Makes it easier to drag to the curb. As far as the environment is concerned:
- They're WAY thinner so the amount of plastic used works out in the end (in fact, I'd say in my favour, they're THAT thin)
- Our stupid landlords require us to break down our boxes, put them in garbages bags, and place them at the curb for garbage collection
- Can't use anything but black trash bags (landlord requirement--yes, they send notes about this) and a lot of the "name brands" aren't black anymore
Really, it's just a matter of using cheap bags long enough to figure out how to use them properly. After a few months, you won't notice the difference. For real.
]]>about 1/3 of the way through the box, she finally relented and went and bought the ForceFlex. The first thing that went into my new batch of ForceFlex was the store brand bags.. Good Riddance!
Buy cheap, Buy Twice!
]]>But I started going all-cloth-bags right before it became trendy (back when I'd get dirty looks from some baggers for asking that they use my cloth bags), and that eventually ate through my huge supply of grocery plastic. So much so that I didn't have enough to wrap fragile items in when I moved and had to beg extras off of my non-cloth-bag using friends!
Now we only get plastic bags when my husband forgets to take cloth bags when he does some shopping, or from the occasional Target shop. We reuse those as well, but we've had to actually buy virgin plastic. The Kirkland bags have held up just fine for us in the kitchen.
]]>@Radi0logy:
When I was a kid living with my parents, we had a HUGE garbage can - one intended for outside work in the lawn.
It lasted maybe two days. Of course, that was the ONLY garbage can in the house outside of the small one in the bathroom, that did get grocery bags, and was transferred into the big one.
We also recycled paper and aluminum cans, though not plastic. It was before the whole global warming thing, and plastic recycling wasn't really available.
]]>@SuranjanaMyrrha: There's also another part of this, I use "cheap" bags, but not the cheapest.. I've never had a problem pulling them out of my kitchen trashcan, and bringing them to my dumpster.
Then again, I have a reasonably small transcan.. more trash might require a better trashbag.
]]>And in the case of paper/glass/and aluminum, all break down relatively easy into the environment
]]>unfortunately with racoons, dogs and possums around this meant not getting to put the trash out the night before, i had to put it out around 5 am on trash day.
and once i even found a DUCK ripping into my trash
]]>Now I just go for the Glad brand bags and no more problems. It's worth the extra 30% or so.
]]>Costco bags are pretty much rebranded major manufacturer bags. They are talking about dollar store bags here.
]]>It's really not that complicated:
1. Buy whatever bags you want. I choose the cheapest I can get.
2. When the bag is full, tie it in the trash can.
3. Take the trash can with you to the dumpster or other garbage recepticle.
4. Invert the trash can over the garbage recepticle.
The generic bags run about $0.10 each and I've not broken any of them in as long as I can remember. But if you do, so what? The garbage has reached its interim destination.
]]>Regular trash bags are soooo flimsy, they break 2 out of 10 times! That doesn't happen with my super duper Hefty Forceflex tall kitchen bags, rated #1 in consumer reports, Ebert gives it 2 thumbs up, and there's a compass in the stock!
I second the other posts about Costco brand trash bags. They are very cheap, and the only problem I've had is the occasional draw-strap break - but the bag itself has never failed.
]]>@mbz32190:
I do the same exact thing. For our larger trash bin in the kitchen we use the Kirkland Signature bags from Costco, which are cheap and reliable. But for every other can we use the plastic grocery bags we're gonna throw out anyway. It's the same thing with people who buy mason jars or plastic containers. When we use a jar of spaghetti or finish a container of butter we just save it for storing food.
]]>@mbz32190: because we don't all think it's okay to steal from work
]]>I'm a fan of the bags selling at Home Depot under the Husky brand. Very durable, reasonable price.
]]>"and a paper and plastic bag in the kitchen"
What does that mean?
]]>@nffcnnr: our curbside recycle bin does not allow for glass.
otherwise i do recycle.
]]>We use the cheaper CostCo bags for our daughter's diaper pail though. They work fine for a bag of dirty diapers but I don't trust them for our kitchen trash.
]]>