[image by envirowoman]
What I learned working at the farmers’ market: Would be locavores go through a helluva lot of plastic bags.
Yesterday was my last day working at the Tutti Frutti stand at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market — Yes, the market was open July 4; These farmers never take a break! And I’d say about 90% of the people who bought stuff took a new plastic bag.
While more people have started carrying larger canvas bags, most of these people first put their tomatoes in a plastic bag before weighing and paying, THEN put the plastic bag in the canvas bag.
There was that heartwarming 10% though. Some of them brought old plastic bags from home for reuse. Others tried to forego bagging altogether, putting the produce directly from the scale into larger canvas bags.
This second method works well for a few zucchini or artichokes, but not so well for little things like, say, string beans. Sometimes the no-bag people tied up the scale with their individual beans, angering other customers who had to wait. I’m still with the no-bag peeps, but the total no-bag method doesn’t seem to be the most persuasive way to entice others to de- or re-plastic.
I do a little of both. I take 3-4 old plastic bags from home to use for the little things, but go bagless altogether for the bigger stuff. I’d like to go plastic free altogether, but it’s rather difficult to buy cherry tomatoes and strawberries without them…
A v. small percentage of people carry small fabric bags, but this makes it difficult to tell what produce is in there for the weighing and paying part. The bags also add weight, and are not waterproof — and thus not appropriate for carrying strawberries.
An article in today’s LA Times, mostly about IKEA’s 5 cents-per-plastic-bag policy, says that “Plastic bags are so reviled that reusable conveyances for groceries are the rage.” Well, selling shopping totes may’ve become all the rage at stores, but that doesn’t mean plastic’s now reviled. Chances are, the vast majority of the people patronizing those stores are carring out their purchases in plastic bags….
I would imagine that farmers’ market patrons, more than any other population segment, would be open to de-plasticking their shopping experience, as evidenced by the popularity of the shopping totes. But I’m not sure exactly how to make people reconsider the new plastic bags that keep disappearing into those totes….
Update, 7/23/08: A roundup of all the state, county, and city level stuff happening to reduce styrofoam and plastic bag use in the LA area.
thank you for the reminder to take plastic bags to the farmer’s market. i always bring my canvas bags, but end up with several plastic bags carrying the beans, cherries, etc that i put into the canvas bags. don’t know why i didn’t think of it before!
Comment by Callie — July 5, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
I always try to bring some used plastic bags with me. But usually the peeps manning the booth shove a bag in my face all the same. (I mean shove in the friendliest way possible.) So I think the whole culture has a ways to go before we really “get” what’s wrong with bags.
Comment by erin — July 5, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
I do have to say that every plastic bag that I get does get reused at least once, generally as a disposal means for cat litter. The exceptions being those bags which have gaping holes in them when I try to use them for cat litter.
Comment by don hosek — July 5, 2007 @ 10:03 pm
I usually carry my cloth bag everywhere I go, just in case I buy anything. Luckily, I haven’t had to use a platic bag for a really long time. Unfortunately, my wife still uses bags, but I often save the bags and organize them so she can easily reuse them the next time, which works about half of the time. She thinks I’m crazy, trying to spend all this effort to save bags.
I really get annoyed when people are always trying to give me a bag during checkout. If I don’t catch them in time, I usually take the product out of the platic bag and shove it back to them. Its very rare when someone will ask if I want a bag.
I think the best solution to this is to force stores to charge a 25 cent per bag tax, so consumers will realize the true value of a bag.
The worst thing to see is to someone in front of me at the checkout counter buy a case of bottled water and then wrap it in double plastic bags because of the weight.
Don: You may be interested in flushable/biodegradable cat litter. All you have to do is scoop it and dump it the toilet.
Comment by jason — July 6, 2007 @ 12:24 am
I don’t take plastic bags anymore which has resulted in a new problem - sometimes you need a disposable plastic bag and you don’t have one (to send home a wet bathing suit with a visiting kid for example). But I save my bread bags now which work for a lot of things - including wrapping leftovers when you can’t find the tupperware lid (most of the time around here).
Bread bags work for farmer’s market veggies too because they are mostly clear. Also I save mesh onion bags and they work well for non squishy veggies.
Comment by Jennifer — July 6, 2007 @ 8:25 am
I also use the plastic bags as trash bags. I find the idea of buying trash bags to be wasteful.
Comment by Edie — July 6, 2007 @ 10:23 am
If you’re a policy wonk, you might like this footage of Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, introducing his landmark legislation to ban plastic bags.
Mirkarimi has been called the Gregory Peck of the Green Party
(a young Gregory Peck) and we like to show him off.
He said he is amazed at the amount of worldwide attention and praise this piece of legislation has brought him.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CKy8tgs-2eY
Comment by Lisa — July 6, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Hey Siel,
Just wanted to let your readers know about an opportunity to get a free organic cotton tote bag. Basically, you eat Stonyfield yogurt and turn in the lids. I blogged about it here:
http://beeractivist.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/eat-yogurt-get-free-organic-cotton-beer-sack/
I also wrote a whole section in my book (Fermenting Revolution) about the problems with both paper and plastic versus organic cotton.
Cheers,
Chris “Beer Activist” O’Brien
Comment by Chris O'Brien, BeerActivist — July 6, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Edie: Using plastic bags as trash bags might save some plastic if you would have purchased trash bags. But they are hell on the environment when they go to the landfill. We buy biodegradable BioBags, which are made from corn, and are completely compostable. They come in 3 sizes: 3 gallon, tall kitchen, and lawn & leaf. They may cost more money than using free grocery bags, but they will save more than money in the long run.
Comment by Beth Terry — July 10, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
The farmers’ market people in Santa Monica are usually really good about not pushing a bag in your face. In fact I’m sure there are quite a few who inwardly rejoice like I did when people don’t take a bag :)
At the checkout, I usually smile and say “I brought my own bag” as they’re scanning the first item. If you frequent a place, they’ll get to know you and start to anticipate your bag –
I use just a trash can, no bag, for my recyclables — I just take the trash can out, dump it, bring it back. This doesn’t work so well for the black bin stuff, which can be messier — for those I end up using the few plastic bags that inevitably come in the house — from guests who used it to bring over food or wine, empty bread bags, and the like. Luckily, I don’t have that much black bin stuff, so I don’t run out of the plastic bags –
Comment by Siel — July 10, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
I miss the old medium sized paper garbage bags, that were a waxed bag about twice as big as a standard lunch bag. Completely biodegradable, and reusable, if you don’t squish the grapes…
Most markets have been giving a 5 cent discount for bringing your own bags for several years. There’s an incentive to telling them you’ve brought your own bag.
Comment by Diane — July 29, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
I’m not familiar with the waxed paper bags — when’d they go out of vogue?
There is this one farmer at the Santa Monica market who wants to offer only bio bags AND charge something like a quarter a pop — I think it might be a while before that idea catches on with all the other vendors, but it’d be interesting to see what would happen if he did it on his own –
Comment by Siel — July 31, 2007 @ 1:22 pm