F!! UGLY shopping bags that I loathe
Not very it seems. The so called 'Green' bags are made of non-woven polypropylene. Which according to a CSIRO scientist while they are designed for a long life they are not designed to break down in the compost heap.
Polypropylene is a byproduct of oil refining. Produced during the process is propylene gas, which, when put into a reactor, becomes propylene powder. After stabilisers are mixed with the powder, it is placed in an extruder, which produces propylene pellets, which can then be turned into a range of things including car bumper bars and food containers. If the pellets are melted, they can be made into a fibre which can then be made into bags. Brrr sounds so good for the environment!
The same scientist says the green bag's only environmental credential is that it is not the single-use high-density polyethylene plastic bag still given out in shops and supermarkets.
Not only that they are F!! UGLY!!
The so called bio degradeable plastic bags aren't a lot better. Most of them cost more to make. While some biodegradable bags break down into simple molecules such as carbon dioxide and water, others break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. Some biodegradable bags can persist in marine environments for up to six months, and if swallowed will still harm or kill wildlife, including small baby reef turtles.
ABC science feature
I did the right thing when the green bags appeared and bought a couple but I always wondered why I forgot them, gave them away on the slightest pretext or 'lost' them. I worked it out after I saw the new 'funkier' colours that some retailers began to use to market their 'green' cred. They offend me as a fibre artist because they are not a fibre, they are just another form of plastic and truly ugly. I know they are practical (and for most peope acceptable) but not to me.
Not only that but we now PAY for the privilege of advertising for the big supermarket chains by carrying these bags around! I know I know that we used to advertise them on the old printed plastic bags but have you noticed now the chains are still supplying plastic bags for free but with NO advertising on them except maybe the legend of being bio degradable? They know plastic bags are just wrong and when the stories about wildlife being damaged by them having a recognisable logo on a bag would be horribly damaging.
A sewing session today will solve my problems with F!!UGLY shopping bags. Then I will decorate them with paint and other bits and pieces so that they make me smile. I will use a stash of calico I have had for a while and some recycled bits and pieces and maybe some paint and the like ANYTHING but that wretched un tactile ugly polypropylene!!
Who wants to join me?
