$1 power saving lightbulb - 14w (75w equiv.) + grocery carry bag
Picked this up from Indooroopilly in Brisbane. They had an eco/green/enviro diplay on the bottom level outside Myer (where the stage is), and they had these gift bags with 14w power saving lightbulbs in them for $1 donation to landcare.
These globes cost about $6 at the supermarket.
No limit. I bought 4 bags.
Not sure if this is at Westfields.
Mod - edited title. amended, post "not Westfield" information
While I agree that these eco friendly bags are over-produced, I do see a point to it though.
No doubt these bags are more expensive, but they're also less of a threat to the environment than plastic. We're talking in terms of both their production and destruction. Plastic bags take > 1000 years to decompose and they emit toxic chemicals during the process. Not to mention these plastic bags also get strayed into our oceans, streets, beaches, etc which would endanger wildlife for that many years to come. On the other hand, most eco friendly bags are made of natural fibres and they are biodegradable.
So even if we don't reuse these eco friendly bags, they are still less harmful than plastic bags when you throw them away.
Hmmm, I wonder if any people are using them for rubbish bags instead of plastic bags. Apart from issues with liquids/dampness, that would be a better use than throwing them away.
The other questions with these material bags are whether they are produced in sweatshops, and whether the energy and chemicals used for bags with colourful designs and other fancy features is worse than producing plain plastic bags. But straying from the deal here :)
Has anyone encountered this deal outside of Indooroopilly yet?
i don't think they would work well as a rubbish bag. When you tie a knot, the bag does not seal completely, unlike plastic bags.
@Davo1111: Does it need to?
Its going to be thrown into a large rubbish bin which never comes into your house ect..
So if that bin gets dirty it doesn't really matter
@anthony: well it keeps the smells / rubbish bin. Cleaning on a garbage bin full of "bin juice" is not nice :P
@Davo1111: Ah i have never cleaned my bin, though it doesn't smell much.
You could always use plastic shopping bags for your small rubbish bags and then buy the really big plastic bags for your wheelie bin to keep it clean and smell free.
I dont know if that would work out cheaper or use less 'virgin' plastic
many shops have started using 'degradeable' plastic bags, which supposedly decompose after two weeks underground. I always try to buy 'degradeable' garbage bin liners in most supermarkets, which cost about the same as ordinary liners.
as for reuseable, chinese-sweatshop manufactured, green-dyed, toxic polypropylene bags that don't break down for centuries… however they can re-manufactured into other things — just take them back to the place of purchase and pop them into the bag recycling bin.
the only other real alternatives are:
calico, which is a natural biodegradeable material, but uses a huge amount of water to produce (so not very green);
likewise with paper bags, although it can reuse a lot of waste paper; or
string bags which are labour-intensive and thus far more expensive to produce than the other options, with the added drawback of being less useable (capacity/opening size/ergonomics).
there's no ideal solution — I think degradable plastic is the way to go.
We’re talking in terms of both their production and destruction
But their production requires more natural resources and take much longer to produce (cutting the fabric, stitching and so on) that uses more electricity.
Then when they are shipped you can not ship as many due to their larger size/weight as you can plastic bags, so to meet up with the plastic bag demand you need more trucks/ships/planes transporting the "eco" bags around.
Plastic bags take > 1000 years to decompose and they emit toxic chemicals during the process.
That is not necessarily as bad as it really sounds.
Once in landfill they will decompose and emit the gas methane which is burnt and used to generate power.
Landfills are also sealed using a hermetic seal, this keeps everything sealed in using multiple layers of clay and plastic. This keeps the toxins out of the environment and if we wanted to at a later stage we will be able to remove the toxins and safely break them down (when we know how)
On the other hand, most eco friendly bags are made of natural fibres and they are biodegradable.
While the one in the picture looks like cotton all the 'eco friendly' bags sold in supermarkets are made of plastic. For example the ones i have are made of polypropylene.
Not to mention these plastic bags also get strayed into our oceans
No argument here, the "plastic soup" is simply disgusting, then all this plastic in the ocean allows plastics to enter the human food chain. Plastic, by its nature, attracts things like pesticide and oil slick so when a fish eats plastic it is eating much more..
There was a great documentary about this on ABC called addicted to plastic
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200906/programs/ZY9740A0…
they are still less harmful than plastic bags when you throw them away
If we are making and disposing of cotton bags in the same way as lightweight plastic bags then we need to grow more cotton which uses more precious water (cotton is a very thirsty crop), we then also need more energy to produce and ship the bags to the consumers.
I am not against recycling, nor do i agree with he people who say human activities are not impacting the earth.
However i think many of the things we are going are simply things to make us feel better.
As another example, look what has happened where plastic bags have been banned. The lightweight bags have been replaced by bags which are still made of the same type of plastic however are much thicker to comply with the Australian Standard for plastic bags. So we have replaced a thin disposable bag with an identical bag only thicker and using more plastic to create. (I am not talking about a plastic version of the 'eco' bags like the one in the picture, think of a normal supermarket plastic bag only many times thicker)
Sure these thicker lightweight style bags are said to be reusable however they are still seen as a single use plastic bag..
reg plastic bags, I think it's just the same logic of building massive fleets of Priuses, and encouraging people not to buy V6 cars. Ignoring the fact that there are still production of non-hybrid cars going on, and the carbon footprint of making an eco-car is much bigger than a normal car.
it just makes you feel good, but I highly doubt there're any real eco benefit.
that said, this deal is not bad and would be nice if they have it in nsw.
I think it’s just the same logic of building massive fleets of Priuses, and encouraging people not to buy V6 cars
And people dont seem to realise that a V6 can be more economical than a prius.
Or even that the 4cyl camry weighs as much as a commodore (or there abouts) so needs to rev harder to get up to speed and maintain a constant speed so is more more economical than a v6 in the same car.
I have gone from a 6V camry to a 4cyl model thanks to my company car rolling over and guess what, i use more fuel than i did in the v6..
You know who would like your excess eco bags, believe it or not, the Salvos. They have removed the use of plastic bags from majority of its stores and most use donated eco bags now days.
I for one hate all these stores 'going green' by taking away plastic bags/making you pay for bags… am I the only person who uses the good old plastic bag for a small rubbish bin liner?
No you're not the only one, me too. This seems to be ignored when there's all this green talk about using eco bags instead of plastic, i'm thinking WTF, we need those.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Westfields will receive some sort of reimbursement from the Government for each bulb sold.
I assume Westfield would get it all as a tax write off, seeing as they're giving them away for a $1 donation to landcare.
if they know what they are doing then maybe the bag is part paid for by Landcare, and is a write off for both being a paid for promotion (see what's printed on the bags)
then get Phillips to donate some bulbs
then they make the donation with the money you gave them, to recover some of the cost of the whole thing …
:)
People happy, less energy used by people, cheaper bulbs … everyone wins :)
Im pretty sure indooroopilly is no longer owned by westfield.
Correct!
It's now a Lend Lease property.
According to their 2007 Annual Report to Shareholders (page 16); Lend Lease also secured the management rights to the Indooroopilly shopping centre in Queensland.
\_/7
Fan of energy efficient light globes but I think these shopping bags are starting to represent a greater threat to the environment than plastic bags :)
Most people don't actually reuse them, and they seem to reproduce promiscuously - they're all over the place at exhibitions and conferences, etc. And there's not much you can do with excess ones; nobody really wants them.
Anyhow, not bad for $1. Hopefully others can report whether they are available outside of Indooroopilly, Brisbane.