What to line bins with post plastic bag ban?

LElwes on 20/06/2018 - 08:40

Woolies no longer gives free disposable plastic shopping bags from today. Coles is starting soon too. Like most Australians, after I unpack the groceries I save the bags and use them to line the bin in the kitchen. When my stockpile runs out, what am I going to use!?
What do other OzBargainers do? I find it hard to believe you pay good money for commercial bin liners.

This article has some good tips and some unhelpful ones:
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/woolworth-s-plastic-bag-ban-star…
Using old bread bags to pick up dog poo is a good suggestion. Wrapping prawn shells and lining bins with newspaper is no help - who reads newspapers any more?

Home & Garden Bin Plastic Bag

Comments

    • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2018 - 12:53
      +7

      Plastic bags will become a $2 store/Asian variety store best seller.

      According to Woolworths they will pack any bag. So they can pack my bags using good old cruel evil plastic while scanning it using power from old cruel coal powerplants.

      • Gdsamp on 21/06/2018 - 11:01
        +5

        Pretty unfair to the checkout workers getting paid minimum wage having to pack your groceries inefficiently into crumpled old bags, especially when they had no say in the change.

        • nikey2k27 on 21/06/2018 - 16:48
          -1

          Welcome to new age wait for meat juice ones. smell like open sewer. i glad my woolworths day are long gone hate green bags never meat juice lady she smell not much better.

        • avocatto on 22/06/2018 - 23:16
          +5

          wtf

        • [Deactivated] on 23/06/2018 - 23:11
          -3

          They should be glad that they are still employed as Mr/Ms Store Manager wants to replace them all with computers.

        • Antikythera on 24/06/2018 - 00:44
          +1

          this is the reason i only ever use staffed checkouts. be part of the solution people. jobs for Australian kids, not self checkout for overseas profits.

          as for the plastic bags, the other night i was confronted by the choice for the first time when i grabbed some stuff at woolies. did it just start or does IGA not do it?

          i just told the staff member to load it back in the basket and i carried the basket out to the car. i have plenty of carry bags at home for bin liners but i might have to buy some freezer bags as i usually use them for both.

        • dylo on 25/06/2018 - 05:50
          +3

          "Meat Juice Lady"

        • ely on 25/06/2018 - 19:14

          @antikythera: that's not part of the solution, it's can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees thinking.

          Those are crap jobs, and they're purely a means to and end, not the end itself. People don't need jobs, they need food, water, shelter and some degree of fulfillment with their lives. Crap jobs have been a means to get the first three of those, but not a very good one, and having people desperately clinging on to them isn't helping us to find a better solution where people aren't doing crap jobs to make ends meet.

          Furthermore it's not going to work; those jobs, and many more, are going. We need to figure out how we, as a society, are going to make that work.

      • StickMan on 05/07/2018 - 10:52

        According to the floor manager at WW, they "will get a $5000 fine if they pack into plastic bags" that my mother gave them.

    • MeesusEff on 20/06/2018 - 13:29
      +2

      Would this degrade over time? 3000 would last me for 12 years loool

      • Antikythera on 24/06/2018 - 00:45
        +1

        give them away for free to other shoppers.

      • seedyrom on 24/06/2018 - 07:10

        Isn’t that why they are getting banned?
        Because they DONT degrade over time.

        • MeesusEff on 24/06/2018 - 10:21
          +1

          The very ones that Colesworth used to give out would disintegrate into little pieces of you kept it for too long

        • MeesusEff on 24/06/2018 - 13:50

          @kza2610: meant to type *grey

    • HighAndDry on 20/06/2018 - 17:17
      +21

      It's click and collect… from Woolies. Can I just leave it at Woolies and tell them to use those to bag my shopping?

    • Plebmuffin on 21/06/2018 - 11:18

      Currently 30% off as well!

    • HeWhoKnows on 21/06/2018 - 12:22
      +1

      Thats a lifetime of bin liners

  • tunzafun001 on 20/06/2018 - 09:06
    +24

    They have been banned here in supermarkets for ages, but I can guarantee you there will still be heaps of bags to use.

    Potato bags, apple bags, dog food bags, Aussie Post bags etc etc. Clothing stores will most likely provide you with some sort of bag.

    Never used bags as fast as I collect them in a state with banned bags!

    • Trishool on 21/06/2018 - 10:09
      +2

      Dont forget bread bags! Not as large, but for us they take about 2 days to fill, and by that time, we're almost ready with another empty bread bag!

    • eris on 21/06/2018 - 22:47
      +4

      The plastic bag bulk toilet paper comes in makes a decent bin liner as well.

  • Cheap Steve on 20/06/2018 - 09:20
    +20

    If you do normal recycle yellow bin, recycle soft plastics at Coles/Woolies and compost your food then may not even need a bin liner.

    • Elwes on 20/06/2018 - 09:25
      +9

      Most flats don't get compost bins.
      In some council areas the green waste bins are strictly for yard trimmings - no food scraps, esp. not meat.
      I live in a council area where you can put meat, bones, almost anything organic in the compost bin but I live in a flat, so I can only recycle paper, plastic and cans.

      • greater mimic on 21/06/2018 - 07:53
        +3

        I've started using an indoor composter and it's working great. Mainly because I don't have much backyard space and cbf going to a smelly outdoor composter in the cold.

        However you do need to bury the compost after its done, and living in an apartment block means that's not really possible.

        • gnarkill on 21/06/2018 - 13:16
          +1

          We just drop our compost off at the community garden. The compostable bags also make good bin liners on the off chance we don't have a spare plastic bag.

        • Usernames on 23/06/2018 - 10:48
          -1

          Good point. So that means every person on this thread - those with green bins that accept food scraps, those with gardens and those without - has no valid reason to use bin liners. Case closed.

        • [Deactivated] on 23/06/2018 - 23:13

          @gnarkill:

          By bicycle/walking or by car?

        • c0balt on 24/06/2018 - 14:10

          @Usernames:

          Case closed? Seems like when your suggestion that no one needs bin liners because they should be composting in their own homes must be a joke, yeah?

          I mean if it's not, you must have a really disgusting, smelly house! I feel sorry for your guests who don't share the same extreme views you have and have a sense of smell.

        • aan10 on 24/06/2018 - 20:23

          @Usernames:

          wait till you have a baby and try composting those baby poops 6 times a day…

    • Cheap Steve on 20/06/2018 - 12:53
      +1

      I'm also loving getting back 10 cent per aluminium can and beer bottle through "Return and Earn" in the form of Woolies discount vouchers.

      • krisspy on 21/06/2018 - 17:30
        +1

        But then they jacked up prices on a box of cans by about 4 bucks. So now I have to actively visit vending machines to get my money back instead of the council doing it in bulk

    • belongsinforums on 24/06/2018 - 14:30

      No recycling in my area

  • rompastompa on 20/06/2018 - 09:29
    +3

    Convert your outside bin into an inside bin. You'll just need to add some kids drawings or something and stick it to the side to disguise it. No bin liners necessary.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2018 - 12:56
      +23

      Yuck.

    • idonotknowwhy on 21/06/2018 - 00:57
      -1

      no u

  • dcep on 20/06/2018 - 09:58
    +18

    go to coles self checkout and grab the piles of plastic bags before it ran out

    • anastasiastarz on 24/06/2018 - 04:22

      They still have them atm, till the 31st June.

  • Godric on 20/06/2018 - 10:10
    -8

    Japan use plastic bags for mostly everything and they have no problems

    • jdr on 20/06/2018 - 10:54

      Given they use so many, what do they do with them after use in order that "they have no problems"?

      • rompastompa on 20/06/2018 - 11:10
        +1

        Sea bin?

      • HighAndDry on 20/06/2018 - 11:10
        +12

        It's a front so they can divert the polymers into their secret Gundam program.

      • dcep on 20/06/2018 - 12:05
        +1

        they disintegrates in radioactive ground water under fukushima nuclear powerplant

        • try2bhelpful on 20/06/2018 - 12:53
          -1

          Plastic Godzilla monster

      • abb on 20/06/2018 - 12:29
        +4

        Japan incinerates much of their rubbish. Massive pollution. Sure, "no problem", unless you need to live on the planet in the future.

        • altomic on 20/06/2018 - 13:34
          +1

          ^^this -Japan sorts domestic rubbish in to 2 types - combustible and non-combustible.

        • HighAndDry on 20/06/2018 - 17:18
          +8

          This is such bullshit. Not that they don't incinerate their rubbish, but Japan has some of the world's highest rates of recycling owing to a combination of them being just a resource-poor country, and to their cultural affinity for almost obsessive compulsiveness. I hear even the Yakuza steps in from time to time to encourage badly behaved residents to sort their rubbish properly.

        • dazweeja on 21/06/2018 - 09:26

          @HighAndDry:

          Also because you very rarely see a general waste bin in Japan, they are always in a set with recycling options. And there aren't that many public bins to start with as you are encouraged to take your waste home.

          Having said that, they use an insane amount of plastic and there's a lot of energy and resources that go into that

        • Yummy on 21/06/2018 - 16:34
          +1

          @HighAndDry:

          Wish our bikies does that too.

      • Vagon on 22/06/2018 - 08:58

        Turn them into harpoons for scientific research.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2018 - 12:41

      Somebody never watched the documentary Godzilla.

      I might try the Katamari Damacy approach using no bags, just glue.

  • hawkeye on 20/06/2018 - 10:12
    +1

    I had troubles getting the wheelie bin up the stairs without putting holes in the wall so I'm thinking about building a rubbish chute out the kitchen window to the bin below out of shopping trolley cages joined together or old coke cartons taped together making the tube. Not sure yet might call my landlord and see what he thinks.

    • anastasiastarz on 24/06/2018 - 04:23

      I have dragged it up the stairs before - not recommended. It's also crazy hard to get them down again.

  • Gotchas on 20/06/2018 - 10:59
    +7

    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

    https://biobagworld.com.au/products/bin-liners/

    • try2bhelpful on 20/06/2018 - 12:57

      It would be good if these were sold by coles and Woolworths.

    • greater mimic on 21/06/2018 - 07:56

      I've used these, they work very well as bin liners. Hope the biodegradable claims are true

  • Findo on 20/06/2018 - 11:05
    +1

    Dolphins and shit will still die, colesworths are just trying to make more money

    • jdr on 20/06/2018 - 12:41
      +2

      So reduced harm to the planet including marine life is not worth it? Sheesh!

      • HighAndDry on 20/06/2018 - 12:56
        +15

        It hasn't been shown that this will reduce the harm to the planet though. All this does is that Woolies and Coles sell plastic bags rather than give them out for free. The ones they sell are thicker, take more resources to make, and I'm sure still have the same sea-turtle suffocating ability as their free, flimsier cousins.

        Basically, this could just be a feel-good PR campaign that lets the big supermarkets make more money.

        • try2bhelpful on 20/06/2018 - 12:59
          +2

          The concept is to reuse the bags to pick up the next lot of groceries. If you aren't throwing away so many bags you aren't causing so much of a problem.

        • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2018 - 13:04
          +3

          Just buy 5% off Coleworths gift cards. That way you might end up with a lower discount but won't bear the costs of their greed and stupidity.

          Meanwhile both retailers will most likely continue to waste docket paper promoting crap, use stickers for kids sports gear promotions, print 20 page catalogues weekly and have 100s stockpiled in store or in Woolworths case run gimmicks for kids where they make useless discs out of plastic which most kids chuck in the bin after a month.

        • vasya on 21/06/2018 - 09:32

          @HARSHREALITY: I'm aware of Woolworths gift cards with 5% discount, but not about Coles ones. Could you please share how to get Coles gift cards with 5% discount.

        • Trishool on 21/06/2018 - 10:16
          +1

          The selling of the bags is also meant to be a deterrent so that people use their own (fabric/non plastic) bags instead of being handed a plastic one with each shop that eventually goes and lands somewhere that affects other wildlife and marine life. I think its high time that people just really consider what they buy, including its packaging, and how they transport it home through to rubbish removal. We all need to be in on this change for the betterment of humanity and the world we live in rather than just whinging about not getting free bags from Coles and Woolies. Yes it will take some time to adapt, but if we do it now rather than just purchasing bin liners to resolve the situation, we're the baddies here, not Coles and Woolies. At least they're doing something about it, and not stopping just at shopping bags, but are going through their whole stores to see what they can do to reduce packaging and waste so that you dont have to.

        • BewareOfThe Dog on 21/06/2018 - 17:49

          @vasya:
          Shop at Aldi, and save more than 5%. ;-)

        • [Deactivated] on 23/06/2018 - 23:17

          @vasya:

          AGL rewards (must be a AGL customer) sell them sure there are others.

  • Melb69 on 20/06/2018 - 11:06
    +2

    Would it not be better to promote disposing of the bags properly. What's the real data on the effect of these left over bags in river ways and oceans. The guys on the Today show made this bold statement about how oh you just have to go for a walk along our oceans and waterways and see the affect. Is it really that bad. And does it really affect that number of sea animals. Just asking? Understand anything will help. But really what are we talking about here. Are 10s of thousands of dolphins, whales fish etc dying because of this issue.

    Because as a poster has essentially said. We still need bags. In whatever form. If we now buy the proper bin bags. They wont even degradge easily as they are generally thicker.

    We just need a sensible solution.

    Someone should come up with a bin that automatically crushes the rubbish, but in a internal domestic use. So we don't have to use so many bags as well.

    • retiredfeline on 20/06/2018 - 11:16
      +1

      Someone should come up with a bin that automatically crushes the rubbish, but in a internal domestic use. So we don't have to use so many bags as well.

      You mean invent a domestic garbage compactor like this, to take a random hit from a search? https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Joseph-Joseph-Titan-Tras…

      • RM on 20/06/2018 - 11:57

        but thats still lined with a plastic garbage bag

        • retiredfeline on 20/06/2018 - 12:33

          Only showing that is already been invented as a search would have shown, the last part of the post.

      • Melb69 on 20/06/2018 - 13:22

        Has anyone got one of these and can confirm if they are any good. I would seriously look into this if it helped with waste. Not liking the price though.

        • retiredfeline on 20/06/2018 - 15:16

          I think there's a reason they are not more widespread, there is no incentive to compact garbage domestically. I just push down the pile now and then. It helps to have separate bins for stuff like vegie waste and light stuff. I could also do better if I had a composter but as it is I only generate one bag per 5 or 6 days..

    • Elwes on 20/06/2018 - 11:54
      +10

      Or we could use bags made from biodegradable materials made from renewable sources.
      We probably should use fewer bags too. It's not all that efficient to carry heavy cans etc. home in a very thin bag - you end up throwing out quite a few that can't be used for anything else. The best option would be strong calico bags for bringing home groceries and bioplastics for bin liners.

      • callum9999 on 21/06/2018 - 01:06

        I'm sure the people flipping out at paying 15c for a bag are going to be so happy with paying for the development of a new biodegradable plastic produced from renewable sources!

      • Lifeinflow on 21/06/2018 - 07:07
        +1

        This! I've been using the same strong reuseable bags for shopping for over a year, and I have small breathable reuseable bags for grocery shopping, and another reuseable and washable bag for bread. Small biodegradable bin liners are about 10c each at Woolworths, which is about the same cost as a standard bag. I'm sure its possible to find even cheaper bags online.

    • abb on 20/06/2018 - 12:44
      +13

      What's the real data on the effect of these left over bags in river ways and oceans.

      What steps have you taken to find this information?

      I'll do a few for you.

      Here's the first search result for "effect of plastic on marine life"

      https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/publications/impacts-p…

      Here's a recent-ish result from the same phrase on scholar.google.com

      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1…

      this is a pretty good review (although older) from the same search

      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X0…

      Now, re-reading your post, I see you've asked:

      Are 10s of thousands of dolphins, whales fish etc dying because of this issue.

      so I searched "how many animals die from plastic bags" and found this

      http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistic…

      100,000 marine creatures a year die from plastic entanglement and these are the ones found.
      Approximately 1 million sea birds also die from plastic.
      […]
      It costs the Australian government in excess of $4 million to clean up plastic bag litter each year.

      (Note also that "microplastics" are a growing concern in the ocean food chain, i.e. tiny pieces of plastic things as they break down)

      • Melb69 on 20/06/2018 - 13:00

        What would be do without google. Will have a good read.

      • Findo on 20/06/2018 - 14:36
        -5

        Most of that crap is rubbish from Asian countries though

      • Ugly on 20/06/2018 - 14:40
        +8

        According to ABC War on Waste,

        "overall, reusable bags need to be used at least 50 times in order for their environmental benefits to be realised.

        That's according to a 2009 study led by Dr Verghese, which considered what goes into creating different types of bags (the materials and their weight, as well as energy and water) along with how each of them can be disposed (whether they can be recycled or whether they have to go into landfill)….encouraging people to buy reusable bags without making sure these bags actually get reused an adequate number of times results in a worse result for the environment overall."

    • HeWhoKnows on 21/06/2018 - 12:27
      +1

      Plastic drink and water bottles are a much bigger problem and not being banned? Why not?

      • rompastompa on 22/06/2018 - 11:48

        Because they're already monetised. ;)

      • dengziyi on 25/06/2018 - 08:33

        Because they're designed to be reused or recycled?

  • retiredfeline on 20/06/2018 - 11:18
    +1

    Strictly speaking it's not a ban, just a voluntary phasing out by Coolies. I still get enough bags from other sources. I'm sure you can also nab discarded copies of tabloid newspapers or real estate rags out in the open.

    • 2024 on 23/06/2018 - 16:38

      Strictly speaking, it is a government ban on lightweight single use plastic bags in most statea.
      Woolworths just pulled the plug early.

  • theHMASfriendship on 20/06/2018 - 12:14
    +14

    What to line bins with post plastic bag ban?

    Seal furs.

    • BuyoTheCat on 20/06/2018 - 12:42
      +1

      human skin

      • theHMASfriendship on 20/06/2018 - 12:54

        Don't be weird.

      • try2bhelpful on 20/06/2018 - 13:00

        don't be silly, we need the humans to make Soylent Green.

  • Euphemistic on 20/06/2018 - 13:16
    +16

    Meh. Been shopping at Aldi for years, they don’t give out bags. Sure, we’ll probably miss the few ‘free’ bags from woolies we use, but (a bit non ozbargain) have been using purchased bin liners for ages because they fit the bin better. I’d say that most of the colesworth bags have piled up at the bottom of the pantry until there are too many then toss em. Even if we didn’t buy liners I’d reckon we still wouldn’t use all the bags that colesworth dish out for our regular shopping.

    Much better for the environment. I much preferred using the self serve checkouts at colesworths because I could pack more into each bag than the checkout chicks and wouldn’t get as many.

    I’ll forget a few times at first, but the Aldi training has been good for leaving a couple of bags in the car for last minute shopping and taking all our reusable bags for a full shop is just something you do.

    • altomic on 20/06/2018 - 13:35
      +5

      I always grab a box at aldi.

      but I like the colesworths bags for the kitchen for rubbish.

      now I'll have to buy single use bags for my rubbish.

    • fenerli on 21/06/2018 - 13:56
      +5

      Surprised it took this long in this thread to find someone who is thinking logically and unselfishly.

      100% agree. And bin liners have an extra advantage of storing a lot more than a standard plastic bag (unless you have a tiny bin)

      • wtfnodeal on 22/06/2018 - 21:52
        +3

        I use bin size that one use bags from Woolworths and Coles fit exactly in. The benefit of having smaller bins is they get filled up quicker than large bins so you can take them out to the green bin more often instead of leaving the trash in the bin for too long.

    • Untameable on 25/06/2018 - 00:39
      +1

      If you have leftover bags - our local Coles has a bag recycling bin. I went and chucked a few hundred I’d accumulated over the years in there today!

  • DerpFactory on 20/06/2018 - 16:31

    What do they put them in if you order online?

  • Illian on 20/06/2018 - 18:49
    +2

    'Like most Australians'

    Are you.. sure? I cannot even imagine having such a ridiculously small rubbish bin that you can line it with a shopping bag! Sounds more like the paper bin next to my desk. Oh man, I actually didn't know that people do this, seriously. I separate my recyclables too and don't put organics in the bin either, still no way I could use one that small.

    • SnoozeAndLose on 20/06/2018 - 18:52
      +3

      I like to use small bin as it require empty in couple of days.

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