Plastic Bags ( #AtoZChallenge )

          I still remember when the grocery bagger would ask, "Paper or plastic?"   Now they ask if you brought your own bags or do you want to buy some?  But that's California.  Perhaps coming to a town near you...

Picking P's 

        For the letter "P" I had first considered using "Plethora of Pants" as my topic because it sounded funny to me.  I do indeed have lots of pairs of pants. If I wore a different pair every day I could probably go for a month without repeating.

        "Pieces of the Puzzle" was the next thing that came to mind.  All of my A to Z posts in this series are pieces of a larger puzzle, but I guess all the posts on this blog are pieces of an even larger puzzle.  I like pondering metaphorical puzzle pieces to try to put them in proper place.  However, I decided to postpone the puzzle post. 

         Then I thought about the large plastic trash bags filled with smaller plastic grocery bags.  The bags are something else I have in my garage.  For many years I've saved the bags for utilitarian household purposes such as trash can liners, totes, wrapping, or whatever reason I might need them.  As time went by I kept bringing more grocery bags home than I was using.  They were amassing to an obtrusive degree.

        Eventually I decided to start throwing them in the recycle bin now and then.  That plan came to an end when the California government decided to ban the plastic bags.   Now we had to bring our own carriers to the store or buy reusable bags.   I put a hold on my mission of getting rid of my cache of plastic bags.  Now I'd be using them up.

          The Bag Ban has been in effect for over a year now.   For the most part I've gotten used to bringing my own bags into the store.  At the rate I've been using the old grocery bags I figure I'll have enough to last probably a few years.  They're talking in the California government about banning plastic straws next.   In a few years I can imagine that we'll have to take our own reusable cups to places where they sell fountain drinks.  When that happens I'd say that there will be a big business in selling reusable cups to people who want to buy a drink.

           I think I see where this might be going.  People will get used to it I suppose.

            What do you do with your plastic grocery bags?   Has your local or state government banned anything that you have found to be useful?    Do you sometimes think of your life as a puzzle that you are still trying to figure out?
            

Tossing It Out Tuesday: California Redemption Value

Recycling For Cash

            Some of us may recall the days before beverages in cans when there was a deposit required for soft drink bottles.  One could save the bottles to return to the store for a cash refund.  For a kid it was a great way to pick up some extra money.  My parents would let me cash in our bottles on grocery visits and I'd end up with as much as a dollar in my pocket--not too shabby for a kid in those days.

            More industrious kids, and even some adults for that matter, might go around the neighborhood to collect bottles from neighbors or pick up the discards along the roadway.  It was not unlike some of the recyclers we see today, except then in was not thought of as recycling, but just returning the empties.  Recycling is something that was not a particularly big issue prior to the 1970s, but it was a common practice for many things.   The soft drink manufacturors provided the incentive for the bottles to be returned so that they could reuse them, and in turn save money.

           When no deposit no return containers came on the market, it was convenient because now you could just throw them away.  However, issues of more landfill waste and roadside litter called for a solution to the problems that accompanied the use of these containers.  Recycling started to become a more highly promoted issue in the 70s, but more incentive was needed to keep consumers from merely throwing away what could be recycled.

           In 1987, California put the California Redemption Value (CRV) into effect.  This CRV is a fee that is charged for certain recyclables.  The CRV acronym also stands for California Refund Value which is the amount that is paid by the recycling companies to consumers who return their containers.  It is rare to see recyclable containers as litter for any length of time.  Many people scavenge trash cans in public places, pick up roadside discards, and even illegally raid household recycle bins that are set out on trash day.

            I have always kept my recyclables and cashed them in myself.  Storage is no big hassle.  I keep the cans, glass, and plastic bottles separated in trash bags in my garage.  It usually takes a few months for any appreciable amount to accumulate and I normally only go to the recycle center three or four times per year.  My most recent trip was shortly after my daughters came to visit.  With all of the company and a party, we quickly added to the accumulation of recyclables and after they left it was time to cash in the containers.

                             My Load of CRV Recyclables

           With the rear portion of my van loaded up with bags of aluminum cans and plastic and glass bottles, I headed to my closest recycle center at 9 AM on a Tuesday morning.

                                    The Recycle Center

         The recycling location that I go to is beside what used to be a supermarket that has been closed for over a year now.  The building remains vacant, but the recycling station is still there.  Pictured above are some clients settling up for the recyclables they've brought in.  In the recent decline of the economy the supermarket wasn't able to survive, but the recycling business is booming.

                                 The Monetary Score

          I brought in one bag of aluminum cans, five bags of plastic bottles,  and 38 glass bottles.   My take for the haul was $23.55.  Not that bad for just storing them in my garage and taking them to the recycle center when I had a few bags.   But the best thing is that the containers don't end up in the landfill. 

          Does your state have a program to encourage recycling?   Do you recycle your containers to make money for yourself?   Do you have charities (churches, schools, or other organizations) that you donate your recyclables to in order for them to raise money?  If you aren't recycling, what do you do with your containers?