When I do get plastic bags, I generally use them for lining my shredder. (This shredder, for some reason, is really not designed to take liners -- in order for it to work, the top part has to sit right on the bottom part. I I did figure out how to get it to work, but it's clearly not meant to be set up this way.)

Has anyone every tried those biodegradable plastic bags? They're supposed to work like regular plastic bags when you use them (I'm seen them in garbage can size and dog-poop size), but then they disintegrate in the landfill. I'm not sure I totally trust them -- the package says to keep them away from moisture.

Exactly. I guess we'll be buying small trash bags to use for litter box cleaning, which puts the same amount of plastic back into play, right?

Well, for you maybe, but what about all the people who don't recycle? Overall, I'd rather have them out of circulation.

This. I use all the plastic bags I get, mostly for the dog but also for garbage, so it'll be an inconvenience. But one I can certainly live with. (Mostly it'll be annoying I think because it's hard to find trashbags you can hang over a door knob and I might have to get an actual trash can.) But on the dog issue, it's not like changing over isn't something I should be doing already, in advance of any plastic bag restrictions.

FYI, I found the biodegradable dog bags the other day at Cost Plus World Market for a lot less than the PetSmart type stores have them.

ION, Jesse L. Martin is adorable. [link] (This is the problem with YouTube. No matter where I start, I keep clicking on "Related Videos" and somehow always end up at Rent.)

Has anyone every tried those biodegradable plastic bags? They're supposed to work like regular plastic bags when you use them (I'm seen them in garbage can size and dog-poop size), but then they disintegrate in the landfill. I'm not sure I totally trust them -- the package says to keep them away from moisture.

Hmmm.... I like the idea of biodegradable bags, but I wonder if they're like biodegradable styrofoam peanuts. Those are made from corn (we're already discovering there's some problems with turning food into other stuff), and if, as they say, you need to keep them away from moisture, doesn't that limit their utility as trash bags.

These are the biodegradable bags I've seen. [link] . Pretty pricey -- I can get a box of about 50 Hefty plastic bags for the price of that box of 12 BioBags. Probably about 100 no-name plastic bags. There are plenty of green things I'm willing to pay more for, but I'm not sure if this is one of them.

These are the biodegradable bags I've seen. [link] .

I'm very amused by a web site that uses the phrase: "Shit, what more do you want?" in their copy.

And yeah, I want to know more about them. How soon does it start breaking down after contact with moisture and bacteria, because most of those can be found in normal kitchen trash. A bag that starts breaking down before it gets to the landfill does me no good.

I'm kind of hoping that the "food shortages" and the likely media hysteria-building surrounding them push the ethanol conversation open again. It's kind of interesting that the corn mania flipped us into crisis mode so quickly and transparently - usually I think the consequences of our bad decisions are less obvious, and thus harder to fix.

On the plastic bag angle, to my [slim] knowledge, unlike ethanol it isn't a situation where there are easily obtainable and clearly superior alternatives, so the use of corn doesn't bother me as much.

I would like to know more about the moisture issue. It's obviously not such a problem with dog bags, since the turnaround from use to disposal is about two minutes, not two weeks hanging on the back of the door.

I'm very amused by a web site that uses the phrase: "Shit, what more do you want?" in their copy.

This [link] is probably my favorite description on their website. With this [link] as a close second.

This [link] is probably my favorite description on their website.

"Dude, you TOTALLY need a can of fake duck."

NATLBSB

They also sell chocolate hemp milk, which totally cracks me up.