[mimborin]

Very interesting. I will try the "tooth powder".

3 parts baking soda
1 part salt
Few drops lemon essential oil
Few drops vanilla extract

As for the other stuff it is a good challenge to make yourself aware.

[dougal]

A traditional solution would be paper bags. (Normally offered for mushrooms... )

[lottie]

And anything soft like strawberries that couldn't be tipped in your bag went in a brown paper bag---which by the time you got home were leaking ---so immediatly tipped out into a bowl---the ones that were dry were folded up into the drawer to be reused

[Mrs Fiddlesticks]

could you ask them to stock paper bags instead? Or write to them suggesting it?

I save the odd plastic bag like that for wrapping up say a meat or fish wrapper before it goes in the bin to avoid smells as our kitchen bin doesn't need emptying that often now.

[mimborin]

Maybe reusing them?

On a related matter i really find it quite annoying when people use the plastic bags for things like bananas or lemons. Nothing against the people, but why do they do it? Are we so brainwashed into believing everything must be packeged by plastic?

I really think we should tax for usage of new plastic bags.

[wellington womble]

Have you a box scheme nearby? It really made a difference when we went over to one, as almost all their packaging was recyclable, and they don't package stuff that doesn't really need it. I was disappointed when things turned up in plastic bags, when I asked why they didn't use more paper, I was kindly told that they aren't plastic, but something biodegradable, and can be composted at home along the green waste (it does say that on the bags - oops!) Bacon, ham and cheese still came vacum packed in plastic, and are binned, but everything else is recylable - even the big plastic bag everything comes goes back to be reused.

I do find you get more greenwaste with a box scheme, because things come less 'prepared' that the supermarket, but that's hardly a problem if you can compost it.

[Green Rosie]

Of course I am all in favour of reducing as much as possible the amount we put in the bin. Mine, for a family of 4 adults and 2 young children rarely exceeds 2 carrier bags full per week - but I still feel that we do need weekly bin collections. Most of the stuff that goes in my bin is what cannot be composted or eaten by the ever obliging dog ie bones and fish left-overs plus other such nasties that even after a week in the bin really do pong. We do try and eat bony fish the day before bin collection day but I wouldn't want to restrict my fish intake just to stop a stinky bin - and I have nowhere for an-all composting green cone thingy. As ever there is no easy solution but perhaps if people could reduce what they bin, the bin lorries could be smaller and so more energy efficient - and if all councils had to collect bones etc (as I believe happens in Bexley) these could be composted "professionally" thus saving all that smelly stuff ending up rotting away in landfill.

[alisjs]

does it still smell bad if you wrap it up well? Sealed in those plastic wrappers nobody knows what to do with, perhaps. Easier for me as a vegetarian, but I appreciate this could be a tricky one to get round