Learn the truth about trash bags

Q: What’s the best type of bag to use for non-recyclable trash? We have been using the single-use plastic bags from supermarkets and stores, but now those bags are being discontinued in many communities. The thought of buying plastic bags for this purpose seems like an environmental and financial waste.

— J.N. in East Providence

A: Regular readers of this column are used to my responses to “this or that?” questions. I never really answer them, do I? You’ll have to forgive me for that. I prefer to dish out some digestible information and let you answer for yourself. That’s because there are pros and cons to every choice we make, and one thing hardly ever wins out, across the board.

I don’t know your check-out habits, J.N., but let’s pretend that while plastic bags were more prevalent in stores, you were taking one per day, on average, or about 30 per month. The fact that you’re no longer taking those may very well offset the ones you now have to purchase, if not reduce your overall plastic consumption. Financially, it might seem like check-out bags were free, but let’s be honest — nothing is really free. The stores that provided them were purchasing them and they had to come up with the revenue for it through sales. In fact, a way that helped one local grocery chain in their quest to keep prices low was just never offering up single-use bags in the first place.

If you still feel uneasy about purchasing plastic trash bags, let me also dispel a myth. The Central Landfill (where your trash bags wind up) is not an open-air heap. Trash bags aren’t exposed to the elements for very long. In fact, trash is buried in such a way that it has little contact with the environment. The priority is to quickly keep it away from the surrounding air, water, wildlife, and people. The result of this is slower-than-molasses biodegradation. So, before you start pondering a compostable bag to set your trash out in, just know that no bag is degrading in the landfill anytime soon. Excavations into landfills like ours have found 40-year-old newspapers that are still readable and 10-year-old carrots that are still orange inside.

There’s more to consider than biodegradation, of course. For example, a paper bag alternative would be made from a renewable resource (trees can be planted continually) while plastic bags are made from petroleum that can take hundreds of thousands of years to form. Plastic bag manufacturing requires less water and they weigh less, so less energy is needed for transport. If they become litter (actually exposed to the elements!), paper bags will biodegrade, but plastic bags won’t. The choice is yours.

I can only be prescriptive about one thing: Resist the temptation to set any trash out loose. Securing trash inside of bags not only reduces windblown litter, but it is usually required by municipal ordinance. Your mixed recycling, however, must always be set out loose.

— Krystal Noiseux is the education and outreach manager at Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation. Send your question, including the city or town you’re writing from, to Trash Tutorial, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. Or email features@providencejournal.com and put "Trash Tutorial" in the subject field.