Our 4 year oxobiodegradable bag is breaking down. The reusable bag we made from plain LDPE while George H W Bush was president is still going strong.
The folks at reusablebags.com told us they didn’t like the concept of a biodegradable reusable bag; they were more into “lifetime” bags.
The contrast of the two projects was interesting. The Makro bag was “outside in” thinking, or responding to a need. The biodegradable bag was my “inside out ” concept and while functional, a commercial dud. I learned a lot, though. Mainly how much visceral hatred there is for plastics, even if biodegradable ( ” you’re still usin’ evil fossil fuels, MAN ! ). I found it amusing these same people like their woven polypropylene reusable bags printed with heavy metals for the conspicuous consumption billboard.
How times have changed. I went to the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin a few weeks ago and was denied a plastic shopping bag. Nobody sees the irony of what must be millions of pounds of plastic that pass through Whole Foods every year in packaging.
At long last the FTC is going after biodegradable additive manufacturers who have specious claims. The central issue ? timing
