A lockable smell-proof bag is a necessity for anyone who stashes their weed and other valuables. This bag from Stashlogix is odor-proof and has a settable 30-digit combo lock to keep your stash safe.
While biodegradable plastic bags do break down faster than traditional ones, they can still take months to years to decompose if they end up as litter in the environment. This could harm animals like whales, fish and turtles.
Paper Bags
Whether you’re a grocer or a boutique, your customers will appreciate Smell proof bags that keep their purchases fresh and discreet. For some products, this may be a matter of privacy, like perfumes or scented cosmetics. For others, it’s a question of safety, as is the case with chemical treatments for skin and hair that have potent odors.
The technology used in these bags varies, but most are made of fabric with a layer of activated carbon. This is the same kind of material you find in air filters, and it works by trapping odor molecules and preventing them from escaping.
Unlike plastic bags, which are often made of oil-based petroleum, paper bags use long cellulose fibers from trees and process waste to make them. They’re biodegradable and recyclable, but the energy and water needed to make them can be more resource-intensive than plastic bags. They also carry more weight, making them harder to transport. Despite these drawbacks, many countries still mandate the use of paper bags.
Plastic Bags
Until recently, plastic bags were nearly universally used for shopping. Dozens of factories produce millions of them in cities such as New York, where residents are accustomed to carrying bags for their food from hundreds of takeout restaurants, fruit carts and grocers.
The modern plastic bag was created in the 1960s by Sten Gustaf Thulin, an engineer with the Swedish company Celloplast. He patented a design that made a tube of flexible plastic, laid flat, and then sealed at regular intervals, to leave an open end on one side for inserting whatever needs packaging.
By the 1970s, consumers had embraced them as convenient replacements for paper bags. The bags are also cheap and easy to make, allowing retailers to offer them at low prices. They are lightweight, watertight and reusable. Many countries have now placed charges, taxes or bans on the use of plastic grocery bags to reduce their waste, although they are still incredibly common.
Biodegradable Bags
When shopping for eco-friendly bags, you’ll find many options that are referred to as “biodegradable” and/or “compostable.” These bags are made of different materials, but they generally do not behave as traditional plastic does.
Biodegradable trash bags are typically just petrochemical plastic that has been engineered to break down more quickly in certain conditions. However, unless they are disposed of in an environment that is specifically dedicated to industrial composting (like a worm bin), these bags will linger and eventually break down into microplastics that contaminate the food chain.
Instead, look for biodegradable or compostable bags that are made from plant-based material, like the Green Earth Compostable bags we carry at Big Green Smile. These garbage bags are certified to the toughest standards for home and commercial/industrial composting, and they’re sourced from GMO-free crops. They come in a variety of sizes, from the small for little bits and bobs to a whopping 136-litre trash bag that fits taller bins.
Reusable Bags
The eco-friendly shopping bag is no longer just a fashion statement for the “conscious consumer.” Governments in cities, states and counties around the world have banned single-use plastic bags or put mandatory fees on them. Each plastic bag is only used for 12 minutes before it becomes waste, and communities and governments spend millions of dollars every year cleaning them up from the environment, including in waterways.
Most supermarket reusable bags are made from nonwoven polypropylene, which is thicker than normal plastic and feels like fabric. While these are a better alternative to paper, they still require an extracted resource and need to be reused 11 times to break even with conventional plastic (according to a U.K. study).
These reusable bags also may not be as germ-free as people think. Studies have shown that COVID-19 can live for three days on plastic surfaces, such as those found in a supermarket cart or checkout stand.
