Kraft paper bags for small kitchen waste?

[flatbutt]

NJ has banned plastic grocery bags which is a good thing. So, I'm looking for a good alternative to use for the small amount of kitchen waste that I generate.
The compostable bags all seem to melt as soon as you put something wet into them.

All food waste goes into my compost bin but there is still a small amount of stuff I need to toss.

I'm looking for old fashioned kraft paper bags to use. The offerings on Amazon all have bad reviews wrt flimsy construction or faulty seams.

I know this isn't a hot topic but do any of you guys know of a good kraft paper bag maker?

[Baz]

I know not Kraft paper but.....

Maybe a 4 gallon garbage can and a 150 pack of bags like these from amazon for $6.......

[Seahawk]

First of all, my wife is a Master Gardener so you need to factor that in.

Not cheap, but she loves it: https://www.amazon.com/Vitamix-068051-FoodCycler-FC-50-Capacity/dp/B08BQYXVNT/ref=asc_df_B08BQYXVNT?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80195746991080&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795273846492&psc=1

Lance Romance here bought it for her as a Christmas gift.

There is just two of us and she uses it every night.

Just something to think about.

[2.7RS]

I was wondering about those corn based bags that I've see lately...

Yay or Nay better or worse....Dunno

[mjohnson]

Dunno if Kraft paper bags will be better than your "melty" compostable bags - but it's just gotta get from the counter to the bin, right?

If you're really concerned - consider your workflow. You could maximize bag usage yet still minimize bag-soakage-breakage. From this POV paper seems nice as it's also compostable.

(and I'm jealous as it seems here in the high NM mountains compost is hard - no humidity, no happiness)

[dafischer]

They might be coming back in NJ.

https://www.nj.com/news/2022/09/as-reusable-bags-pile-up-nj-considers-tweaking-plastic-bag-ban-to-allow-paper.html?e=b6020e73c097d9f02d607a89d940e6b7&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NJ_AM%20Edition%202022-09-13&utm_term=Newsletter_am_pm

[matthewb0051]

This is giving me flashbacks. I lived in Germany for a few years thanks to the US Army. Germany has you break down your trash into about 4 or 5 containers. Paper, glass, plastics, other trash, and finally compost type stuff.

IIRC, if you screw this up you can be fined.

I knew a fair number of US personnel that lived off post that would just bring their trash to post and heave it into the dumpster

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

This is giving me flashbacks. I lived in Germany for a few years thanks to the US Army. Germany has you break down your trash into about 4 or 5 containers. Paper, glass, plastics, other trash, and finally compost type stuff.

IIRC, if you screw this up you can be fined.

I knew a fair number of US personnel that lived off post that would just bring their trash to post and heave it into the dumpster

My MIL lives in Enid, OK. She is required to put all household garbage in a plastic bag, inside the large wheele bin.

We have two large wheeled bins for all trash and garbage. One other green bin is for recycled stuff. Cardboard, plastic, and glass, and even aluminum or steel cans. No sorting, just dump it in. I would like to see how they sort that.

We also have a "large bulk pickup" every other month so appliances, water heaters, lawn mowers, furniture, construction trash, fence panels, tree limbs and so on get picked up.

Further, the city runs a hazardous waste disposal drop off site. I can take old AA to D size batteries, or any battery, paint cans, chemicals, antifreeze, brake fluid, and other stuff that should not got to the landfill. It is free, just drop it off. Well not free, it is part of the city water and sewer bill.

[911 Rod]

Liquor store bags?

[herr_oberst]

Newspapers. Grab a handful of the local freebie scandal sheet at the grocery store entrance. Wrap until the wet quits seepin'.

(Lance Romance. Hah.)

[Shaun @ Tru6]

These might work for you.

Hardware Bags
Heavy-duty kraft paper bags hold metal parts without puncturing or tearing.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

These might work for you.

Hardware Bags
Heavy-duty kraft paper bags hold metal parts without puncturing or tearing.

Nice!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I hope they work for you. I get all of my boxes from Uline and their quality is excellent.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy 944

Edited. I am longer surprised

At the risk of feeding a troll-ish post, these bags will be placed into a bin. FWIW I have always voted GOP or Libertarian. Now shoo!

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

At the risk of feeding a troll-ish post... Now shoo!

I've got no care either way, but depending on how you do the analysis - from a resources point of view a paper bag may be more wasteful (paper takes lots of water to make) than a flimsy plastic bag. I think you can skew the analysis to meet whatever outcome you desire.

Degradation is a different thing, and you don't see too many paper bags tangled up in fences every few hundred yards along every road. I'm convinced that that litter is why wallyworld went away from blue bags - to not be as readily identifiable as the source of the trash.

I like paper btw. It's hard to make a 5-year-old's Tom the Turkey with a plastic bag.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

We have two large wheeled bins for all trash and garbage. One other green bin is for recycled stuff. Cardboard, plastic, and glass, and even aluminum or steel cans. No sorting, just dump it in. I would like to see how they sort that.
.

I've often thought this would be an excellent job for folks in prison. Not joking.

[masraum]

We have one of these, and use it with the compostable bags. Yes, if you wait too long to get rid of the compostable stuff, they begin to decompose. I think you're probably pretty safe as long as you dump them once a week, unless maybe you make a ton of wet stuff. Either way, I usually carry the little bin out, and if the bag doesn't come out (sometimes it goes 2-3 weeks) then i just dump it out and spray the bin out with the hose.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One other green bin is for recycled stuff. Cardboard, plastic, and glass, and even aluminum or steel cans. No sorting, just dump it in. I would like to see how they sort that.

My guess is that they don't sort it and they send it straight to the dump with the rest of the garbage. I think we recycle very LITTLE here in the US. We used to ship everything off to China, but they stopped taking it. "They" are still asking us to recycle, so that one day, when it becomes viable, they won't have to convince us to do it again.

I suspect there's a few things that are actually recycled. Car batteries since they go on a pallet and get shipped back to the battery mfr from the autoparts stores. Plastic grocery bags since they are collected at the grocery stores, and they presumably have a deal with the people that supply them with the bags in the first place.

Maybe there's some other stuff that's recycled, but I wonder if it's from us and our trash-recyclables or if it's from places that buy scrap metal.

[A930Rocket]

You don't want to go into a place that sorts "wet" recycling material. It's hot and stinks like a dump, because it is one. It's an assembly line of people who sort through the trash on a conveyor belt. They grab and sort as the trash goes by, throwing it into bins for food, paper, plastic, aluminum, organics, etc. The material is squeezed in a machine and banded to be shipped out. A "dry" recycler is better, but no by much.

[A930Rocket]

I don’t know about bags for composting, but the bags I get from the grocery store are worthless. Well, maybe they are good for a composting but for carrying groceries to the car into the house, I double bag a lot of it. I only use the glue on the handles, if I’m caring something light, such as bread.