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A green trash bag that hangs tough
A new line of guilt-free plastic trash bags and drop cloths from EconoGreen Plastics are oxdegradable, affordable and, refreshingly, tough-as-nails.
Tue, Feb 23 2010 at 11:10 AM
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Photos: EconoGreen

Back in October, I blogged about my struggles with corn-based, biodegradable trash bags. Like CFL bulbs and natural cleaning products, eco-friendly trash bags could be considered one of those crucial “must-haves” in any serious green home. Yet the prohibitive prices and delicate composition of these bags have even, gasp, me shying away from using them on a regular basis.
 
Then along came Green Genius, a line of affordable, biodegradable trash and kitchen bags made partially from recycled plastic. I was able to sample a couple of Green Genius bags and they passed my patented “omg, is this bag going to rip?” challenge as I hauled a full bag down four flights of stairs in my apartment building. Sweet relief.
 
Now, another line of biodegradable — more specifically oxodegradable — trash bags have hit the market and, like Green Genius, they’re tough and durable while being gentle on the pocketbook.
 
EconoGreen Plastics have released a complete line of bags — Contractor Clean-up Bags, Garage and Automobile Clean-up Bags, Lawn & Leaf Bags, Large Trash Bags, Tall Kitchen Bags, Wet/Dry Vac Liner Bags — and drop cloths that are made in North America from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable. The bags contain special additives that make them oxodegradable.
 
What exactly does that mean? As defined by the folks at EconoGreen, it is “the process that occurs when a material is exposed to oxygen and degrades. For example, EconoGreen Plastics bags and drop cloths contain a unique additive that helps break down the carbon-carbon bonds in the plastic and reduces the strength of the bag when it is exposed to oxygen over a period of time (2-4 years). As the bag continues to degrade into smaller pieces it becomes a nutrient for the microbes that consume the fragments leaving behind water, CO2, and biomass.”
 
Since a product that’s oxodegradable may not be as easy to understand as one that’s compostable (like the aforementioned leak-prone, corn-based bags), EconoGreen Plastics does a pretty excellent job of spelling out the science behind their products with a robust FAQ section and a list of “11 common myths about oxodegradable bags.” You can even interact with degradable plastics wiz Dr. Chapman on the Econogreen website. 
 
There’s much to like about EconoGreen Plastics products: they’re made completely from recycled plastic; they break down (eventually) in landfills; they’re competitively priced; they’re super tough having passed my “omg, is this bag going to rip?” challenge with flying colors; and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes (not just the standard trash bag and kitchen bag options). Best of all? They’re not incredibly hard to find. A Home Depot store near you should have them in-stock (the fabulous Alice.com carries them exclusively online) so no need to hunt them down at an obscure specialty retailer.
 
What are your feelings about regular plastic trash bags vs. compostable trash bags vs. degradable plastic trash bags? Have you put all three to the test? 
 
 

 

The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.

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Comments: 7
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anonymous
Sunny May 11 2011 at 8:51 AM

they look like a pretty sturdy bag and I do like to think i am doing my part for mother nature where possible, but I always worry that these kind of buzz words like organic and biodegradable are just a way to increase the prices and especially with stuff like these where we have no real way of knowing if they are really that kind to the environment
Sunny
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anonymous
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anonymous
Amelie Mar 10 2010 at 10:22 AM
I just want to mention that, before even talking about the oxodegradability of EconoGreen Plastics products, we can say they have reduced their impact on the environment for the following reasons: - The bags are made of 100% recycled plastics therefore reusing plastic that could have increased landfill buildup. Plus, our black bags and drop cloth are made from 20% postconsumer recycled plastics. - The bags production cycle requires less energy than regular plastic, bio-based and paper bags. - They're
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made in North America therefore reducing the greenhouse effect during transportation (if you compare them to other plastic bags or oxodegradable bags that are completely or partially made in Asia). - They can be recycled. And they are also oxodegradable. EconoGreen Plastics bags have been designed to degrade where it really matters, i.e in the nature. We never want plastic to end up in the nature but we know that there are many plastic bags that, for different reasons, end up in the sea, in the forest, etc. And it then harms animals and sea animals that mistake plastic bags for food. To prevent that from happening, the bags have been designed to degrade over time. If EconoGreen Plastics bags end up in a landfill that isolate the trash from the environment (groundwater, air, rain), they won't degrade but even organic trash wouldn't. So even if the bags could degrade, the organic trash inside couldn't because there wouldn't be enough oxygen. Most landfills are lined with a layer of clay and a liner of protective plastic to prevent harmful waste from leaking into the ground or ground water. Once a layer of waste has been dumped, it is covered with soil effectively cutting off any exposure to air, sunlight and/or water. Under these conditions, trash won't really decompose because there is little oxygen and moisture.
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anonymous
Natfit Jun 30 2010 at 11:25 AM

Using recycled plastic as raw material is much more eco-friendly than using regular plastic which contain petroleum.

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anonymous
Libby Feb 28 2010 at 5:03 PM

I apologize, I did not notice the posting by Andi Larson with Green Genius before I posted (Great start, but...).

Thank you Andi, very informative! :)

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anonymous
Libby Feb 28 2010 at 5:00 PM

This is a great concept, however the unfortunate truth is that landfills are primarily anoxic, therefore these bags will not breakdown in that situation. They mention this on their site but carefully tiptoe around it.

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anonymous
Andi Larson (wi... Feb 25 2010 at 12:52 AM
Hi Matt, Thanks for the shout-out. It's important to mention though, that the oxodegradable products you describe above are quite different from the biodegradable plastic products that we sell. Back when we decided to make a biodegradable trash bag, we did extensive research on oxodegradation, and were dismayed to find that a) oxodegradable products are highly unlikely to biodegrade in the oxygenless, dark environment of the typical landfill (where nearly ALL trash bags end up and b) even when they
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do break down, research has not proven that they do much more than fragment into smaller parts which likely stay in nature for a very, very long time. For these reasons, we went a completely different route with our biodegradable plastic trash bags, which folks can find out more about here: thegreengenius.com One last thing: these oxodegradable products have not undergone the one recognized method for testing biodegradability: ASTM DS11. To the average consumer, these might seem like slight differences, but I suspect that when consumers see the word "oxodegradable" they expect a product that's much better for the planet than these bags have been shown to be.
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