Recycled Plastic Trash Bags

It seems like we all use a lot of trash bags every week.  How many bags of trash do you take out to the garbage for pickup?  Two?  Three?  More?  Now think of how many trash bags that would be every year.  It’s a huge number, and all of that plastic ends up in a landfill somewhere.  However, the Seventh Generation recycled plastic trash bags are made from recycled plastic, and using them will help save a ton of resources.

According to a study, if everyone simply swapped out one box of brand new 20 tall kitchen bags with a box of recycled ones (made from 65% recycled material), it would be enough to save 3,900 barrels of oil and would cut down on 720,000 cubic feet of landfill space.  It would also cut out 15,000 tons of pollution.  That’s just by replacing ONE box!  Imagine what would happen if every household started using recycled trash bags for all of their trash needs?

The savings only goes up if the bags are made from more recycled material.  Bags made using 80% recycled materials, for example, could save 81,000 barrels of oil and cut down 30,000 tons of pollution if every household purchased a 20 count box.

These recycled plastic trash bags aren’t that much more expensive than those made from virgin plastic.  They come in a variety of sizes, including 13 gallon tall kitchen bags and 33 gallon trash bags.  They’re made out of tough, quality recycled plastic, too, so they won’t rip or tear easily.

Sometimes, it seems like going green requires a huge change, but there are some things we can do that are small yet have a huge impact.  Changing out a box or two of traditional trash bags for recycled ones can be one of those small things.  If you want to go green but aren’t sure how, this is a great place to start.

Recycling: Does It Really Help?

People have heard things like “it costs twice as much to create something from recycled material as it does to make a new product” or that recycling just doesn’t work.  So is recycling really worthwhile?  Are we really saving the planet?

First of all, the rumor that it takes more to make something out of recycled materials than it does to make a new product is false.  Companies can make twenty aluminum cans out of recycled materials using the same amount of energy it takes to make one aluminum can out of non-recycled materials.  This means that if you recycle one can, you’ve saved enough energy to power your television for three hours!  Throwing away an aluminum can, on the other hand, is like filling that can half full of petrol and throwing it out the window.

Recycling glass is also very beneficial to the environment.  Glass is one of the few materials that can be recycled over and over without losing any quality.  More than 80 percent of recycled glass bottles are made into new containers.  In fact, there really isn’t such a thing as new glass anymore—almost all new glass is made with recycled glass.  Recycling 20 glass bottles equals a savings of about two pound of carbon emissions.

Overall, every pound of recycled materials saves landfills and two and a half pounds of carbon emissions.  Here’s the bottom line, though: the average person actually recycles about one and a half pounds of mixed solid waste every day!  That’s about a third of all the solid waste we create.  Not bad, but it could be even better.  If we were to recycle 50 percent of all solid waste, we’d save almost 2,500 pounds of carbon emissions per house per year.

So does recycling work?  The answer is a resounding yes.

What is X-Board?

You’ve probably never heard of X-Board, but chances are, you’ve got some of it in your home.  X-Board is a fairly new, lightweight type of board that is created using a structural core of paper or a type of fiberboard support.  The result is a sheet of board made from recycled material placed between two layers of very, very thick paper.  When the flimsy inner material is placed between these two thick sheets of paper, the entire thing becomes very rigid and sturdy.

This type of green product is relatively new, but many companies have jumped on board the X-Board bandwagon.  It’s especially useful for creating lightweight, inexpensive home furnishings like those purchased from IKEA and other department stores.  It’s also an alternative to plywood and medium density fiberboard.  In fact, X-Board is often combined with plywood or wood veneer to make an even stronger piece.  For companies that do many trade shows, X-Board is perfect for creating temporary booths that are only needed for a week or so.  It’s also used in building bookshelves, desks, tables, and other pieces of furniture and as material for walls in buildings.

X-Board was designed by the Xanita company.  Its creators saw huge bales of recycle paper waste and realized that the waste could be put to some use.  They set out to create a board made from the recycled waste that would be completely environmentally friendly.  Today, Xanita creates a number of ecologically friendly boards and other construction goods, all of which are made from this post-consumer paper waste.  The X-Board is made to replace formaldehyde-based boards, petroleum-based PVC materials, and polystyrene/polypropylene sheeting.  Generally, the X-Board can be used in any construction project as a replacement to these products, although in a few instances, the light weight of the X-Board may be an issue.