By now, most of us have gotten the memo regarding plastic bags, and, if not, many communities have banned their use to remind us that they are less than environmentally friendly. Many of us now bring our reusable totes to the supermarket instead of opting for paper or plastic, but some folks still use paper bags for yard waste removal. Up until recently, I have been one of those people who bagged up my yard waste in a paper waste bag. This has come fraught with problems since I live in the Pacific Northwest. This region is plagued with rain more months of the year than I care to count. The result? Soggy bags that are literally degrading before they can be picked up, sometimes before I can get them picked up.
Rain and paper don’t mix, but that isn’t my only gripe about paper yard bags. I can never fit much into my 28-gallon paper bags, and what I do get in requires a combination of prayer and words that would make a saint blush. How do you choose the right bag for your lawn and garden maintenance when all the ones out there don’t seem to hold up? And how do you keep it environmentally agreeable without premature breakage? Resolved to find a solution, I did what I always do when I have a conundrum; I took our dog to the dog park.
The walk does us both good and, lo and behold, the dog park really did have a solution! After our pooch “did her duty,” I grabbed one of the handy bags to clean up after her and noticed the name BioBag. There it was in front of my eyes the entire time! I had a solution to my bagging problem. It turns out that BioBag not only makes compostable doodie bags, but a wealth of other green bagging products. All of these are made from a GMO free resin that is derived from plants, vegetable oils and compostable polymers, hence environmentally friendly.
BioBag Lawn & Leaf Bags are larger (33 gallons), with plenty of give to allow me to stuff to the top without adding to the swear jar. Again, they are made from renewable crops, a plus for the environmentalist in me. They also don’t break down at the first drop of rain. They can be left for up to 12 days before my waste collector gets to them – or, rather, until I get the bags to the curbside for pickup – before breaking down. And, since I don’t always get the yard waste out on time, the bags are breathable, which reduces moisture that leads to mildew and nasty odors.
Now that I’m using BioBag yard bags, I don’t spend extra time cleaning up after blown out paper bags. What do I do with the extra time? Take the dog to the dog park, of course, where all problems, or at least the little ones, are readily solved.
