Stuff Bag with Bags

COURT HOUSE – There’s a new bag in town; and while it might not cost the same as a Gucci or Louis Vuitton, it’s rather priceless in terms of what its impact could mean for the environment. 
As part of the county’s recycling efforts, a black sleeve or stocking of a bag is being distributed throughout the county so residents and visitors can stuff them with plastic bags and return the bags to any supermarket with recycle bins.
Linda Crumbock, county recycling coordinator, has been seen at events around the county such as the recent Whale of a Day in Lower Township and 4-H Fair in Court House distributing those bags.
In addition, she’s appearing outside major grocery stores sharing the recycling story with customers as she distributes some 2,500 bags the county Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) bought.
The stores will accept what Crumbock described as “film plastic,” which covers plastic bags used for carrying groceries, dry cleaning bags, produce bags and the plastic wrapping on cases of water bottles. 
“The Bring Back the Bag promotion has been a grand slam as I talk with people,” Crumbock said. “I’ve had many opportunities to discuss returning bags to the supermarkets, explaining how companies rely on the bags as a feed stock for the products they make such as composite wood decking.
“I’ve also used the opportunity to explain that plastic bags must not go in the recycling container and not go into the trash,” she added.
Plastic bags are the most common sources of marine debris and mistaken as food by many birds and fish.
In fact, over 100 million marine animals are killed a year after ingesting plastics. Most recently in Thailand, a small pilot whale made news when 80 plastic bags weighing 18 pounds were found in its stomach after an autopsy was performed when the animal died.
Plastic bags take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. Last year, Crumbock said about 1,042 tons of plastic bags landed in the county landfill.
“Grocery stores will ship the plastic bags back to their warehouses where they are baled and sold to secondary users who will shred the bags, pelletize them or use them in other products,” she noted. “They’ll also mix them with sawdust to make a firmer substance.”
The bags must be completely empty Crumbock said, “Which means no receipts, no contamination.
“I recently went to a local store and when the clerk was going to give me a plastic bag for the item, I explained that I was not a person who used plastic bags,” she said. “He told me it was recycled plastic. What a beautiful thing.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.