Green Genius Biodegradable Trash Bags

Just read about these new biodegradable trash bags from Green Genius. Which brings us to a few questions. First of all, do you use biodegradable trash bags?

And, do you believe in them?

The Green Genius Trash Bags are available through Amazon (and should be coming soon to a store near you).

According to Green Genius, it takes a normal plastic bag thousands of years to biodegrade, but that their bags have been tested and meet the ASTM D5511 standards for biodegradability. Read about it here.

So back to that question we posed earlier: Do you believe in biodegradable trash bags? There's a lot of controversy there. Do they really biodegrade? Are they worth the money? What do you think?

Via Haute*Nature

Image: Green Genius

Comments (3)

Generally, once something goes into the landfill it doesn't get enough oxygen to properly biodegrade. So, does it make a difference if you use regular trash bags or biodegradable ones?

I agree with @jhougen on the oxygen issue. I'd want to see that the company didn't just test under ideal lab conditions but under real world landfill conditions.

But doesn't green trash bags take us away from the true issue: we generate massive amounts of garbage per person.

My ongoing aim has been to reduce 'garbage' to the barest minimum. I bought a chipper/shredder, electric since solar's being installed, and I already compost. CraigsList, Freecycle, the local place that takes art/craft supplies (for artists & teachers), charity shops, reusable drinking bottles, buying in bulk, all seem to help considerably.

In my mind, reducing garbage and using biodegradable garbage bags are not mutually exclusive. I think these bags make a valiant effort to accelerate the decomposition of items that end up in our landfills. Compounded with minimizing the items that make it to the landfill in the first place is a winning solution.

The manufacturers state on their webpage that they test these bags in anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions. As we know, there are many microbes that function in the absence of oxygen, and many that are actually obligate anaerobes, and function best without oxygen.

What I cannot find on the website is information on where the raw material plastic for these bags comes from. If these bags are made from nonrecycled plastic, a fossil fuel derivative, even if they are biodegradable, they are still consuming a non-renewable resource.