Photo Credit: Brainless Angel on flickr.comYou may have noticed recently that Tesco are giving out 'degradable' plastic bags instead of your usual carrier. I found out when 3 bottles of water fell through the bottom of my bag onto the pavement. I guess I should have brought my own 'eco friendly bag' and could have avoided the embarrassment.
Don't confuse the term 'degradable' with 'biodegradable' or 'compostable' as the three are different. Organic Life Magazine described them as the following...
Degradable - Oil based plastic that is chemically treated to make it fragment into smaller particles as it ages. Hence my bottles on pavement episode.
Biodegradable - Will break down through natural weathering and microbacteria, leaving very little residue.
Compostable - usually made from vegetable sources e.g. corn starch. These bags will break down quickest leaving no harmful residues that can contaminate food.
Although Tesco is taking steps to combat the amount of waste left in the environment, it is probably the least effective choice of bag of the three above. We must not use the term degradable as an excuse to just throw the bags on the ground.
That said, given the weakening of the bags, it seems more likely that these will be thrown away before being re-used than the original plastic bags. Perhaps that is just me being cynical though?
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