quick question..

[vixnpips]

can I ask what your thoughts are regarding compostable paper bin liners, paper sandwich bags/ food bags and cavass gift packaging ( wine bottle bags and such like).

bit cheeky I know but one of my many hats I wear is running packaging design business.. don't swear at me.. I can't stand the plastic stuff and use as many eco products as possable.. having had a hunt about for paper binliners at affordable prices that meet my own morals, I found them rather difficult to come by, the ones I did were very expensive. So was generally wondering whether or not to add these products to our range( maybe under a sister company) heck If I can help by redesigning and careful scourcing of materials, then i'm a happy bunny.

All thoughts very welcome here.. I don't want to get this wrong.

[Andy Hamilton]

I know of a few people that have started to make liners for the little caddy compost bins (see pic below)



they are doing quite well, you line the bin and compost the whole thing when full.

Not sure about the other bins, I don't use bin liners at all myself and have one of those lift out britta bins that I just pour into the bigger wheely bin.

With degradable bin liners they are still using up resources to make, are they better? Well at least they do degrade. Er not really answering your question there.

[Sassinak]

I have only just started using them, so can't comment yet on how well they compost but the caddy bin liners that I have are said to be made of cornstarch. I would be interested to learn more if anyone has more experience of them

[Millie]

I know of a few people that have started to make liners for the little caddy compost bins (see pic below)



they are doing quite well, you line the bin and compost the whole thing when full.

Not sure about the other bins, I don't use bin liners at all myself and have one of those lift out britta bins that I just pour into the bigger wheely bin.

With degradable bin liners they are still using up resources to make, are they better? Well at least they do degrade. Er not really answering your question there.

Where do you buy the little caddy bins, Ive searched high n low!

[mybarnconversion]

Great idea ... I chuck plenty of newspaper & brown paper bags in my compost as wrappings for veg peeling and the like some of which doesn't compost easily. Guaranteed decomposition would be nice. A suitable range of products would help in keeping clean and tidy and things like sandwich bags would get over the guilt of plastic / clingfilm.

Mail order would be great ... keep me informed!

[red]

our council gave the caddies to us free.... that doesn't help as an answer though does it...

[Sassinak]

Sorry but I got mine from the local council as well. If you bought a compost bin you could order a free caddy at the same time

[Sassinak]

I've looked at my cornstarch bags and there is a website.
www.recyclenow.com/compost

[red]

there seems to be a steady business selling compostable bin liners in my area - though I dont use them so no idea how good they are.

i prefer the idea of them made out of recycled paper... unbleached.. rather than cornstarch.. as i figure if we are not careful we will start growing wayyyy too many things to salve our morals... and take up the space that good should grown in in third world countries.. then it might still have 'food' or maybe 'bin' miles.... whereas recycled paper less so.

also brown paper bags for packaging, like paper carriers.. can be reused a number of times then recycled...

its better NOT to use something, but IF you are going to... compostable is better than not....

[Millymollymandy]

These kinds of bags were available years ago in France. However we found they never rotted down in our compost bins! (Well they might have done eventually, but the compost was ready before they'd even begun to decompose. ).

[Shirley]

You could try your local council Milims.... or there are various other places to try - garden centres/lakeland plastic... or you could just get a wee bucket with a lid (probably cheaper)

We bought the cornstarch bags - they are much better than the degradable carrier bags that we used to use for the compost. They feel different and they sort of dry out the compost while it's in the caddy and thus you don't need to empty it as often... no smells/flies etc.

Try www.biobags.co.uk for further details.

[Shirley]

i prefer the idea of them made out of recycled paper... unbleached.. rather than cornstarch.. as i figure if we are not careful we will start growing wayyyy too many things to salve our morals... and take up the space that good should grown in in third world countries.. then it might still have 'food' or maybe 'bin' miles.... whereas recycled paper less so.

Very good point!!!

[vixnpips]

Will keep all informed of how it's going.. personally looking for the thinest ( without breakage) un bleached recycled materials to play with varying designs, and food grade materials for the sarnie/ food storage bags. Have to agree with the corn starch comments.. A big thankyou guys! keep the comments coming.. all very useful on the design part as most people don't think about it.

[Thomzo]

Whether we like it or not people do use bin liners, sandwich bags and the like. It would be much better if they used a biodegradable product than the usual plastic rubbish. I probably wouldn't use it myself but I bet there are loads that would.

Could you make the bin liners out of recycled paper?
Zoe

[the.fee.fairy]

What about Tyvek?
its virtually indestructable, but can be used in a multitude of ways, and then sent back to the manufacturers for recycling into something new.