The Bag Man was mostly made from bags Wilton Go Green collected at the Zero Waste Faire in 2019. While our intention was to recycle the bags at a drop-off, many were not recyclable, so we have repurposed them. Some bags were contaminated with paper receipts, stickers, labels or food remnants.
Plastic film should be clean and dry before recycling at a retail drop-off. Plastic film should never be included in the single stream recycling bin at home as they jam the machinery. When not disposed of properly, they can end up in our rivers and oceans.
Several local stores accept plastic bags and other plastic film for recycling. Companies use the plastic film for new materials like Trex. Trex uses plastic film to help make their lumber composite products.
For more information on recycling film you can check out NexTrex
It is estimated that our small State uses between 700 million and 1 billion single use plastic bags each year. Any bags that are put in the trash will go to an incinerator to be burned and the toxic ash is landfilled. We hope that our Bag Man inspires you to consider packaging before you buy and to Bring Your Own Bag whenever you shop and recycle plastic fim at a retailer.
ACCEPTABLE PLASTIC FILM FOR STORE DROP OFF
All plastic must be clean, dry and free of food residue. Click here to download a flyer.
- Plastic wrap and stretch film
- Grocery bags
- Bread Bags
- Case overwrap
- Dry cleaning bags
Produce Bags - Newspaper bags
- Air pillows
- Bubble wrap
- Plastic shipping envelopes
- Electronic wrap
- Plastic films labeled with #2 or #4 recycling symbol (polyethylene films)
- Ice bags
- Wood pellet bags
- Salt bags
- Cereal box liners
If you look closely at the Bag Man you will see all kinds of bags and other single use plastic. Here is a partial list…
Air pillows
Airport gift shop bags
Bread bags
Bubble wrap
Baby store bags
Carrot bags
Cauliflower bags
Cellophane wrapping
Citrus bags
Clothing store bags
Dentists' goody bags
Flatware
Frozen vegetable bags
Gift bags
Grocery bags
Hardware store bags
Magazine shipping wrap
Newspaper bags
Paper towel wrap
Party goody bags
Produce bags
Retail store bags
Shipping envelopes
Shoe store bags
Snack food bags
Straws
Stretch wrap
Toilet paper wrap
Wine gift bags
Wilton Go Green has formed BYO Wilton, a subcommittee dedicating itself to passing a plastic bag ban ordinance in the town of Wilton and educating residents about single-use bags, in theme with our Zero Waste philosophy. There are 17 towns in Connecticut that already have ordinances in place including Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Westport, and Weston. For the full list click here.
Although the state of Connecticut has passed a plastic bag ban, it doesn't phase out plastic bags until June 30, 2021. Until then, stores will charge a 10-cents-per-bag tax to go to the state. Wilton's municipal ban allows for retailers to collect a fee and would be stricter than the state law.
Please contact us if you'd like to help with this important initiative.