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Oct 14, 2024

Why paper grocery store bags don’t make good kitchen trash-can liners

It’s true. They don’t. The “meant-to-be-stored-underneath-the-kitchen-sink” trash can, is tapered; the paper grocery store bag is not. In stuffing one of those into my trash can is like hit and miss.

It’s true. They don’t.

The “meant-to-be-stored-underneath-the-kitchen-sink” trash can, is tapered; the paper grocery store bag is not. In stuffing one of those into my trash can is like hit and miss. Most times the bag just doesn’t — or doesn’t want to — conform to the shape of the inside or well of the can itself. That’s because the bottom of the bag is too big relative to the size of the trash-can inside bottom, and due to the mismatch, the profile of the opening at top of the bag usually assumes a shape so unlike that of the rectangular profile of the bag’s bottom.

So, what, don’t use paper grocery store bags as kitchen trash-can liners and use the flimsy plastic grocery store bags instead? Or, get the paper grocery-store-bag manufacturers to retool their manufacturing facilities to produce bags that have tapers to match those of the trash cans? Or, don’t buy trash cans for the kitchen, and instead grind all refuse up in the garbage disposer and then flush that down the sink drain? What’s a person to do? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I could put all of my kitchen trash in the can without a liner. But, that would require a thorough washing out of each time the can is emptied.

Or, I could just get a bag, scrape the discards off the plate, out of the bowl, casserole dish, pot, pan, what-have-you, and slide into said bag and then once done, just walk that outdoors each time and dump in the refuse bin that stays outside. Though not the best solution, it would suffice.

What seems out of the question, on the other hand, is to ask the manufacturers of said “meant-to-be-stored-underneath-the-kitchen-sink” trash cans if they could create a reusable liner that would conform to the shape of the inside of said trash can that could then be removed from inside the can at times when such needs emptying, as does asking said trash can manufacturers to change the shape of said cans to make the can’s inside dimensions match those of the paper grocery store bag. Why that seems a non-starter is because if that were to be done, then the cans themselves would not be conducive to stacking.

Then again, I suppose one could always resort to using trash bags made of plastic (you know, the kind that have the built-in draw ties), those meant for placing inside the can. A reasonable alternative that does seem. Though, they’re not free. And what if such is not biodegradable, then there’s that.

Seems I’m plumb out of solutions. So, I guess I’ll go on doing what I am currently, and that is, to make do with what I have at my, well, if you’ll pardon the pun, disposal. And, if, by the way, you’re not clear on what that is, see photo at the top.