For many years I have been
storing my breads, cakes and other foods in gallon (3.78 liter) sized plastic
bags. It is an ordinary bag that is
closed with a twist tie. I use 1 – 3
every week. If they are not wet or
dirty, I try to recycle them. The
companies described the bags as very versatile and encouraged them to be used
for food and non food items. When
storing food, one could squeeze out most of the air and put the package into
the freezer for many weeks of safe storage.
You are probably wondering
why I would spend time writing about something so ordinary and non-library
connected. Plastic bags are a very useful
product. The makers say that they can be
used for food; small non-food items and
even to store off-season clothing. In
December my supply was low and so I wanted to purchase another box at my
favorite store. Below is a picture of
the box.
I went to my local store and they didn’t have any on the shelves. I asked and the clerk pointed to the section
with a new store brand. The display had
only store brand and national brands of reclosable bags. Reclosable bags are
less versatile and they cost more money.
A box of 75 plain bags costs about $.05 per bag including the twist
ties. The reclosable bags cost about
$0.0923 per bag or more depending on the type of closure (single or double) and
weight of the plastic (1,2, or 3 mil).
Since I was going out of
town, I didn’t have time to search other stores.
I went to a supermarket in a
St. Louis suburb and quickly found gallon sized bags. The label advised “fits one and a half loaves
of bread.” Hmm, how does the maker know
the size of my loaves? I usually make 3
loaves and six buns using a recipe for 2 pounds of bread. (I use 4.75 cups of flour.) Why would I want to store a half loaf? The size was what I wanted and so I bought a
package. Unfortunately, I forgot to
bring the box home.
Once back in Chicago, I searched many stores – Target, Walgreens, Aldi,
Walmart, Food4Less, and none had plain plastic bags. All
they sell are reclosable bags. I found
that strange. I went on line to search
for bags. One can buy bags of many sizes for purposes of merchandise sales,
storage and use. They plastic can be
food grade or not. Many years ago when I
was selling a card games, I purchases a 1000 reclosable bags in exactly the
right size.
My searched led to
restaurant and bakery supply companies.
I could buy a box of 1000 bags. With shipping included the cost was
about $0.019 per bag. That was not
bad. I was willing until I looked for
twist ties. Twist ties come in many colors, but only in boxes of 2000. The cost was $2.75 plus $10.98 shipping. I didn’t want to do that because the shipping
was so high and the bags were limited to storing loaves.
After a lot of searching
online, I finally found an offer on Amazon for two 100 bag boxes for
$7.99. I ordered 400 bags. I got a
bargain because today the same box is being offered for $9.99. I did not have to pay for shipping because I
had a minimum order. Below is a picture
of what I purchased.
After telling some of my
friends about my search, I found few even used this type of gallon bags. They prefer the reclosable bags. I can only assume that stores decided twist
tie bags are not worth selling any more. Food storage bags have no connection to the ban
on plastic grocery bags in Chicago and
other cities.
What did I learn? I approached this as a research question and used all my librarian skills and tools. Even the most useful and ordinary products
can be discontinued and searching for a replacement is a grand way to waste
time.
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Post script -- January 19
I received a very nice comment from a fellow a librarian with as much experience going around the sun as I. Many times I am frustrated when I purchase goods. Very often I can't find what I want at a price I'm willing to pay. That is why I hate shopping. Sometimes I find what I want at a price I'm willing to pay, but they don't have my size. Sometimes they just stopped selling what I need. For example the battery to my tiny notebook computer wore out. I tried the place where I bought it and even special battery supplier, none had the battery. I found a Chinese supplier who would sell me the battery if I bought 500 of them.
============
Post script -- January 19
I received a very nice comment from a fellow a librarian with as much experience going around the sun as I. Many times I am frustrated when I purchase goods. Very often I can't find what I want at a price I'm willing to pay. That is why I hate shopping. Sometimes I find what I want at a price I'm willing to pay, but they don't have my size. Sometimes they just stopped selling what I need. For example the battery to my tiny notebook computer wore out. I tried the place where I bought it and even special battery supplier, none had the battery. I found a Chinese supplier who would sell me the battery if I bought 500 of them.
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