Here in Canada recycling is a big thing and it is common to have far more recyclables in bags on the curb than garbage.It also seems to be common practice to keep a smallish garbage can under this sink with a bag three times too large for the container it's in, so that come garbage day all of the smaller bathroom and bedroom receptacles are dumped into this one bag to be taken to the street.This means removing the oversized bag from the container and having it stand alone while gathering up the other containers.
It appears to be an unnatural state which the bag will attempt to rectify the moment it is not observed.Frustrating at best.
Why are there no stand alone square garbage bag deigns?
The un-binned bags would have a much better chance of staying upright, my recyclables wouldn't roll themselves onto the road, heck even bagging leaves would become simpler.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 15 2008 "Speedy Bagger" at tradekey.com http://www.tradekey...t_view/id/21182.htm [phoenix, Jun 15 2008] "Landscaper Bag" at plowhearth.com http://www.plowhear...cm_type=&pcode=6106 [Klaatu, Jun 16 2008] square bottom refuse bags from Ace Hardware http://www.acehardw...ks--pi-2432443.html [xandram, Jun 16 2008] Sorta baked, back in the days when people used to use paper grocery bags for garbage. I know there are some companies that make wire frames to help hold bags upright and open. They're primarily for yardwork, but I can't see why they couldn't be repurposed.-- phoenix, Jun 15 2008 I have seen both of those linked items. I just can't see it costing any more in the manufacture process to square the bottom of a garbage bag, and it would be a selling feature-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 16 2008 Good find [xan] but recyclables have to be placed on the curb in see-through plastic bags, and paper doesn't stand up too well to real garbage.
I know it's not an Earth shaking idea, and certainly no better for the environment than what we've got now, I'm just surprised that that the folks at Glad haven't done it.
Must not be profitable adding an extra step in the heat sealing process.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 17 2008 The construction here isn't quite, erm, clear to me. How would you make a see-through plastic bag that can be packed into a small space for sale and transport, yet opens and stays open when standing up?-- jutta, Jun 17 2008 The base of the bag would be flat and square in shape.The outward pressure of the contents will cause the bag to stand as it is filled. It wouldn't support itself, just not tip over when filled.
But if I had to design a see-through plastic bag that can be packed into a small space for sale and transport, yet opens and stays open when standing up.
I'd heat seal a half inch or so of the sides of the bag down to the square bottoms corners, conected around the upper rim of the bag, so that a single breath would inflate the edges and a sticky seal would keep the air trapped after the bag was filled for support.
I call it...Garbflatobag.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 17 2008 2 fried: use one of those trash bag with the built in cinchers. Cinch up the top when you set it down. If it tips while cinched, no harm done. What can be cinched, can be uncinched. Uncinch it when you dump in the bathroom trash.-- bungston, Jun 17 2008 How to engineer such a bag cheaply. The sides and bottom are supported by thin bamboo(?) struts.. cross pieces on the bottom. It folds flat, but can pop up to provide a more or less stable platform. Can work. Check with an origami designer.-- MauiChuck, Oct 16 2008 random, halfbakery