How to Pick a Good Garbage Bag

Okay, this may be mundane topic but a lot of you may not know one or two things about garbage bags (also called “bin bags,” “bin liners,” “trash bags,” or “can liners”. If you’ve been tasked to “Take the garbage out!” you probably know the importance of getting a good garbage bag. Not just those ones that wouldrip easily from the weight of the garbage. So here are some things that you might want to think about when picking a garbage bag.

• Size
  Garbage bags come in different shapes, colors, and sizes. And with those different labels and packaging, it’s hard to tell whether you’ve picked the tall and wide ones that you probably want or those small ones. This is quite tricky since labels usually indicate capacity by gallons. However, some manufacturers measure capacities when bags are filled to the brim whileothers measure them closed. It’s not uncommon to get a bag that’s labeled 26 gallons that would be too small for your 26 gallon bin. Good thing, I’ve seen some packages that are labeled according to length. It’d be wise to get measurements of your garbage can so you’d know what dimensions would fit them.
• Strength
  Much like some products (like toilet paper), garbage bags can also come in different thickness or number of plies. However, strength isn’t determined by the number of plies. It’s a bit better to get them judged by thickness or grade. They’re usually measured by mils. 1 mil is .001 inch thick.
  Heavy grade are best for light wood and metal scraps. Medium-grade are best for packaging waste and wet paper. Regular grade are for office uses mostly for crumpled paper and other light waste.
• Value
  You can always judge the best value for buck per bang. You can always get different bags for different wastes. Some bags even feature drawstrings or double-strength seams that definitely come with added cost. So it’s best to get them in quantities based on the types of garbage that you handle. If you’re unsure, investing on medium-grade bags would be okay since you can handle both medium and light wastes.
  If you’re concerned about mother nature, you might want to buy thebiodegradable ones. They have cornstarch mixed in the material to allow it to break down easily.