Are produce bags compostable?

With many municipalities and cities running kitchen scraps programs, you need to have all your kitchen (food) scraps in your compostable kitchen scraps container.  But what about that icky looking bag of bell peppers you forgot about in the fridge?  Do you need to remove them from the produce bag first?  Or can you toss the entire mess into your kitchen scraps bin?

Unfortunately, not all of those plastic produce bags are also compostable.  In many areas, they cost grocery stores more to provide compostable bags in their produce department, and they stick with the cheaper plastic versions instead.  On the positive side, you can check right on the plastic bag to see if they are compostable or not.

If the food is a leaky mess, you can buy small compostable bags, place the plastic bag inside and dump the contents into the compostable bag before transfering into your kitchen scraps container.

If your favorite grocery store does not offer compostable produce bags, ask them to start!  It makes it easier for customers, and they will help the environment by using bags that break down faster.  You can also make the switch to reusable produce bags, as you can then later dump the contents into your compost or kitchen scraps container, and then toss them into the washing machine.