TexasMadness
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Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
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Plastic Bag Ban
Two years ago San Fransisco banned the use of plastic bags in large retail stores. It was seen as controversial and kooky by many. But it appears to be going along just fine - no one has been killed or even maimed by the lack of plastic bags. Sure, I bet a few people were put off, but apparently it's going along just fine. Now they are even thinking about cutting out paper bags! But let's focus on the plastic.
Turns out it's not just a weird hippy San Fransisco thing either. China banned the plastic bag too! The UN has even asked for a world wide ban on plastic bags!
So what's the deal with those flimsy little things besides only breaking when you either have a nice bottle of wine or a dozen eggs in them? Have you ever heard about that floating island of trash out in the Pacific? It's the size of TEXAS! Whoops, just looked to find a picture of it...it's not TWICE the size of Texas. Folks, Texas is big. The Garbage Island is mostly plastic, and much of that those convenient little bags. The bags also scatter themselves about the landscape, getting stuck in trees and just generally making a nuisance of themselves.
The bags are everywhere. Even though we use shopping bags often, we still seem to accumulate tons of them. I don't think I would mind a ban on them. Actually, I think it would be a good idea. I understand that they are terribly convenient for a lot of people though.
How would you feel if your city/state/country/world banned the plastic bag?
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10/21/2009, 9:51 pm
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Fenyx
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Registered: 10-2004
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
I'd love to have the old fashioned brown grocery bags. You could cut them and use them for all sorts of things -
For banning plastic bags.... I just don't know about banning, but stopping using them - I can go for that. I accumulate too many, but you can pick up cat hairballs that are upped on the floor with them (Yuck).
I'm going more and more to the grocery store bags and hope to make some Fenyx style bags of my own to use also.
The fabric bags are much more convient with the arm handles, etc. And they're good for lots of things.
So while I don't like banning any more than I like mandatory - a would not miss plastic shopping bags.
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10/22/2009, 5:05 am
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Firlefanz
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Location: Germany
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
They put a charge on plastic bags here - which are the sturdy kind and less likely to tear - but I always carry a cotton bag with me for shopping. That charge certainly helped to encourage people to bring their own shopping bags. Often they are bicycle bags or a kind of trolley.
I admit I get some of the small plastic bags at the Turkish supermarket, as they are free there, and use them as garbage bags. Hmmm. And I think there will be a different solution as soon as I'm really alone, as I want to rearrange some of the waste management in this flat. Won't need those little bags anymore. 
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10/22/2009, 5:57 am
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TexasMadness
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
Fenyx wrote:
So while I don't like banning any more than I like mandatory - a would not miss plastic shopping bags.
I've always thought it was silly to make things mandatory or ban things. Surely the general public should be able to be educated on what is better and then consumer demand would dictate that "bad" products are no longer produced. But I think I've changed my mind recently. I'm not sure that we can rely on people to make the "right" decisions. But boy, is that a slippery slope...
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10/23/2009, 4:54 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf
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Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
I'm not totally sure how I feel about this, as we use the plastic grocery bags to line our small garbage cans, and also when we clean the litter box. Used, nasty litter goes into those plastic bags and get tied up then out to the garbage....not sure how we could change that. Perhaps using one of the new biodegradable paint roller pans to put the dirty litter into then tossing the litter out into the cattle lot, clean out the pan for use once again. When the pan is beyond use, it can go to a landfill without any negative repurcussions. That may be one idea. We don't HAVE to have them as liners for the small trash cans. I do have 2 of the cloth type bags from Walmart, but I always forget to take them in with me. I'd need a slew of them for when I do get groceries or other shopping. Then, I do like the paper bags that you used to be able to get. And, those are biodegradable.
A ban....not sure that would really work, but then, who knows.
As for educating people...what has been going on the last few years? People are trying to educate others, and it seems to fall on many deaf ears. Lots of people simply don't care one way or the other what goes into landfills and won't stop using plastic...be it grocery bags or drinking bottles.
Then, there is the issue of actual garbage bags for kitchen garbage cans. Those have been plastic for as long as I can remember. What could be used to replace those? I don't put food items in my kitchen can...only trash. All left over food and scraps go to the garden or the dogs so I don't have a stinky kitchen with food stuff sitting there or days rotting and creating nasty odors.
Any ideas on what to use there? We have to haul our trash off ourselves...there's no garbage/trash pick-up rurally here, so we have to have bags to put stuff in to haul it off. That's one of those things you're not quite sure what to do about.
I honestly don't think a ban on plastic bags would stop the filling up of landfills with plastic. There are too many other plastic everyday things in use. It's hard to remember a time when there was so much less plastic in use on a daily basis.
--- Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~
~~*~~ .~~*~~ |
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10/24/2009, 12:00 am
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heritage ranch
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Registered: 05-2009
Location: central colorado rockies
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
vitamin cottage, a "natural food" store in my neck of the woods. has stopped using plastic and several stores have gone bagless. they just save all the boxes from stocking the shelves and if you dont bring your own bag then you can put your goodies in a box and head home.
when the stores did this it really opened my eyes. all the boxes that get used to take stuff home would normally go in the trash. and it aint no different at every store across the world. most stuff on the shelves came out out of boxes, most store throw them away and then buy bags to pack your purchase in, what a waste. i think it is a great idea for stores to reuse the boxes. reuse is better then recycle. and then the boxes can still be recycled when your done with it.
a win-win situation.
but i agree banning anything is a bad thing.
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10/24/2009, 10:50 pm
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Firlefanz
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
Some store chaines here have changed the cardboard boxes they used to have for sturdy plastic boxes they send back to their suppliers, so they are reusing them. Less waste, and it's actually cheaper for them.
Still, there are a lot of cardboard boxes in use, and they are often offered to people to use for their purchases. I still use my cotton bags, and alsways carry one in my (admittedly large) handbag.
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10/26/2009, 8:14 am
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falconr
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Registered: 08-2009
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Re: Plastic Bag Ban
I admit, I hate to see any litter let alone the plastic bags that seem to find the highest branch on a tree to get caught on.
I reuse all our plastic grocery bags to pick up after my dog in public places. I can wad up two bags in my back pocket and forget they are there.
No idea what my woodstove pellets would be packed in if not tough plastic bags. They are really good for taking something really icky to the garbage bin.
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10/31/2009, 2:06 pm
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