California passes plastic bag ban.....

[kent]

I have no problem with this whatsoever, how about you?  The next thing that needs to be reviewed is those damn plastic things that hold six or eight pack soft drink bottles together.

In case you wonder why I say that, it's because those things can be very dangerous for wildlife.  I cut them to shreds (getting rid of anything that forms a "hole") so birds and/or fish can't get them stuck on their heads - been doing it for years and years.   

news.msn.com/us/california-passes-plastic-bag-ban-would-be-first-such-law-in-us

The measure would ban grocery stores from handing out single-use grocery bags with customers' purchases, and provide money to local plastic bag companies to retool to make heavier, multiple-use bags that customers could buy.

Environmentalists have pushed for banning plastic bags, which are cheaper for supermarkets to use than paper bags, but create mountains of trash that is difficult to recycle. In California, there is particular concern that the bags, when swept out to sea, could harm ocean life.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Whew! That was close. There was almost something left that CA didn't make less convenient, more unpleasant, and expensive for people that live there.

[djAdvocate]

Aug 30, 2014 12:45:36 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Whew! That was close. There was almost something left that CA didn't make less convenient, more unpleasant, and expensive for people that live there.

i haven't used a plastic grocery bag in probably 20 years.  i have not found it inconvenient in any way.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

[djAdvocate]

[zibazinski]

I reuse mine for r garbage can liners or litter box "stuff" removal. That would bum me out.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Meh... with all the important stuff going on the world I honestly don't give a damn about this one way or the other.

[Tennesseer]

Aug 30, 2014 13:00:12 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

That's me.  

[Tennesseer]

kent-I have little use for the plastic bags so I throw them out.  The clog up the landfills but that is all the grocery stores offer.  At least with paper bags, you can cut them up and add them to your compost piles and they will decompose.  I would be willing to pay for paper bags.  Some may not be willing and I can appreciate their position.

The plastic thingies holding the soda bottles and cans get cut up into fine pieces just for the reason you mention.

[EVT1]

Aug 30, 2014 12:45:36 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Whew! That was close. There was almost something left that CA didn't make less convenient, more unpleasant, and expensive for people that live there.

I will admit there is an upside to plastic garbage- there is a nice island of it floating in the Pacific with no government and no onerous regulations- perhaps you would like to move there   You can just your plastic on the edge and gain acreage at the same time

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I have re-usable cloth and canvas bags - they've so far lasted 3 or 4 yrs without yet wearing out.

AND they hold twice as much as just ONE of those plastic grocery bags - and never break when full. Those

plastic bags are not biodegradable and destroy the environment, clog waterways, and other negative impact on environment.

Yes, Kent - those plastic rings that hold six-packs are also a menace. I've seen ducks, birds, and other animals with their necks caught in those things.

We have a place here for plastic and glass bottle recycling, but also another place that accepts cardboards, packing materials, and yes - even those hazardous plastic grocery bags - they get turned into re-usable products - but I think the bags themselves can be done away with completely in this day & age - now that you can make or buy environmentally friendly cloth or canvas totes.

I think they should eliminate a lot of the packaging on products too - often things are shrink-wrapped, and then placed inside cardboard with other assorted cardboard and plastic inserts all inside one box. It's ridiculous. Electronics are the worst for this.

[djAdvocate]

Aug 30, 2014 17:44:36 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Aug 30, 2014 12:45:36 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Whew! That was close. There was almost something left that CA didn't make less convenient, more unpleasant, and expensive for people that live there.

I will admit there is an upside to plastic garbage- there is a nice island of it floating in the Pacific with no government and no onerous regulations- perhaps you would like to move there   You can just your plastic on the edge and gain acreage at the same time

we should call it Fountainhead Island! 

[Deleted]

Stores near us give you 5 cents for each bag you supply. We now have a ton of cloth bags and get plastic ones only if we forget to put them back in the car. I'd have no problem with outlawing them.

[Deleted]

I use them for my lunch bag. The fridge at work rains and paper gets wet. I also don't feel like carrying a big honking lunch bag. These fit in my purse.

Then I use them for the litter box or to line the bathroom and laundry room garbage can.

They get a lot of use at my house and eventually yes, they get thrown away, but not until they have had a good run.

[Deleted]

We live in a rural windy area and can at any time drive down almost any road and see one of these bags hanging from someone's barbed wire fence. I just ordered 20 of those fishnet grocery bags. My DD has used them for years and loves them. They are easy to store and you can get a lot of groceries in one.

[Deleted]

[djAdvocate]

i am 99% sure that some MUNICIPALITIES have outlawed these things for decades.  and not just in CA.

[Deleted]

because those things can be very dangerous for wildlife.

This is the image that really upset me.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2014 18:43:48 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

We live in a rural windy area and can at any time drive down almost any road and see one of these bags hanging from someone's barbed wire fence. I just ordered 20 of those fishnet grocery bags. My DD has used them for years and loves them. They are easy to store and you can get a lot of groceries in one.

This could be a bag problem or could be a litterbug problem.

I like the bags , don't like the wild life hurt by them .

I hate the litterbugs more than the bags though.

I live on a river and am disgusted by what people will throw in it.

[Sum Dum Gai]

They get a lot of use at my house and eventually yes, they get thrown away, but not until they have had a good run.

Lots of people repurpose them, but we only used them for a couple things before throwing them out.  They'd stay in the house for maybe a few weeks.  They stay in landfills for decades.  No matter how many times you reuse them, you're not going to get enough use out of them to offset the energy used to make them, and the amount of time they spend breaking down.

[Deleted]

Like I said, we live in a windy area and many times we will see where garbage cans have been blow over during a storm. I think this is where most of the bags are coming from. I like the bags, too, use them for many things, or recycle what I don't use. 
What really fries my buns are lazy-ass people who leave dirty baby diapers in parking lots.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2014 19:13:27 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They get a lot of use at my house and eventually yes, they get thrown away, but not until they have had a good run.

Lots of people repurpose them, but we only used them for a couple things before throwing them out.  They'd stay in the house for maybe a few weeks.  They stay in landfills for decades.  No matter how many times you reuse them, you're not going to get enough use out of them to offset the energy used to make them, and the amount of time they spend breaking down.

Here's a thought. One example: I use them to line my little trash cans. Now, I will have to purchase new PLASTIC bags for this purpose. How is banning them going to cut down on landfill plastic?

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2014 19:21:10 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Aug 30, 2014 19:13:27 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Lots of people repurpose them, but we only used them for a couple things before throwing them out.  They'd stay in the house for maybe a few weeks.  They stay in landfills for decades.  No matter how many times you reuse them, you're not going to get enough use out of them to offset the energy used to make them, and the amount of time they spend breaking down.

Here's a thought. One example: I use them to line my little trash cans. Now, I will have to purchase new PLASTIC bags for this purpose. How is banning them going to cut down on landfill plastic?

[Sum Dum Gai]

Here's a thought. One example: I use them to line my little trash cans. Now, I will have to purchase new PLASTIC bags for this purpose. How is banning them going to cut down on landfill plastic?

First, not everyone reuses them.  I'd say most people probably don't.  Most people take their groceries home, put them away, then throw the bags out.  So banning them takes those bags out of the landfill.  Of the people that do reuse them, some of them will be too cheap to buy little wastebasket liners when they can't get them free from the grocery store anymore.  They'll instead throw everything away in the larger kitchen trashcan they already have, so there will be fewer small bags going to landfills.  Some people will buy small can liners, and that group will still be sending the same amount of plastic to the landfill, but I'd guess that group is tiny compared to the other two.

[kent]

Aug 30, 2014 15:59:52 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

kent-I have little use for the plastic bags so I throw them out.  The clog up the landfills but that is all the grocery stores offer.  At least with paper bags, you can cut them up and add them to your compost piles and they will decompose.  I would be willing to pay for paper bags.  Some may not be willing and I can appreciate their position.

The plastic thingies holding the soda bottles and cans get cut up into fine pieces just for the reason you mention.

I knew I could count on you to do the right thing.

[kent]

Aug 30, 2014 18:44:37 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

My wife has a dress similar to this "thing." 

[NoNamePerson]

Aug 30, 2014 20:58:57 GMT -5 kent said:

Aug 30, 2014 18:44:37 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

My wife has a dress similar to this "thing." 

Not to mention macrame flower pot holders    

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Or you can find someone who crochets, and get them to make all your plastic grocery bags into a sturdy re-usable tote.

I know that a lot of seniors clubs & residences take plastic bag donations, and the members or residents recycle those bags into re-useable totes that they sell dirt-cheap - or make your own if you crochet or know someone who does:

Instructions here - if you want to use or pass on to someone who crochets

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2014 21:15:19 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

Or you can find someone who crochets, and get them to make all your plastic grocery bags into a sturdy re-usable tote.

I know that a lot of seniors clubs & residences take plastic bag donations, and the members or residents recycle those bags into re-useable totes that they sell dirt-cheap - or make your own if you crochet or know someone who does:

Instructions here - if you want to use or pass on to someone who crochets

I just mentioned this to some ladies on my local FB page and a few jumped on the idea, to be done for fund raisers.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We haven't had plastic bags here for several years.  The biggest problem is that I now have to buy plastic bags to scoop cat litter and to line bathroom trashcans.