Are You Willing to Pay 10 Cent per Plastic Bag?

[Sadie22]

Here many of the stores pay us three to five cents a bag for using reusable bags. Around Earth Day most of the stores have some sort of free bag with purchase deal. So I have gotten most of the bags free with items I would purchase anyway. I did purchase some insulated bags for 99 cents each. I have gotten that money back and then some with the amounts paid for using them.

The stores I frequent offer either plastic or paper bags to those who do not use reusable bags.

 

[ellone]

I'd rather they just go back to brown-paper bagging groceries. They can be recycled or used as book covers for the kids' school books, and even as home-made wrapping paper

Whole Foods uses brown paper bags. And -at least mine- bags groceries well.

 

[lauradis]

So, because you can't do a little bit, we might as well do nothing? We now know we can put nuclear waste in your back yard.

That's funny. Just pointing out the fact that people are wasteful in many ways and now I get the nuclear waste.


Ban the plastic bags if you like, just don't tax them. Personally dislike them rather have paper or reusable.

 

[luvmy3]

That's funny. Just pointing out the fact that people are wasteful in many ways and now I get the nuclear waste.

Nope, you can never point out the hipocrisy when talking about protecting the environment.

 

[BCmomma]

This is nothing new where I live; although it is not mandated by the government (yet) many grocery stores charge 5cents per plastic bag so when I can, I bring in my reuseable bags.

I know some people think it is unhygenic but um hello - don't you have a washing machine? You wash and dry your bags and use them again, it's not that hard a concept.

 

[Colleen27]

Nope, you can never point out the hipocrisy when talking about protecting the environment.

So doing some things but not all things is hypocrisy? Why not pick the low hanging fruit, so to speak? To me, this is like the people who justify their daily Starbucks habit by saying "It is only $3, that's not going to make any difference" and refuse to see how all those little things add up to a big effect.

 

[lauradis]

So doing some things but not all things is hypocrisy? Why not pick the low hanging fruit, so to speak? To me, this is like the people who justify their daily Starbucks habit by saying "It is only $3, that's not going to make any difference" and refuse to see how all those little things add up to a big effect.

No we should do the small things, but its seems silly to me to hop on the earth friendly propaganda wagon when most of the anti plastic bag people have plastic garbage bags in their trash cans at home, or earth friendly stickers on their suvs or buy new cars every couple of years, etc etc.

Calf is perfect example of this hypocrisy, while their neighbors to the south could give a hill of beans. We don't live alone on this planet.

 

[NYCDiane]

The crazy thing about all this is that the plastic grocery bags are more environmentally-friendly than paper! The reason? Paper bags take up much more room and are heavier than plastic --- so they take more space and weight in the trucks that ship them to the stores so the trucks use more fuel AND it takes more trucks to ship them.

 

[leebee]

Remind me again why we stopped using paper bags in the first place? Oh, right... because they made so much trash, which had to be disposed of someplace.

The lesson here is that everything we do, use, buy, etc., has an environmental impact. Paper or plastic? Disposable or reusable (bags, diapers, etc.)? Landfill, water, electricity, fossil fuels, etc. all come into play because of their impact on the environment. I love the "pooper scooper" logic, that requires you to clean up after your dogs for a safer, better environment. Just yesterday I watched a woman and her dog. After the dog did its business, the lady put on a disposable plastic glove, picked up the waste and put in in a plastic bag, then put that inside ANOTHER plastic bag and knotted it. Want to bet that that plastic sac went inside the plastic trash bag at home? Nice that this woman is environmentally aware and cleans up after her pooch. (actually I am SO happy about this law, hate dog poop on my lawn- but this just cracked me up). I have a niece who detests disposable diapers and will get up on her soap box and carry on at great lengths about the evils of Pampers and their effect on the environment. SHE uses cloth diapers. She also does a full load of laundry, in hot water, using soap and bleach, to wash those cloth diapers, and then runs them in the dryer... EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Dirty diapers sitting around are gross, and they smell, dontcha know?

Nobody is "better" than anybody else because they choose to do one thing or the other. People need to be environmentally AWARE and make the smartest choices for their location. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Think about what you are doing and make an effort to be as smart as you can about what you need to do in the area in which you live. It's not that hard.

 

[tvguy]

The crazy thing about all this is that the plastic grocery bags are more environmentally-friendly than paper! The reason? Paper bags take up much more room and are heavier than plastic --- so they take more space and weight in the trucks that ship them to the stores so the trucks use more fuel AND it takes more trucks to ship them.

Certainly the first time I have heard that perspective. Hard to believe though it offsets the fact that plastic never biodegrades, unlike paper.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

The crazy thing about all this is that the plastic grocery bags are more environmentally-friendly than paper! The reason? Paper bags take up much more room and are heavier than plastic --- so they take more space and weight in the trucks that ship them to the stores so the trucks use more fuel AND it takes more trucks to ship them.

And they biodegrade. Not sure thus argument is fully correct.

The big issue with plastic bags is landfill related.

 

[taaren]

On Maui they have eliminated plastic bags altogether, and if you bring your reusable bags to the grocery store, they give you a 10 cent credit per bag. So its not a penalty if you don't bring it, but you don't get the credit.

One of the big concerns with plastic bags in Hawaii is a lot of them ended up blowing around and getting eaten by wildlife as well as sea life once the bags ended up in the ocean, which ended up killing a lot of animals. At least that was one of the big arguments for enacting the no-plastic bag law/ordinance.

I believe San Francisco has a similar program.

 

[My sister's princess]

I just started using my fabric bags regularly. We are slightly overrun by plastic bags right now! I know it's a small part, but I feel like I am at least doing something.

On the meat debate, I have them put it in plastic, then in my reusable bag. I most of my bags for free at events conventions, so I haven't tried to wash them.

Our commissary uses paper which I LOVE, but DH just got out of the Army, so we can't shop there anymore

 

[Colleen27]

No we should do the small things, but its seems silly to me to hop on the earth friendly propaganda wagon when most of the anti plastic bag people have plastic garbage bags in their trash cans at home, or earth friendly stickers on their suvs or buy new cars every couple of years, etc etc.

But again, is it really hypocrisy to start with the easy changes? There's no good alternative to plastic for trash - reusable obviously isn't an option and paper leaks. Likewise, not everyone can adapt their life or fit their family into a compact car or hybrid. Does that mean they also shouldn't bother paying attention to energy efficiency when they choose appliances, recycling any of their trash, or turning off lights when they leave the room?

This is what is wrong with the entire conversation about environmental issues, IMO. Everyone seems to have this "all or nothing" mindset that entirely overlooks the immense power of many people making small changes where they are able.

 

[elphaba91]

Target in Australia introduced this a couple of years ago. It was 10c for a standard sized bag and 20c for a large one. Interestingly they just announced this week that they are getting rid of this as they'd lost too many customers.

I didn't mind it too much. We certainly do try to use re-usable bags (although those green bags actually take over 1000 years to even partly break down), but you do forget on the odd occasion. I hated the idea of having to pay for a bag with Target advertising on it because I'd bought a personal item (e.g. underwear) or several items. Also, we do have 2 cats who do use the litter tray (particularly during the winter or when we are all out all day) so we do need plastic bags.

However, while I do think people need plastic bags sometimes, the vast majority of times no bag or a re-usable bag will do just fine (although the people at the checkout at the supermarket don't understand the words 'DON'T MAKE ME TOO HEAVY' written on our bags and insist on filling them to the brim and leaving empty bags). I do hate when people buy small items from my work and insist on having a bag, and not just a small paper bag, but a large plastic bag...do you really need a large plastic bag for a lipstick?! So yes, I think those people should be charged, but not the elderly lady buying a pack of incontinence pants. How that could be implemented, however, I have no idea.

 

[Gamegrl1]

I think in general the fee is a good idea. The cost to consumers is small and for those that plan ahead, like I do, and always bring reusable bags, it won't make a difference in price. I do reuse them as I'm sure a lot of people do, but some don't. It's fairly wasteful, IMHO.

I imagine it'd help curtail people using a lot of extra bags when they shop. Ugh...I had a houseguest for 3+ months (don't ask...long story) and one of the battles I did not pick was her bringing home about 18 billion of those plastic bags from the grocery store. Um, if you're able to remember to store the empty ones in the pantry (in a paper sack that got fuller and fuller as the weeks wore on!), can't you remember to just grab a couple and stick 'em in your purse when you walk to the grocery store so they're not overflowing my house? She's gone, but the bags remain...I'll probably use them up by Christmas 2015.

 

[packofjedis]

We just got back from Britain and they do this. We saw stores charging 10p for a bag, whether in a grocery store or department store. It makes sense and will cut down on landfill waste.

I can't see it happening here across the board. We still have people in my neighborhood (a lot of people) who don't recycle.

But I wish they did charge for bags. I'd love to see it implemented.

(Oh and while in Britain we were charged for a paper bag from McDonalds to carry our 4 burgers and fries that we were getting to take away. The guy asked me did I want a bag. Uh....how am I going to carry food for 4 people by myself without a bag?)

 

[Pooh2]

I would love to see groceries stores ban the plastic bags and go back to paper. Our store used to offer a choice, now we just get the ultra cheap plastic which often need to be doubled.

 

[sherry7]

I do the majority of my grocery shopping at Aldi's and Sam's Club, so I'm used to providing my own bags there. I have a bunch of nylon bags that are washable, and much more durable than the kind made out of recycled pop bottles. I've even carried watermelons in them. Most of mine were picked up on a clearance sale at Eddie Bauer, but Ikea has a nice nylon bag too for around $1.

When I shop at Walmart, etc I do get the plastic bags. I reuse all of them, for kitty litter, baby diapers, packaging when shipping stuff, trash can liners for the bathrooms and bedrooms, etc. None of them go into the trash empty. If I didn't have plastic grocery bags for those purposes, I'd simply have to buy more plastic trash bags. I really don't support a ban or a charge for them. Stores find enough ways to take my money, and they don't really need a new way.

Oh, and this should definitely not be done in department stores, mall stores, etc. Having worked in retail previously, this would make it even more difficult to detect shoplifting. Charging for a bag at a fast food restaurant for takeout (like they do in Europe) is absolutely ridiculous IMO.