Ban plastic bags at grocery stores?

Via LAist:
"The proposed statewide ban on plastic bags has until next Friday, June 4th to pass or the process starts all over again. Supporters are calling for a final push to secure AB 1998's survival, which will ban the use of plastic bags at grocery and retail stores. Many people feel that ban will directly result in marine protection in an area known as the Pacific Garbage Patch, which extends from Hawaii to San Francisco, containing exceptionally high numbers of plastic waste."

After the interesting discussion you all had on plastic bottles, I thought I'd throw this one out there. Do you think your state government should have the right to ban plastic bags in grocery and retail stores?

Tags: Should, at, bags, ban, grocery, plastic, state, stores?, the

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by stephanie on May 26, 2010 at 11:43am
I use them as bin bags !
Permalink Reply by Amy Wong on May 26, 2010 at 6:47pm
LoL! I feel the same way! If we stop using plastic bags, then what are we going to use for dustbins? I understand the risk, and I applaud the idea of using 'recycle' shopping bags, but currently, I'm using plastic bags to throw out the garbage. :|
Permalink Reply by Kevin on May 26, 2010 at 11:03pm
I have been using reusable grocery bags for the past couple years and really think other people should too.
Permalink Reply by Eugene on May 27, 2010 at 2:50pm
You're totally right. I've been meaning to get on this...
Permalink Reply by Candace Fong on May 27, 2010 at 12:49am
I'm absolutely in support of this ban. Especially since they've removed most of the plastic bag recycling receptacles. We should be taking more responsibility for how much we use and waste..... I think it's a shame the gov't has to tell us to do it!
Permalink Reply by Jane H on May 27, 2010 at 3:59pm
We've been doing this in Toronto for a little while now and I think it's been great. It's not a complete ban though. Plastic bags are available for the cost of 5 cents -- enough to convince most people (environmentally friendly or not) to bring re-usable bags to the grocery store. I don't mind paying this if I forget to bring my own bag, or if I need bags for my garbage bin. I suspect that before the restriction, ppl had collected many more bags than they would ever need for their household garbage anyway.
Permalink Reply by Eugene on May 27, 2010 at 4:15pm
Charging 5 cents is a brilliant idea and it sounds extremely effective.
Permalink Reply by James Lynch on May 31, 2010 at 10:11am
Here in Ireland the plastic bags are available at a govt tax price of 27cents each. This means that the price paid for the bags goes into the tax coffers and help to pay to the maintenance of the country. It also discourages people from over reliance on plastic bags.
Permalink Reply by Annie on June 1, 2010 at 5:10pm
thumbs up! =)
Permalink Reply by Rachel Naomi on May 31, 2010 at 10:17am
I most definitely re-use the bags as trash bags and doggy bags! I will say I have bought so many of the re-usable grocery bags from Whole Foods but I constantly forget to bring them!! While we are at it, we need to ban the plastic "rings" on the soda 6 packs. How many of us cut them up to prevent the fish from being strangled?Although, I don't know if it is of any use as of now thanks to BP.
At a local organic/farmers market in town they do charge a fee for the use of plastic bags which I think is great because I will load up my items in my arms to avoid that unnecessary fee as well as the bags!
Permalink Reply by Rachel Anne on June 1, 2010 at 5:03pm
Absolutely. Plastic constitutes 90 percent of all trash floating in the world's oceans. In some areas, the amount of plastic outweighs the amount of plankton by a ratio of six to one. Of the more than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year, about 10 percent ends up in the ocean.

Plastic shopping bags are among the most ubiquitous consumer items on Earth. Their light weight, low cost, and water resistance make them so convenient for carrying groceries, clothing, and other routine purchases that it's hard to imagine life without them. Weighing just a few grams and averaging a few millimeters in thickness, plastic bags might seem thoroughly innocuous—were it not for the sheer number produced. Factories around the world churned out a whopping 4-5 trillion of them in 2009, ranging from large trash bags to thick shopping totes to flimsy grocery sacks.

Compared with paper bags, producing plastic ones uses less energy and water and generates less air pollution and solid waste. Plastic bags also take up less space in a landfill. But many of these bags never make it to landfills; instead, they go airborne after they are discarded—getting caught in fences, trees, even the throats of birds, and clogging gutters, sewers, and waterways. To avoid these impacts, the best alternative is to carry and re-use your own durable cloth bags.

I don't think it's asking too much for people to bring their own bags. Or start charging for each plastic bag used.

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