rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

"Good" and "bad" interchange for most things about every 10 years, just as "settled science"!!! And yet, so many people allow themselves to be controlled mindlessly by them.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

Tdearing Loc: Rockport, TX

Plastic bags and water bottles should both be banned. Living in a marina I am constantly netting both from the boat slip and beach. Plastic lobby seems to own our Washington, D.C. politicians.

hippi Loc: Sedalia MO

we can have plastic just make it from HEMP

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

They outlawed traditional plastic bags in Mt. Pleasant, SC (across the Cooper River from Charleston) but then allowed stores to use heavy-weight plastic bags that can be reused up to 20 times. When we stay in our house there, we bring back a supply of those from the shopping trips we make while there.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I think I'm around 25%, but I only shop for a few items. We do have about 15 bags in the trunk of our car. I seem to remember that when I'm grabbing a qt of 1/2 & 1/2. Many times I'm juggling items in my arms and hoping I don't make a fool of myself walking back to the car.
Mark

BebuLamar

Yeah and the company I work for makes more money making the heavy weight plastic bags as we sell them by the pounds. Stores charge money for them so they actually make some extra money. The customers tend to not bringing the bags back for reuse so .... you know how that goes.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

In CT stores charge ten cents for a paper bag. It's not an option. That price is required by state law. (There exist stores that will discount your order by ten cents per bag thereby giving you a free bag. It helps their bottom line because people go to those stores more than an equivalent store that charges the ten cents).

This doesn't eliminate plastic bags. The thin bags you get on a roll in the vegetable section of the supermarket are exempt, so they are still in use. If you get a lot of vegetables you probably get a bunch of those bags in every bag of groceries from the checkout. Also, in the name of sanitation and repeatability, most everything is wrapped in plastic. People want to see what they're buying so you can't wrap it in paper.

If the goal is to reduce plastic use in the environment, the hardware store should be a target. Everything is packaged in plastic, and the packaging is frequently thick enough to make it difficult to remove the purchase without damage.

Our transfer station charges $75/year for a permit. Then I can dispose of as much as will fit in my car, as often as I want. Bulky items, brush, construction debris I'm allowed 300 lb per day and I have to go over the scales.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

In NJ, only three options! You either bring a bag or buy a reusable one for $1 or of course, carry the items out and get a free practice session for the juggling contest. If I keep forgetting a bag, I have a legitimate chance at first place.
Mark

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

When I forget to bring a bag I use a cart to carry stuff to the car and pack it loose there. I usually have a blanket in the car so it can keep stuff from rolling around.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I tried juggling. Ten times is my limit.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I like the plastic bags primarily because I can carry at least a half dozen of them full of groceries to or from my car by hanging them on my forearms and I don’t have to mess with getting a cart into the already full cart corral. Try that with paper bags. I do take my used bags to the recycle bins at the grocery store.

Stan

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

Paper bags tear easily, and if something is the least bit moist, disintegrate! Plastic bags are ever so much better, functionally. Here, the grocery stores sell a good quality - many times reusable - fabric bag, imprinted with their name/logo, of course, for a very low price, the equivalent of about 20 cents US.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

Dannj

I bought a box of plastic trash bags and the cashier asked me if I wanted a bag (plastic). It just seemed weird.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Where I live most of the grocery stores no longer keep paper bags on hand. I used to ask for them before, but now re-use the plastic ones as often as I can. Better for keeping bottles of liquids in that might leak.

srg

Ha ha. you got me by a few percentage points. lol