No more plastic bags in my county

ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 48,973 Member
in Chit-Chat
As of January 1, Alameda County CA went plastic bagless in all stores. You can bring your own reusable or pay 10 cents per paper bag. A good move? I believe so because I've seen lots of stray plastics bags against fences and along the freeway. I just shopped for groceries and used my new reusable bags today.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Replies

  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
    The ban here is terrible. It's just a tax. Nothing more. I'd rather deal with the tiny amount of plastic blag litter (less than 1% of all CA litter is plastic) than the constant washing of reusable bags which carry bacteria (yeah, really). http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-green-bacteria-in-shopping-bags,0,4837500.story
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Dude! I thought it was just our Safeway that did that when I went last night. So it's just Alameda county? Or is San Mateo County doing it, too?
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    I'm sorry for your loss
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
    Dude! I thought it was just our Safeway that did that when I went last night. So it's just Alameda county? Or is San Mateo County doing it, too?

    SF County already had it. San Jose has it too. The safeway in Belmont still sells me plastic bags.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Dude! I thought it was just our Safeway that did that when I went last night. So it's just Alameda county? Or is San Mateo County doing it, too?

    SF County already had it. San Jose has it too. The safeway in Belmont still sells me plastic bags.

    SF County is different than San Mateo County. Belmont is in San Mateo County not SF County. That's why I'd never heard of it before, because the Safeway in San Mateo and Foster City have never charged me for bags before.
  • n0ob
    n0ob Posts: 2,390 Member
    I agree, reeks of tax...
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
    We have to pay in Sweden too for plastic of paper, we also have biodegradable plastic bags (pay for as well) we usually carry string bags around though. its been this way for at last the past 12 years, probably much longer.
  • Taterpoof
    Taterpoof Posts: 416 Member
    We've had it here in San Jose for a while. Doesn't bother me when I go buy stuff, but I work retail and people get really rude when I don't give them free bags
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
    LA county has had it for about 6 months now and I think once I got adjusted to it that it was much better. Cuts down on a crap ton of non degradable waste that we don't need
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,973 Member
    Dude! I thought it was just our Safeway that did that when I went last night. So it's just Alameda county? Or is San Mateo County doing it, too?
    No, there are many counties in CA that are plastic bagless now.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    happy for you! we also don't have plastic bags! love it!
  • BACONJOKESRSOFUNNY
    BACONJOKESRSOFUNNY Posts: 666 Member
    Fortunately, the hippie ratio is low in my county and gov't knows to stay the hell out of the people's business. :bigsmile:
  • 3RachaelFaith3
    3RachaelFaith3 Posts: 283 Member
    love this!!
  • ashleen7
    ashleen7 Posts: 258 Member
    There's been a 22c levy on plastic bags here in Ireland for the past 5-6 years. You get used to bringing your reusable bags with you to the store pretty quickly so it's only an inconvenience for a while.
  • Mom_To_5
    Mom_To_5 Posts: 646 Member
    It has been in like that in Ontario for over a year now, The only place that seems to give bags is WalMart. All grocery stores and Shoppers Drug Mart charge you $.05 a bag, there are a few other places that don't give them either, just can't think of them now.
  • CrackedMojo
    CrackedMojo Posts: 15 Member
    I would love to see that happen in Florida. As long as the reusable bags are made out of canvas, burlap, or cloth, you can just throw them in the clothes washer every couple weeks. Unfortunately, all the reusable bags you can buy in stores down here are the nylon variety - just trading one type of plastic for another.
  • auntiemsgr8
    auntiemsgr8 Posts: 483 Member
    Personally I have been using reusable for a few years. I get upset when I get into the store and realize I forgot them in the car. And for a while when I first moved I used them so much I did not have any plastic bags left for my cats litterbox. Its not a hassle to wash the reusable bags and I generally have one or two I dedicate to meats etc that really are the ones that need washing. Not the ones for canned goods, produce etc. A tax? maybe but better for the environment anyway
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,973 Member
    Fortunately, the hippie ratio is low in my county and gov't knows to stay the hell out of the people's business. :bigsmile:
    It's actually advantageous to the companies that don't have to supply them. And it should lower the amount of trash that doesn't degrade. You don't have to be a hippie to be concerned about that...............just someone who actually cares about what your grandchildren and great grand children will have to grow up with.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    I don't mind reusable bags for most things, but I really really would not like being forced to use them for chicken, pork, etc.
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
    I re-use supermarket carrier bags as bin liners. If I wasn't using supermarket carrier bags for my shopping, then I'd have to start buying bin liners, and the net result would be that the same amount of plastic being produced for my household and the same amount of plastic ending up in land-fill from my household.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    The large supermarkets here try not to encourage you to take lots of bags, they only give you a couple at a time.
    They have bag recycling points.
    They offer rewards for reusing bags.
    They sell 'bag for life' jute bags.
  • Chapter3point6
    Chapter3point6 Posts: 1,233
    To my knowledge there is no movement in my area (Pittsburgh, PA) toward such a ban. In any case, it wouldn't affect me much. The majority of my grocery shopping is done at Aldi and I just grab boxes inside the store to carry my groceries to the car. The boxes are included in the local recycling pickup.
  • Chapter3point6
    Chapter3point6 Posts: 1,233
    I re-use supermarket carrier bags as bin liners. If I wasn't using supermarket carrier bags for my shopping, then I'd have to start buying bin liners, and the net result would be that the same amount of plastic being produced for my household and the same amount of plastic ending up in land-fill from my household.

    I do the same with the bags I get from the pharmacy or Walmart. I have enough of them saved where I wouldn't have to buy liners for at least a couple years.
  • helyg
    helyg Posts: 675 Member
    There's been a 22c levy on plastic bags here in Ireland for the past 5-6 years. You get used to bringing your reusable bags with you to the store pretty quickly so it's only an inconvenience for a while.

    ^ This

    I live in Wales and we have had to pay 5p for plastic bags for a year or two now. Bringing your own reusable bags quickly becomes a habit. And if you are shopping for clothes etc on the high street it makes you think more about your usage, you might pay for a bag in the first shop but then in the next one you put your purchases into the bag that you got in the first one rather than mindlessly taking another.
  • Laura_Ivy
    Laura_Ivy Posts: 555 Member
    I cannot believe San Diego hasn't followed in LA's foot steps! I feel like plastic bags are the new tumble weeds. They are always blowing down the street or stuck to a fence somewhere!

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