plastic bag ban goes into effect today

[ericlp]

Hmmmm, well, I see it as this. Since we (reuse) the plastic bags they give out anyway, we will now just buy more (bigger) bags in a box.

I see no point to this. Look at it, you got idiots out there driving around in SUV's that get 10 or less miles per gallon and they have no problem paying 4+ bucks a gallon for the privilege.

So, if they don't mind paying the extra 4 bucks for gas, what makes you think they are going to care about 5 cents for a bag?

So the question you gotta really ask yourself is who is getting that 5 cents? Where is it going? Is it all going for beach clean ups? or highway clean ups? It's basically a joke because the people that are green are going to bring their reusable sacks anyway while the people that could give a crap will just pay the cash to buy 10 bags at 50 cents and still you'll watch them blow out the side of cars or being tossed out here or there ... It's not solving any problems.

I highly doubt most people will care and just chock it up as another tax on society. I kinda wonder... what happens when you use your EBT card does that .5 cents still get charged? Just wondering since EBT is not taxed.

[terracore]

I've been to about 3 stores and all of them are using paper bags. They cost about 10x more than the plastic ones, so food prices will go up.

[kalakoa]

Paper/plastic is just a question of "when" -- the environmental impact is during manufacturing for paper, or during decomposition for plastic.

Also keep in mind that the "reusable" bags are made of a plastic-fiber cloth.

All of which pales in comparison to the resources consumed when everyone drives separate cars to the store, especially when they pick up "a few things" because the store will be open tomorrow, and we can always get whatever we need at the last minute.

[Adam-I-Am]

Hemp bags sound A-OK to me. What WORSE fate can anyone imagine for a sea turtle than to get caught up in a plastic bag and take days to die? (There are just too, too many people who don't give a damn at all about such things, though.) Save Hawaiian (and everywhere else, too) wildlife.

[dmbwest]

IMO > Worse is when they get that infection which seems to always grow around their eyes. I heard is a form of syphilis. ? I've seen a few turtles with this but never one stuck in a bag.

aloha,
pog

[malolo]

.....and then there's that nice little lady in front of you in line. The one who reuses and reuses and reuses her bag. The nice little lady who, when upon arriving back home with her groceries and such, sets her bags down on the ground as she unloads her truck.... the truck her dogs ride in.... the ground her dogs/ cats/ boyfriend/ wild-pigs/ jungle-rats urinated on prior to her arriving back home.

.....and the nice little lady in front of her, and in front of her, and in front of her.

.....and then there's you, with all your healthy-food-choices, merrily watching as they slide one-by-one off the conveyor-belt onto that very same counterspace where nice-little-lady #1 through 77 cluelessly placed their ultra-"green" bags.

.....you ...happily anticipating the moment you arrive home yourself, unload your scrumptious purchases on your kitchen counter, and prepare that yummy salad.

How wonderful that we finally have an urgent care clinic in Pahoa, eh?

[Adam-I-Am]

..... and then there's the guy who is TOO LAZY to wash his fruits and vegetables.

[malolo]

.....and the back seat of their brand new Prius three times a week.

[PaulW]

"Shopping trolleys are really bad," warns Gerba. What's more, about half of reusable shopping bags have faecal bacteria in them.
"Some people have more faecal bacteria in their grocery bag than in their underwear, because they at least wash that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20324304

[malolo]

Precisely my point.

Thanks PaulW.

Be safe out there!