01-02-2010, 03:56 AM
I am sure a lot of us can remember when we only had paper grocery bags. While they made great cat toys, they were terrible in the rain. I will spare you the gory details stories of when I didn't have a car and needed groceries. Suffice to say, I bought many garbage bags to use for grocery shopping.
Which sort of makes me on the fence for the bag ban. The bags are an eyesore and blow everywhere when improperly disposed of, but they are so very convenient in the rain. They also make great small trash can liners. Yet, if others have to purchase garbage bags to cover their cloth grocery bags, we will still have plastic waste.
The other problem I see is that the groceries will most likely go back to the paper bags. Which will increase paper usage and contribute to deforestation. As only a percentage of paper used is recycled. Of course hemp paper would alleviate part of that, but that's another whole topic in itself.
So, I am really not sure what is the best choice for them to make. No matter which way they go, there will be both negative and positive consequences.
I also feel the ultimate goal of the bans supporters is to force everyone to use reusable bags, but I don't think something like that would ever pass.
Which sort of makes me on the fence for the bag ban. The bags are an eyesore and blow everywhere when improperly disposed of, but they are so very convenient in the rain. They also make great small trash can liners. Yet, if others have to purchase garbage bags to cover their cloth grocery bags, we will still have plastic waste.
The other problem I see is that the groceries will most likely go back to the paper bags. Which will increase paper usage and contribute to deforestation. As only a percentage of paper used is recycled. Of course hemp paper would alleviate part of that, but that's another whole topic in itself.
So, I am really not sure what is the best choice for them to make. No matter which way they go, there will be both negative and positive consequences.
I also feel the ultimate goal of the bans supporters is to force everyone to use reusable bags, but I don't think something like that would ever pass.