Come March 1, the state of New York, where I live, is banning single use disposable plastic bags. The ban doesn't touch all plastic bags, but targets those bags you get at the supermarket for your groceries.
If you haven't been in the "bring your own bag" habit, it's time to start getting in the habit. In fact, two supermarket chains in our area are no longer offering plastic bags at the checkout. One stopped offering them on January 27.
There are good reasons for this ban.
New York is in good company. There are various bans in place all over the United States already.
Depending on stores providing disposable plastic bags can be a hard habit to break. In fact, some people are hoarding the bags because they use them for other things.
I do use these plastic bags for some reasons - spouse puts veggie trimmings in them, and in the winter, when you can't bring them out to the compost heap in bad weather we keep them indoors until we can. I've used them to protect library books when I walk back from the library in rainy weather.
We used to bring the bags to a recycling bin outside the supermarket, but turns out it is difficult to recycle these thin bags.
(Note, this ban does not extend to plastic used to protect meat or deli, or bulk bags like those sold for trash. There are other exceptions).
It's past time to stop their use.
Here is a blog post with some more history, and suggestions.
Ironically, when these bags first came out, a lot of people loved them, especially in my native New York City. Unlike paper supermarket bags, they had handles, and they were waterproof. They were small and manageable for those having to walk several blocks from the store. You didn't need to bring a wheeled shopping cart with you. But, there were also too many unintended consequences.
I'm getting myself into the habit. Too many times reusable shopping bags lay in our car's trunk. Now, they are in the front passenger seat, ready to be grabbed. If I go into a store, my only choice will be paper (for 5 cents each).
Just like my childhood.
We can do this.
Are you in a town or city which has banned these plastic bags?
It's great for non meat items, but I am not paying 5 to 10 cents a bag for meat items. I have been saving plastic bags and have a whole garbage can full just because of this ban (I guess I have an issue with being told what to do, lol). I really don't like plastic, but it is what it is, I guess. I remember growing up and paper bags were used.
ReplyDeleteYour link doesn’t work.
ReplyDeleteI live in Suffolk County. Our county legislature enacted a plastic bag “ban”. A few years ago — we could still get plastic bags, but we had to pay a nickel for each bag. We also had to pay for paper bags. Gets pretty costly, so folks got used to bringing their own bags.
With the new law we will still be paying for our paper bags, but our neighbors in Nassau County will not — their county legislators opted not to charge for paper bags.
I habit a shop that uses paper bags- with handles.
ReplyDeleteHi Alana - it appears to be a good idea ... but people find ways round them. I do use the heavy duty bags and take them when I go shopping ... but before I went to Canada and was using the dump to clear things out people were chucking them in the rubbish dump containers ... and buying new ones I guess. We do need to get rid of plastic somehow ... I saw that there are now 'pebbles' washed up on the beaches of north America and here ... which don't float - so are plastic and other nasties ... from the earlier days. It's just horrible ... I'm glad NY state is doing something - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI understand the need to ban them, but I do like the convenience of them and I do reuse them around the house.
ReplyDeleteWe use them when we clean the cat box.
ReplyDeleteI have a supply and use them for the small garbage bin under the sink. I remember the days when there were no plastic trash bags and you had to clean out the bin you used. That was disgusting. We haven't banned them here but I heard about some community banning food scraps in the garbage disposal.
ReplyDeleteMy city banned the bags 10 years ago, the state more recently. Before that, I had gotten into the habit of keeping bags in my car, so I always have some. It's a learning curve, but you'll get the hang of it.
ReplyDeleteThey do have plastic bags that you can use, but they're a heavier plastic so they can be reused. All stores started with the paper, but most now have the plastic ones.
I'm all about recycle/repurpose/reuse and have been for years. I make grocery bags and sell them in my shop as well as make others for customers who buy a special crochet piece or other woven, knitted etc. pieces I make. Every quilt goes out of my shop with a cotton pillow case for storage, the name of the quilt, my signature and date. As for plastic grocery bags, so far our stores have recycle bins, but often I get paper bags with handles..(no charge yet) and then I recycle them in my shop. I like your new color scheme...very pretty and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteSue at CollectInTexas Gal