Paper or plastic? Not anymore in San Francisco.

@polachicago (18716)
United States
November 21, 2007 7:03pm CST
The ordinance requires that grocers and pharmacies offer only bags made from corn or potato starch or paper bags of high percentage post consumer materials. The 50 grocery stores that would be most affected by the law argued that the ban was not reasonable because plastic bags made of corn byproducts are a relatively new, expensive and untested product. Some said they might offer only paper bags at checkout. I wouldn’t’ mind to have same law in every state. Would you like to have plastic bags ban in your state or country?
4 people like this
15 responses
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Dec 07
we don't have paper bags cos they are not very durable and heavy objects will tear them... my country is trying to do something to cut down the number of plastic bags. every first wednesday of the year is no plastic bag day for supermarkets. and if you use your own bag like i did on a normal day, i get 10 cents off my entire purchase. in ikea, they charge 10 cents for every plastic bag you take. every day. not just on certain days of the month.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
27 Dec 07
very smart, maybe we can make more bags of corn or potato...
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
23 Nov 07
whatever plastic bags we use for grocery, we use them for garbage. grocery stores give us green plastic bags we can use later for wet garbage. white we can use for garbage bins at home then put them all in one blue plastic bags for dry garbage. so we don't necessarily have plastic bags lying around. paper bags I think it's great idea. you can use it for other things later on, like lunch bags or if you cut them open you can use them as wrap when you move things.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
24 Nov 07
the point is to use eco-plastic bags.....
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
22 Nov 07
yup if them made them out of something different than wood. but they have a draw back to they carry roaches grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I have my own cotton bags, I use them and wash them. I don't need plastic bages for shopping, but I use some for cleaning after may dogs when walking...
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
23 Nov 07
the plastic is very god for lining trash cans in the house and also to pick up the dog do in the back yard they are good for something huh? lol hugs
@adidas7878 (1891)
• United States
3 Dec 07
yea, and one of the reason i like to shop at aldi, i dunno if there is any in your state or not, but you got to bring your own bags in to use and that way it can be reuse again and again, instead of wasting more bags, and it hellp keep some of the cost down.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
4 Dec 07
good idea...:)
@maribea (2366)
• Italy
22 Nov 07
well of course the idea of decreasing the amount of plastic we use everyday is a great idea but I think we should consider the subject very carefully. I mean, we should prepare people to the law not only by giving shop owners good information but also finding firms producing good, strong and cheap paper bags..
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
there are new, biogradable plastic bags made of corn....
1 person likes this
@maribea (2366)
• Italy
23 Nov 07
oh yes you were talking about corn bags...anyway, it is the same as for paper bags..I hope the government will give information to shop owners about them and will look for companies that product them at affordable prices before making a law...sometimes they simply make laws and there is no possibilities of doing what prescribed!!! this is my idea....apart from that of course I am in favour of any help to our environment
@mabelk (208)
• Germany
22 Nov 07
People should just bring their own starch bags or a basket maybe specially when going to the grocery. That's what most people here in Germany does. They still have plastic bags at the cashier's but they are sold for a few cents. For those who have cars, they just use the shopping carts and then transfer all the stuffs to a basket in the trunk of their cars. Very practical isn't it? In department stores or boutiques, reusable paper shopping bags can be an alternative and they are even recyclable. When I went to London early this year there were a group of people who made an effort to convince people to use cloth bags that they made out of unused cloths. And what they did, they went to the streets and convince passersby to exchange their plastics bags with the cloth bags and collected all plastic bags to dispose them properly. That was also pretty good.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
very smart idea, I gave some baskets at home, that I can take with me when shopping...
@mabelk (208)
• Germany
23 Nov 07
Oh and also for some shoppers who go to the grocery, those who just walk or doesn't have cars, they'd just bring this shopping bag with wheels. It's also convenient.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
26 Nov 07
We don't have a ban here. I think before they should be able to enforce a ban like that, it should be everywhere.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Nov 07
it should be...
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
22 Nov 07
No I love the plastic bags. I reuse them for cleaning the kitty litter out. I hope they dont banned them in my state. I prefer plastic over the paper bags.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
fine, but we can use bags made of corn, safe for our planet..
@mipen2006 (5528)
• Australia
27 Nov 07
This is one area where I feel The U.S is leading the way. I love the movies that show family shopping in brown paper bags. The problem is compounded a hundred times here in Asia - Thailand especialy has a major problem, not only with plastic bags, but also with polystryne food containers. Eating out is part of Thai culture, and everything comes in these containers, and that is usually placed in another plastic bag. Another problem is the number of plastic water bottles that are finding their way into landfills. I would like alternatives to all these problems that are going to be a major problem for the next generation.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Agree, we have too much plastic and next generation can suffer....
@vokey9472 (1486)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I hate plastic bags. They are too thin and the checkers pack them too heavy so they always end up tearing before you can even put them in your car. Ask for double bagging and the checkers look at you like your evil. I switched stores just because of how much I hate plastic bags. I now shop only at Central Market or Whole Foods because they are the only places that still offer paper bags. I wouldn't mind plastic so much if they were stronger and people recycled them as they should.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I am happy with my cotton bags I use....I always have some in my car...
@whywiki (6066)
• Canada
22 Nov 07
We had the Superstore in our town "Go Green" at the beginning of the month. They no longer have plastic bags. Bring your own. They sold those bags made from recycled plastics for 50cents each for a month before and warned everyone. They also have plastic bins you can buy. Now that I am used to taking them I prefer them. You can actually put a carton of milk and other stuff in one without the handle ripping off half way to the car. I think they were the second store in BC to stop having plastic bags in the store. I guess eventually they will stop the plastic at all stores. I will miss them at home though as I use them for garbage bags!
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
yes, plastic we use for garbage, but maybe garbage bags will be made from corn...
@raychill (6525)
• United States
22 Nov 07
Well I recycle and you have to recycle plastic in plastic, so if I have no plastic bags to recycle then how would I recycle plastic? I think if we can recycle stuff than it's okay to use it, not overuse... but use.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I think that humanity needs to come up with eco-friendly ideas sooner or later........
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
22 Nov 07
Hi polachicago! I think that law is good for all of us and i do hope that our country will also adopt such law. It will be very helpful to mother nature and if all of us will just cooperate then I think somehow we will eliminate a few problems in our environment. Take care and have a nice day. :)
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
Agree, we should respect our Planet....
@hopejordan (3561)
• Australia
22 Nov 07
hi there polachicago in Australia we use plastic bags or cotton bags but you need to buy them though and i dont use it but there is people who do and they are very strong bags i know plastic bags are easy to rip but i might need to think if i should get these stronger bags to put my grocers items in the more stronger bags they don't use paper vags anymore last time we used those i was only a kid i am 32 now so do you still use paper bags still i thought they have gone out of fashioned i might be wrong but here where i am we don't use paper bags anymore thanks for this discussion
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
plastic is not good for our planet, we have to find better solution...
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I never did care for the idea of plastic bags to begin with. First unless you're carrying something really light, like a loaf of bread or eggs, one always has to have double bags, meaning more plastic bags being used. I at least recycle them...in a way by using them as garbage bags, but then that still isn't exactly environment friendly, but figure better that then just tossing them out. I always felt paper bags held more than plastic to begin with...I know because I was a checkout in a supermarket at one time. Some might kvetch of course since paper bags don't have handles, but they could start that don't you think the way they have those big paper bags at department stores?? Yes, would be a great idea to ban plastic bags everywhere
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
22 Nov 07
I agree, I can take bags with me, no bg deal. Traders Joe has paper bags with handle, easy to use.