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Will the plastic bag controversy ever end? With the recent news of Bloomberg pushing a plastic bag tax, The NY Times is the latest to take a look into the sordid grocery packaging habits of New Yorkers. Perhaps as some believe cigarettes should be, instead of a tax, they just need to be made illegal; even reusable grocery bag users are finding they accept a plastic bag here and there.
“I’d pick up 50 bags a week instead of 2 or 3 if I wasn’t conscious of it,” said Mr. Thrasher, 31, a freelance writer from Fort Greene, Brooklyn. “You’re always having a plastic bag put in your hand.”The bags generally find a final resting spot in a "balled-up pile under his kitchen sink" (warning: this attracts cockroaches!). Still, many do use them, and wonder how one might hide an open beer in public or clean up after their dog without the disposable bags.
The paper (which could be used for one of the aforementioned tasks) reminds that "plastic bags, particularly the flimsy ones that float over windy streets, are widely considered an environmental nuisance that use up petroleum, litter the landscape, clog storm drains and recycling equipment and linger for centuries in landfills." On that note, several countries have already imposed taxes (up to 33 cents per bag), so is it time for us to play catch up? Maybe American Beauty really set us back (video!).
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How about requiring big chain stores - Target, Duane Reade, etc - to make recycling available.
If you can make big chain restaurants post calories, looks like you could make misc stores have plastic bag recycling programs.
I've dramatically reduced my consumption of plastic bags since getting a few of the sturdy permanent ones, but I still get the plastic on occasion. What else am I going to use to scoop my cat's turds into?
When is this pole over and counted? Because it looks like the "plastic bags should be illegal" side is winning by a landslide and I can't wait to say,
"The people have voted and they don't believe in your right to have plastic bags. Therefore, you do not get to have another plastic bag as long as you live. Sucker!"
oh fer crying out loud, folks its ONLY 6 goddamn cents!!!!!! we all pay far more for other crap. face it, 6 cents a bag is still a hell of a lot less money and than those ridiculously giant hefty/glad/generic brand trash bags.
btw, re-using grocery bags is not only be cheaper, but less wasteful, since they often involve less plastic. i can never really understand the use of regular trash bags for basic household trash. if you do need those bags, don't you think you are generating too much trash???
I don't understand the logic that making a container available for recycling at the store will encourage customers to being their bags back.
If they remember to bring their bag all the way back to the store then why wouldn't they either re-use the bags or use a fabric one?
Recycle is the LAST link in the Reduce>Reuse>Recycle chain. The first two require no additional energy on one's behalf -- except for forethought. The last requires as much energy as the original manufacturing of the product.
BTW, try World' Best cat littler -- it's make of corn husks, works great, doesn't have any dust, and is completely safe to flush, even in old buildings. You may never eat a corn muffin again (the texture looks a little too much like it) but if you're dieting -- that's a good thing!
^ Thanks for the recommendation. The dust is the worst part about the litter. The box is in the same smallish room as my computer, and one morning i forgot to remove my coffee cup before cleaning the litter. When I drank my coffee it tasted like I dusted it with Fresh Step like a cinnamon shaker. Gross.
We're already eating plastic in fish, chicken, beef, milk, etc. that leached into the food system. Do we want to part with that yummy ingredient?
Fairway (Red Hook) has a container for recycling bags. Some can't be reused as they've developed tears, etc, but it's nice to have a place to deposit them for recycling.
"Perhaps like cigarettes, instead of a tax, they just need to be made illegal"
Huh? Cigarettes are illegal? And not taxed?
Damned bodega on the corner is not only selling them openly, they're also ripping people off by claiming there's a big tax on them!
Sure, after we make cigarettes illegal, let's go after alcohol, then meat, then milk.. until we're left eating some kind of sticky gray protein goo because it's the only thing that won't give us cancer.
It's so disappointing that people are so utterly incapable of making intelligent decisions on their own that we have to even consider legislating these kinds of things to make the necessary changes.
For the record, I'm really in favor of banning plastic bags. It just pisses me off that I'm not allowed to make my own choices as to what I can consume.
i'm more concerned about raising my kids with the love and support that they need so that they can ensure that their kids have a strong sense of self worth, and so are comfortable and happy being bloated hermaphrodites swimming through thick plastic soup.
Wait. Who hides their beer in a plastic bag?? Good ol' biodegradeable paper for me.
@6: Thanks for that. (I had just poured myself a nice fresh cup, too.)
I forget where, but someone suggested putting the scooped litter back in the box / bag the litter came in rather than plastic bags. And, ok, that's a suggestion, certainly -- but, umm, who wants to keep a big bag of cat crap in their house? It's a solution that works great if your cat takes one dump every two weeks...not so great otherwise.
(Though "big bag of cat crap" IS a useful phrase. And a good conversation starter.)
Until they invent something else to put cat poop in, plastic bags are a necessity. I'll gladly pay the six cents though -- to answer #4. My only concern is that everyone will likewise gladly pay the six cents, and that there will therefore be no effect -- so they'll bump it up to $1, etc.
How many times do people have to be reminded that this is another regressive tax and hurts the poor more than the rich? I know its 'a lot' of money to you and me but at what point is it 'a lot of' money? Why cant the market dictate the price?
My biggest complaint is that there more important issues for this city and current administration to worry about right now. Must not be any panhandlers on Bloomberg's morning subway rides. Out of sight, out of mind.
Anyone at Gothamist read something other than the Post or the NYT? How about the WSJ's look at the issue?
crud. that WSJ link is here.
I usually do all my grocery shopping after work, or spontaneously... so If I can fit it all into my huge purse, I opt not to get a plastic bag...
But still, I did get one of those "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" totes and it was fine, until it got dirty, threw it into the wash, and it totally shrunk on me!
I say keep the Plastic bags. I reuse them for my garbage pale in the bathroom, and to sort my recycling... so it all ends up getting recycled anyway.
wtf? old fashion way:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122238422541876879.html
not another tax...
this is why I go to my neighborhood pet store for large cans of Triumph cat food. they recycle bags and ask you to bring as many you want to them for re-use.
keeps the prices down. I have a feeling plastic bags are re-used more often than not.
I like to put disposable diapers inside plastic supermarket bags inside 13-gallon plastic garbage bags which are then put into super-big industrial garbage bags and carted away by truck. And I order the diapers tax-free online so that I can have maximum hydrocarbon dispersal during delivery by a big UPS truck while avoiding any direct payment to the government. What a country.
What if this is all just another money-making ploy? Think about it. Plastic Bags = free & reusable for garbage and dog poo....
Reusable Canvas Grocery bags cost from anywhere between $1 - $15 (for the stylish & hip ones)...
How many times have you gone to the grocery store on a whim and didn't have your "Green" tote with you? And you guiltily buy another one at the register... it all adds up.
... I'm just saying.
I will keep using plastic bags until they stop making them. If they tax them, I will steal them and use them. The planet will not cease to exist because the inhabitants carry groceries home in a plastic bag. I think people who smoke, drink, eat, and breathe are a greater menace to the planet than those who use plastic bags. Let's stop having children because they use diapers. These babies will grow up and use plastic bags. By the time these children are adults the plastic bag tax will be greater than a college education. The planet has survived ice ages, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. It will survive the plastic bag.
I love that I live in a country where the debates of the day include plastic bags vs the alternatives.
Now if government could just stop trying to control behavior through taxation...
I like using the NY Times delivery bags for cat litter. The width of the bag is just big enough for my litter scooper to fit into.
i get a kick out of the people that carry around their little "i am not a plastic bag" bags. its nothing more then a lame fashion statement that makes impressible people feel good about themselves. jets burning massive amounts of fuel, carbon belching plants, city buses without proper exhaust systems, and somehow me getting a plastic bag is gonna ruin the environment. just recycle the damn bag when youre done with it.
@24: Yeah, I have one of those "feel good" bags you think so little of. But it really helps the environment -- it tells everyone how important it is to be green like me.
Of course, I like to still get the plastic bags -- I don't want my nice canvas bag getting food on it, so I just stick the plastic bags inside my canvas one and, voila, environmentally-friendly. I probably end up using the same amount of bags, but what would the environment think if I was carrying around something dirty? It'd be like I didn't even care about keeping a clean planet!
I feel so good about what I'm doing to save the environment. Every time I see I pigeon I bend down and tell him "you're welcome, little pigeon," because I care.
The only plastic bags I use is for my rubbish pails and since I'm recycling literally everything else, I have so little "rubbish."
2 point for me.
“I’d pick up 50 bags a week instead of 2 or 3 if I wasn’t conscious of it,” said Mr. Thrasher, 31, a freelance writer from Fort Greene, Brooklyn. “You’re always having a plastic bag put in your hand.”
That's because you can't plan ahead worth a damn. I'm almost always carrying my reusable nylon shopping bag, which also acts as my lunchbag. I get 2 or 3 bags each year, not each week.
[13] Until they invent something else to put cat poop in, plastic bags are a necessity.
Why do you need to put cat poop in bags? There are plenty of corn and wheat-based cat litters that are biodegradable and flushable. Scoop it, flush it, end of story. They cost a few cents more per day, but you wrote you're willing to pay that anyway.
Neither plastic nor paper are winners. Do people realise how much water is needed to produce a single, sturdy paper bag? Not to mention energy needed to cut down & transport trees, process pulp by shredding & bleaching etc. That's lots of waste & pollution too.
tax people who don't give a shit about this planet. Yes, my cat loves the wheat litter and it doesn't get stuck on his paws.
If anyone is looking for a recommendation of a reusable shopping bag, I recommend Baggu. They're light but sturdy, come in a wide variety of colors, and when you're not using them they fold into a little pouch (included with the bag) that's about 3"x3"x0.5" and fits easily into a pocket/purse/messenger bag/whatever.
Unfortunately they're made in China; can't win 'em all.