Banned in Boston: Plastic bags at grocery stores
Source: CBS News
A Boston city ordinance banning major grocery store chains from providing plastic bags to customers went into effect Friday. The new law enacted to help reduce pollution and clean up city streets applies only to checkout bags, described in the ordinance as carryout bags with handles.
Retailers can still stock recyclable paper bags, compostable bags or reusable bags and sell them for at least 5 cents, as long as the charge is advertised near the checkout location, according to the ordinance, signed into law by Mayor Marty Walsh last December.
The plastic bag ban will be rolled out over eight months. For now, it applies only to stores that are 20,000 square feet or larger. Stores that are at least 10,000 square feet have until April 1, 2019, to comply. Smaller establishments have until July 1, 2019.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plastic-bag-ban-now-in-effect-in-boston/
Auggie
(31,186 posts)The store I shop at sells good reusable bags for ten cents. When I bring my own bags (their reusable ones or any others) they pay me five cents each.
BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)They charge 10 cents but they are stronger than the pre-plastic bag bags that they used in the past. I rinse them out and reuse them. I still forget and leave them in the car sometimes still. Old habits I guess. I wish they would ban plastic drinking bottles too.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)I do not know about the rest of Washington however. I am sure my town will be one of the last as it is in a very red county.
violetpastille
(1,483 posts)But I have already made the switch.
I also use mesh produce bags that can be scanned through, buy in bulk and have given up paper towels.
We used to make two cans of garbage a week and now we only make one half.
It really makes a difference!
Auggie
(31,186 posts)Doreen
(11,686 posts)I will have to find something else when they do change but until then. They have the biodegradable scoop bags for walking your dog so maybe they will come up with those that are bigger for scooping cat pans.
zanana1
(6,127 posts)SeattleVet
(5,479 posts)There are already 23 local jurisdictions with this in place in the state.
yonder
(9,674 posts)took away the right for local communities and cities to impose just such a ban. You know, the very republican, thump their chests while shouting "local control-is-best" folks.
If I remember correctly, that bill was written at the behest of a sole plastic bag distributor/provider business.
DownriverDem
(6,231 posts)I hate those plastic bags. I can't wait for when Kroger gets rid of them.
LisaM
(27,830 posts)For the most part this is okay, though there are loopholes - they still have plastic bags in the produce section, for example. The main issue with this, as with most things, is that it's inconvenient for poor people or people (like me) who ride the bus for the most part. They want you to haul bags everywhere, but I'm guessing the people who design these laws don't take transit. I mean, in general, I support it (and I'm really happy we ban Styrofoam), but like a lot of rich people laws, there are unintended consequences. They assume everyone does grocery shopping in a car. They assume everyone can keep a stash of bags around (this is a problem in our small apartment). They assume that you have an extra five or twenty cents per bag to spend.
WhiteTara
(29,722 posts)and you get it back when you put your cart back and the cashiers sit on stools and you must bring your own bags and boxes. As they check you out they put your stuff in a cart and you take it over to a packing shelf and put your stuff in your bags and boxes. If you forget your bags, you put it in your car as it is. Their food and produce are great and they carry lots of organics. It can be done and the consumer saves some money because they don't provide cart service or bags of any kind. Sort of like Costco.
OnlinePoker
(5,725 posts)These are the only bags we ever use for trash and to buy an even thicker grade of plastic "kitchen catcher" type seems to defeat the purpose.
Raine
(30,540 posts)Hefty type bags, yup it does seem to kind of defeat the purpose..
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)I have to buy large garbage bags from the town, or else they will not pick up my trash.
There are instances where the small plastic bags can save on waste.
Rollo
(2,559 posts)They seem to be the only things that hold up to heavy loads. I get the Kirkland brand at Costco.
I was doing this well before my locality (SF Bay Area) started banning retail outlets from supplying disposable plastic bags a few years ago. I also have a robust composting system in my back yard, where a lot of organic kitchen waste winds up. Plus the local waste service includes not only a household waste bin, but ample green waste (compostable kitchen scraps and paper OK) and recycle bins.
A while ago I picked up a box of "compostable" disposable plastic shopping bags. However I left them in a covered area of the yard, and the elements resulted in the plastic bags basically decomposing, so they are useless after a few years. So yeah, they are probably compostable, but not very good for carrying stuff.
Like others, I got used to the disposable plastic bag ban fairly quickly. I just have to remember to stick some non-disposable shopping bags in the car trunk before shopping, LOL. I actually prefer them to the flimsy disposable kind; they are more sturdy and carry more.
I have puzzled a bit that paper bags are included in the local ban. After all, paper bags are quite compostable. I guess the objection is that paper bags come from trees, mainly. But then trees are a renewable resource, and capture carbon to boot. And paper can be made from a variety of vegetable fibers. Plus I re-use my paper bags.
Recently saw an online article where a company in South America has developed a building material from recycled plastic. They create large Lego-like building blocks, which they are using to create housing for the homeless. Seems like a win-win.
Rollo
(2,559 posts)A big problem with disposable plastic grocery/shopping bags is that they get carelessly discarded, blow into rivers, lakes, oceans, and wind up in some huge swirling mass of plastic waste in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Hefty type garbage bags, on the other hand, get filled with garbage and put into landfill. At least when they are filled with crap they don't blow around and end up in the ocean (assuming big cities like NYC no longer load up barges with municipal waste and dump them into the ocean). Ideally all compostable stuff goes into compost (home or municipal) and not into the municipal waste stream. What's left is truly waste and probably belongs in a plastic lined tomb.
crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)roody
(10,849 posts)I compost all my kitchen waste, so my garbage is dry. I use dog food bags, paper bags, bags from various things. I have never bought kitchen garbage bags.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)That took a long time to figure out.
OnlinePoker
(5,725 posts)Retrograde
(10,156 posts)I'm also in the Bay Area, my town has had the plastic bag ban for several years. I've accumulated a large number of reusable bags for free from various places, including a small sack that folds into itself and fits into a purse or even a pocket (Chico Bags makes them for sale). We did go to Hefty-type bags for actual garbage, which isn't very much these days since my city's composting facility (actually shared with other cities in the area) will take food-stained paper, bones, food scraps, vegetable parings, even small pieces of wood. Combine that with an aggressive recycling program that takes most paper, plastics (even plastic bags if they're bundled, so when I get them I stuff them into one bag until that full, then knot it and put in the recycle bin), metal, glass and there's not much left to put into the landfill trash.
And despite the ban I still manage to accumulate small plastic bags.
Lulu KC
(2,574 posts)Two good news headlines--one for the humans, one for the not-only-humans. Turning on selfcontrol app so I can just call it good.....oh, wait...Mike Flynn....I can't break free!
EllieBC
(3,041 posts)Especially the ones you use for meat. Hot water and bleach.
BeneathTheMire
(76 posts)And drastically reduce the waste you are putting out into the environment.
Polybius
(15,476 posts)So that solution is not for me.
BeneathTheMire
(76 posts)Polybius
(15,476 posts)I can't even go one day without it, let alone forever.
BeneathTheMire
(76 posts)Polybius
(15,476 posts)n/t
EllieBC
(3,041 posts)Ill just ignore it.
Response to EllieBC (Reply #22)
BeneathTheMire This message was self-deleted by its author.
JudyM
(29,274 posts)GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)We use paper bags. Mainly to line our kitchen trash can rather than those 13 gallon plastic ones.
Plus we tote stuff to work and other places in them. I use them to start the fire in my grill rather than petroleum products. They make a good mulch for young vegetables placed between rows in the garden to prevent weeds. We clean out the litter box with them. I use them on the tailgate to filet fish.
And my wife is very crafty. She cuts them up, turns them inside out and wraps presents in them tied with that straw looking string stuff.
Im sure I am missing some uses. They are just handy to have around.
I hate using anything once. Well, except TP!