about plastic bags is WHY can't they be recycled, like paper
ones are.

Instead, for some reason unknown to me, they all end up in
the oceans, creating havoc for sea.

Does anyone know why this is?

creatures

They can be blown way up in the air and many miles away. Enough escape trash cans to make a real nuisance along the ocean. Visit any landfill and you'll see fences strewn with plastic bags that have escaped and blown away.

what else you got?

And it ticks me off.

Yes, I've heard all the drama about the bags being here or there, etc.

BUT, many, many of us are very responsible about our bags. Any excess or ripped ones, are returned to recycling bins at all kinds of stores. We also, use them for doggie poopy bags! And in our area, I don't see any bags randomly blowing around.

The BREATHLESS drama at the City Council meetings about the HORRORS of the bags, was ridiculose...guess the council members were "star struck" by a few Hollywood has-beens millionaires that showed up, begging the city to get rid of them.

Then, there is the issue of the plastic bags that are for sale in stores and what kinds of toxic crap, they are made out of.

I stopped using my cloth bags as soon as the ban was passed and am hording as many plastics as I can get...I'll store in boxes in the storage shed. At the self-serve stores, I'm double bagging.

All drama...no serious consideration.

You might find this article interesting

What's odd in Portland though, is that there are still plastic bags in the
produce dept. despite the "plastic bag ban". I always attempt to reuse
any bags I get, plastic or paper (also can recycle paper).

I've been using my own canvas bags for over thirty years and they're FAR easier to carry and use.

We use canvas bags for groceries, but they put meat products in plastic bags so we have those for our garbage. Is this what you are using?

As few as possible. I only use those plastic bags for the small waste baskets (bathroom & bedrooms). They don't get filled very often. I usually just collect contents rather than pull the bag. I *do* use Hefty plastic tie-top bags for kitchen trash. Most 'wet' garbage goes into disposal (I don't garden - no compost) ... I recycle plastic, glass, metal, paper, and cardboard. Thus, throwaway trash is pretty minimal.

I have a "thing" about all the damned packaging. Can't buy nearly anything these days that doesn't get OVER-packaged.

Yes, can be a pain, but when you think about the impact of those stupid effing bags, on the environment then it's a no-brainer. Billions of tons of plastic garbage... ends up in the sea.

As I said, I don't see swarms of bags roaming the streets...

but I do see plastic water bottles/jugs, milk jugs, soda bottles, LOTS of sports drink bottles, plastic cups from every fast food joint in the world...

So what about all that?

aka Rob Ford

Our little grocery store spends over a grand a month on them, and probably one in two hundred bags gets returned to our bag recycling bin, if that. People want a bag when they buy a god-damned Coke and a Twinkie, and then they take the shit out and eat it in the car thirty seconds later.

A huge waste, and a huge expense. Bring a reusable bag.

Reusable shopping totes were the norm. I keep several in my car all the time (US residence). They fold flat and I can put two in my pockets you don't even notice them. Stronger than paper or plastic. I just have to throw them in the laundry now and then.

An endlessly renewable solar powered industry that creates decent jobs in the US.

What was wrong with that?

Oh and in a thousand years where will those bags that end up in the ocean or rivers or dumps be? Well the paper ones will be a lot more degraded than the plastic ones. I can promise that.