SF's ban on plastic grocery bags

emily

Subject: SF's ban on plastic grocery bags

Is there really no thread about this? What do people think? While it seems a little authoritarian to me, I'd be really happy to throw fewer of them out and see fewer of them stuck in trees. Plus, having lived in Germany for a while, I know I can live just fine with canvas (or paper).

Anyway, I wrote to Tish James to suggest we do it here, too.

shishkab

as the owner of two big dogs (who get walked 3X a day) i don't know what i would do without plastic bags. no joke. what do germans use to pick up poop?

carnivore

If they banned them, I'd actually have to start buying garbage bags. That would suck.

emily

shishkab, I honestly don't recall--I am not a dog person and didn't live near anyone who had dogs, though I suppose they must have been around. Germany wasn't totally devoid of plastic bags, just the shoddy, ubiquitous grocery store ones. Maybe they used bigger plastic shopping bags, or paper bags, or bought special bags for the purpose.

pitu

In the Bay Area, dog parks have dispensers of small biodegradable poop bags . . . so civilized.

I'm more of an *encourage* than *ban* kind of operator myself . . . and I bring my own carrier to the store unless I need to supplement the dog-bag supply at home.

oiseau

I get pissed when I buy something that weighs about 2 ounces and they still double-bag it.

Here's the thing, are we going to use paper bags instead? That's not good for the environment either. Especially since the majority of those won;t be recycled either.

How about making it like they have in Holland. If you want a plastic bag, you have to pay for it. Otherwise you get no bag and like it. It kind of makes you either bring your own bag or learn how to balance items and walk.

pitu

Oiseau wrote:
How about making it like they have in Holland. If you want a plastic bag, you have to pay for it. Otherwise you get no bag and like it. It kind of makes you either bring your own bag or learn how to balance items and walk.

That's what we do at the Park Slope Food Co-op... :twisted:
Otherwise you get no bag and like it. I like how you put that.
The paying part of that plastic bag equation is on the honor system -- there's a box for the coinage at the register. String and canvas bags are available for purchase. There's also boxes, which would need to be recycled anyway.

emily

Yeah, IIRC in Germany they charge for bags as well.

A friend pointed out these biodegradable bags for dogs to me: http://usa.ecosafeplastics.com/qs/product/46/2772/145381/0/0

I think you can buy them with a dispenser, too, so I guess that's what pitu was describing. Of course, you don't always walk your dog in a dog park, so you could have a supply of your own.

shishkab

good link, thanks!

pitu

biodegradable bags for dogs

those are available for sale around Brooklyn btw
along with other sizes of "plastic" garbage bags made of corn

alafairnadia

what's the deal with seventh generation kitchen bags? I use those most of the time in my kitchen garbage can. I use store plastic bags for *cough* recyclable glass and plastic bottles. I definitely need a large kitchen garbage bag/can. I don't have the room for a composting bin.

boygabriel

Oiseau wrote: ...If you want a plastic bag, you have to pay for it. Otherwise you get no bag and like it. It kind of makes you either bring your own bag or learn how to balance items and walk.

That's what I think the best plan is. It allows people the "freedom" to keep using plastic, but in reality it drastically cuts down on the number of plastic bags in use.

Says the NYTs: "After Ireland slapped a tax on plastic bags, use dropped by 90 percent almost immediately."