San Francisco lawmakers vote to ban plastic bags

[catgirl]

Source: Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco's city council voted on Tuesday to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets to help promote recycling.

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Under the legislation approved by the city's Board of Supervisors, large supermarkets and drugstores will not be allowed to offer plastic bags made from petroleum products starting in six months.

"Many (foreign) cities and nations have already implemented very similar legislation," said Ross Mirkarimi, the city legislator who championed the new law. "It's astounding that San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to follow suit."

"I am hopeful that other U.S. cities will also adopt similar legislation," he said. "Why wait for the federal government to enact legislation that gets to the core of this problem when local governments can just step up to the plate?"

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070328/us_nm/bags_dc;_ylt=AhkSB.irgjkkbkQrulJqiLnMWM0F

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Yes!

[whistle]

1. Paper bags mean destruction of forests, I suggest we got back to

...burlap bags made of hemp which can be used almost indefinitely.

[youngdem]

2. There are also biodegradable bags that are really similar to current plastic bags too

made out of renewable materials.

[catgirl]

8. Recycled paper works

I like what they do in Germany. Bring your own bag, or else you have to buy one.

[all.of.me]

10. that's a great idea.

hit them in the pocket. they tend to change their ways. not always, but mostly.

[orleans]

25. i just bought 10 canvas bags from a craft store & i use them

when i go shopping

3 3packs for about $5

and one larger one to keep the rest of them in for about $5

so...for a $20 donation to the environment (which is how i view it) i am able to keep donating to the environment by not using either paper or plastic!

[Kolesar]

3. I bring bags into stores and they look at me stupid

I hope their customers have really big pockets to take that stuff home in.

[fidgeting wildly]

14. I get funny looks too.

Here in NYC, cashiers double bag EVERYTHING. It drives me crazy. I can go to a store for a single tube of toothpaste and they will bag it in two plastic bags. When I tell them, "No bags, please," they look at me like I'm a space alien. It's discouraging because it tells me that most people just accept all of those pointless plastic bags.

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. I say, "No bag please. Let's save a plastic tree." and that gets a chuckle.

[Pacifist Patriot]

19. Publix sells burlap reusable bags.

They are a bit pricey and you can certainly make or buy your own. But I think it's nice that they at least don't scoff at the notion.

Way to go San Francisco!

[latebloomer]

4. Great idea!

I have a collection of canvas grocery bags that I try to remember to bring to the supermarket.

Nevertheless, my plastic bag collection constantly grows as if it were being fertilized.

We have to stop wasting oil wherever we can.

[Earth_First]

5. More San Francisco liberal values...

Eat your heart out Savage!

[whistle]

7. It is Michael Weiner....Savage is a stage prop name...everything about the man

....is phony

[trof]

6. 100 million bags a year in SF.

Equivalent of taking 140,000 cars off the road according to the teevy this a.m.

[whistle]

9. Imagine all the grocery stores in all the cities and towns of America

....requiring we bring our own canvas or burlap sacks. Just that one act would save millions of barrels of oil. I like the idea.

[Nevernose]

32. And what a great money-maker - a perfect sin tax!

If you don't bring your own bag, we charge you, say, a quarter per bag. One cent for the store, 24 cents for the city. A poster above claims it works great in Germany. People will learn. Those who don't will pay for the privilege, and maybe buy my local school district some badly needed textbooks in the meantime.

We could charge ten cents for paper bags, and mandate recycling (or at least seriously promote it), too.

[mcscajun]

11. Overseas, IME, they don't provide bags, paper OR plastic, at all.

You can, however, buy a large, reusable bag if you haven't brought your own in with you.
It came as a little bit of a shock to my traveling companions when we went to a supermarket in Sligo, Ireland.

Needless to say, we bought one and reused it throughout our travels in Ireland. :)

[Maeve]

23. Ireland got me reusing, too

We bought a tote for use there and it's become my usual shopping bag here. Easier to carry, never rips, holds more...I still get plastic bags, sometimes--need something to throw the kitty litter out in.

Our local "Giant Eagle" also sells bags--but I STILL have to stop the clerks from bagging for me, even in the "self check-out" areas(such helpful folks).

[w4rma]

12. Good. I always ask for paper instead of plastic at the checkout.

But they always start to try to put my groceries into plastic. I've found that 4 or more plastic bags is the equivalent of 1 paper bag in terms of how much can be held.

[prolesunited]

31. It's really not an improvement

Both paper and plastic bags consume large amounts of natural resources and the majority will eventually end up in the landfill. Both bags can be recycled to some extent and can be utilized around the house. We've read several studies comparing the two choices and none of them agree. Some feel plastic is the better overall choice, others paper. It's really tough to say. Paper may consume more resources to produce, however, it is also more recyclable than plastic if you include the fact that paper can be composted and plastic bags cannot.

In our opinion, neither one is the winner. The best choice overall, is a reusable bag. They're made from renewable resources, take minimal energy, are light, durable (each holds up to 40 lbs) and last for years.

http://www.greenfeet.net/newsletter/debate.shtml


Reusable bags are really the way to go. If you're concerned, bring your own. We do get some paper bags because we recycle so much, two bins aren't enough for our pick up every two weeks and if we get any plastic bags for one reason or another, we've saved them up and donated them to the local food pantry for re-use.

[Jester_11218]

13. How about using these?

Help the environment while supporting my effort to educate people about media deception at the same time?

http://www.tvnewslies.org/donate/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=272

Just a thought:-)
Peace,
Jesse

[The2ndWheel]

15. The fact that a ban is needed is disturbing

It just shows that on a mass scale, we're not going to do anything voluntarily. We'll be forced by the rock or the hard place, the state or nature.

[athena]

29. I don't think it's disturbing at all.

That's what government is for: to impose regulations and make companies do things that seem unprofitable in the short run but will create jobs and produce profits in the long run. What I find amazing is that so many Americans expect corporations to adopt environmentally friendly policies on their own. I'm now reading Robert Caro's biography of LBJ; the electric companies refused to provide electricity to rural areas until they were forced to by FDR. I've been using cloth bags for years, but I am well aware that they will not become popular until stores start charging for plastic bags.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Good for San Fran! Now, will someone ban those stupid styrofoam things

they use for hamburgers, salads, and drinks?

[Betsy Ross]

17. Make your own bags

We use cloth bags to hold groceries and other purchases everywhere we go. AND we use homemade small net and cloth bags to hold produce and bulk foods. I make the net bags in large quantities so I can give them away to others while shopping. I tried to get the local natural foods store to carry the net bags for sale but no dice.

It has happened a number of times that we have received "bag credit" for our net bags just because the checker thought they were cool.

[gauguin57]

20. What are dog owners gonna put their doggies' poop in?

Gotta have those recyclable "plastic" bags. Can't put a dog's poop in burlap.

[catgirl]

22. I use the plastic inserts from cereal boxes

chip bags, bread bags, tortilla shell packaging......
I have a whole shelf full of food packaging for my dog
walks and I donate some to the local dog park.

Newspaper bags are great too.

[Tesha]

26. Biodegradable plastic bags will still be legal in CA. (NT)

[Na Gael]

21. Another problem

These bags are a BIG reason why neighborhoods flood, as they clog our storm sewers. Plastic bags combined with cigarette butts and leaf litter can create an impressive stoppage.

[Javaman]

24. This is a great start...

many plastic bags are washed out to sea. There are whole areas of the pacific and atlantic oceans with acres of floating plastic bags caught between tidal forces. It's disgusting.

[athena]

27. I use cotton bags.

I've been using a pair of cotton bags for over five years. They seem expensive at first (about $8/bag), but they last forever. Mine still look new. One place to buy reusable bags is www.reusablebags.com. In addition to tote bags made of cotton or hemp, they sell string bags and compact polyester bags.

[kath]

28. When we were in London a few years ago, you had to pay extra for

a plastic bag in the grocery store - I think it was 10p per bag (maybe 5p)

Trying to cut down on my bag usage - when I buy a gallon of milk at our dairy story I say "no bag, please", likewise if I just buy one or two small items elsewhere.
The paper bags that do accumulate, I give to Friends of the Library to use for our humungous booksale.

[NashVegas]

30. I Just Hope They Properly Train the Baggers

On the occasions I ask for a paper bag, the clerk or bagger never know how to properly pack them.