i keep regular recyclable grocery bags in each car…and use them all the time. LIke a poster upstream…if I happen to forget, I just buy another one. They don’t last forever.
In addition, I have three little nylon bags (ma ye they are some polyester…who knows?) that fold up about as big as a tube of lipstick. I keep at least one in my purse. As noted…in the bottom, they are great purse shapers.
When I travel, I always bring a Longchamps tote folded up. I use that when I go shopping on trips. It’s really perfect.
I don’t understand the fuss. It’s not that hard to bring your own bag…and if you don’t, just buy one. It will help,you remember the next time to bring it with you.
I also use cute recycle bags as gift bags now instead of paper gift bags. You can buy them for $1-$2 and rhey come in all sorts of colors and decorations. They make a much nicer gift bag than paper. I have also gotten cnvas totes for $5.99…same thing.
Shower in a few weeks…the gift will be taken in a really nice, reusable basket.
We’ve had a rule like this in our county for several years now. I think I’ve paid for maybe three bags in that whole time. You get used to bringing reusable bags.
I suspect that most of the objections to this are nonsense put out by the National Plastic Bag Council or something like that. I don’t think any raw food has ever touched the inside of one of our reusable bags, except perhaps for the peel of a banana.
I too carry a multitude of reusable bags in my trunk. HATE when I forget to bring them in the store - I cringe at every plastic bag the cashier tries to give me - also, CRINGE when they try to just put a couple things in each bag - and therefore want me walking out with 10 plastic bags for what would fit in 2 paper bags! Ugh. Cashiers often use the plastic bags like water - endlessly!
I have washed my reusable bags. They actually normally wash up quite nice - right in the washing machine! Not after every use.
Couple of issues with paper bags. They don’t hold up under rainy/wet conditions and they are much more likely to harbor pests.
One neighbor during my time in Boston had to have his entire apartment fumigated after having no previous issues for nearly a decade living there because it turned out some paper bags he brought home from a supermarket harbored some roaches. That was confirmed after the exterminator fumigated and investigated the source of infestation and the neighbor found several other shoppers had similar issues around the same time frame.
We have had our state charging for most plastic and paper bags in grocery stores for over a year now. Some stores give thicker bags at no cost and those are ok because they’re “reusable.” All other establishments can and do still provide bags, including 2+ bags that the morning newspaper is in EVERY day! I save the bags and donate them to friends who own dogs for them to use when the walk their beloved pets.
I actually like the idea of a surcharge on plastic/paper bags, and I do think it reduces consumption. By asking people if they wish to pay extra for bags, I imagine most will think a bit harder about whether or not it is worth the extra cost (even if that extra cost is relatively insignificant). Even if only 20% of people said ‘no’, or used reusable bags, that is a significant reduction in consumption overall.
I disagree with this. Ideally, yes, it would be great if this money went to environmental projects. Realistically though, I don’t feel that the money would ever go to these projects, and/or there would be bureaucratic inefficiencies at play. This kind of thing happens all the time with public utilities… rates go up because of shortages of power/water/whatever, the utility companies pitch that the extra revenue will go to infrastructure improvements yada yada, and then nothing ever really happens.
I think allowing the retailers to profit on the bag surcharges is the best choice. They are the ones who originally paid for the bags via overhead costs, therefore they should be allowed to keep the extra income. It’s a win-win really… customers use less bags, and businesses profit.