Enact a plastic grocery bag ban in Richmond
Submitted by Chris Hardie on March 28, 2007 - 7:01am.
posted under
posted under
I was glad to read today that San Francisco will be the first U.S. City to adopt a ban on plastic grocery bags. We live in a town where there are already some encouraging things happening to reduce plastic bag usage; I wonder if Richmond could adopt a similar formalization of this trend?
plastic bag ban
I realize this is an old thread, but I do have an objection - what am I supposed to use to pick up after my dog? I re-use every single plastic bag that I take home from the grocery store when I walk my dog. I don't have a fenced in yard, and don't believe in tying my dog out. If I don't have plastic grocery bags, then I have to buy new plastic bags at the pet store, and use a brand new bag to pick up after my dog, as opposed to the (admittedly limited and one time only) reusing that I'm doing now. By law, I have to pick up after him, and I have to tie the waste off in a plastic bag.
I do bring my own bags for my once a month trip to Trader Joe's, and am generally pretty conscientious about the three R's. If anyone has an alternative to my dog walking dilemma, Mordecai and I would be happy to consider it.
Doggie Poo
I understand your dilemma. I am trying to put myself in my Grandmother's shoes. She lived to be 94. Anyway, I don't recall her ever using plastic bags to carry groceries home from the grocery store. She used her own handmade bag. She never had the option to get creative with the plastic bags that the stores use nowdays. i.e., using them as a trash can liners, pooper holder, garbage holder, etc. I'm pretty environmentally conscious myself, as it sounds like you are also. Maybe if we put ourselves in our grandparents or great-grandparents shoes for awhile and think, "now what would my Grandma or Grandpa use"? Maybe you could use newspaper?
Replace plastic with...?
What would we replace plastic with, paper? Where would the trees be chopped down from, US national forests? the Amazon? I agree that plastic, produced from petrolium, is no great substance, but there should be some viable and sustainable replacement. It would take a long time before everyone in Richmond starts carrying around their own canvas bags--unless someone started handing them out for free.
...plastic!
Travis, it's a good question. But the reality is that there are probably enough plastic bags in Richmond's city limits right now to accomodate everyone's grocery trips for some time to come. So while we need to think about more sustainable replacements like canvas bags, for now, we can just reuse the bags that are already in circulation.
plastic bags
Maybe this was brought up earlier, but I forget to check PWC often.
Meijer will take $.05 off your bill for each bag you bring in and re-use. I always offer to help bag since reusing is less convenient for the cashier. Also, if you forget your bags, you can ask the cashier to put more than six items in each bag. Cashiers are told not to otherwise.
Finally, the one reason my family makes trips to Wal-Mart is to put holey plastic bags in recycling there.
Ultimately, as some places do, stores here could have plastic or paper bags as back up but charge for them. People used to bring their own bags, and eventually, we would all relearn. . .
bags @ Meijer: no $.05
According to the cashier when I last went through the human line, Meijer has stopped giving 5 cents off for each bag you bring in and use.
On the positive side, the scan-it-yourself lines make it easy to do your own bagging w/ your own bags.
Meijer bag discount is bag
Hopi reports that the Meijer bag discount has returned in Richmond, Indiana.
Plastic Bag Scourge
My mother attends a LOT of conferences, where the favorite schwag seems to be canvas bags. They work GREAT!! Especially if you bag your own or get an understanding cashier (which has NEVER happened to me at Wal-Mart. I had a cashier straight up tell me once that she wasn't "allowed" to put anything in the bags I brought with me!). If you're maneuvering a week's worth of groceries plus a toddler, having 3 or 4 big canvas bags slung over your shoulders works soooo much better than 496 plastic bags, each holding one can of peas.
It's pretty horrific, the plastic bag problem. America should be ashamed of itself for this alone, if nothing else *cough*.
I happen to be a cashier at
I happen to be a cashier at Walmart. We welcome the use of canvas bags, we also sell them.
plastic bag ban
I vividly remember crossing the border from Texas into Mexico. I'm sure an aerial photo would have clearly shown the change in landscape. Not only was the land overgrazed and drier, but many of the bushes and scrub brush were coated with plastic bags, blown by the wind, and caught in the branches. Plastic is a huge problem for wildlife all over the world. It shows a lot of foresight for San Francisco to ban plastic bags. Eventually, I think this will lead to a cleaner, nicer looking city, which will draw more good employers, and the ban will pay off, though there are always people who would complain about the apparent loss of convenience. A small city like Richmond can also clean up, look good, reduce trash, and draw good employers, and people wanting to live in a cleaner, more sustainable community. I would support a plastic bag ban.