Seattle officials propose 20-cent grocery-bag fee (Jan 1, if city council approves)

The Seattle Times ^ | April 3, 2008 | Sharon Pian Chan

[Paperdoll]

The subversive OSPRIGs amd WASPRIGs want to ding us .20 per paper or plastic bag in order to destroy yet another American industry?

I do have my own cloth grocery bags because they are easier to carry, but GREEN is a BILIOUS color when it becomes aggressively restrictive.

Didn’t I read somewhere about SOLIENT GREEN? As a matter of fact, that would serve a double purpose! Eating each other would vastly reduce the world population, as well as solve a food shortage problem, but I’d starve first!

Yup, I’m find myself tuning out whenever I hear GREEN.

[cyborg]

I don’t compost citrus with the rest of the scraps. I dig a hole for the cat and dog poo and throw it in. I do that when I feel motivated :D Otherwise, the catpoo goes down the toilet bowl...lazy me.

[Reeses]

WHOLE FOODS gives 5 -10 cents per bag credit if you bring in any bag - even bags from Kroger.

A store could just toss them in the trash and count the $1 they paid as advertising. It can cost $20 in advertising to bring in a new customer. $1 is a cheap way to keep someone coming back. The cost of recycling a plastic bag is easily more wasteful than buying new.

Since the bags are made from petroleum I wonder if there's a way to make the bags dissolve in gasoline. Stuffing them into your gas tank and getting some mileage out of them might be a great way to efficiently recycle them.

[cyborg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/nyregion/10rats.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Former MSM Viewer]

Let me know if that works

[Scarpetta]

I was replying to a poster who said he composts. Unlike you, Scarpetta knows how to read.

[rabidralph]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but in some of the high-crime areas, those bags will be an invitation to shoplift. I chased a guy out of Borders a few years ago because I saw him stuff several DVDs into a large paper shopping bag, such as what you get at department stores after a big purchase.

[rabidralph]

You got that right! Love your tagline, BTW.

[ktscarlett66]

I *love* reusable bags. I’ve been doing it for years. Sometimes I’ve gotten funny looks and sometimes I get a “Where did you find those?” Mine have also been used as totes on vacation and to the beach, for trick-or-treat bags, all kinds of things. I recently got some new ones as the oldies are wearing out. I can get 2-3x as much stuff in one and they’re much easier to carry. I still get a few plastic bags now and then to use for small trash can liners but when I go shopping 2x a month, it’s nothing for me to bring home 30+ plastic bags (the few times I forgot to take my canvas ones). I can’t use up 60 or 70 bags in a month! (I do recycle the unused ones.)

[AndrewB]

Retailers aren't getting squat from this idea.
They'll use less new bags.

[FORTRUTHONLY]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but in some of the high-crime areas, those bags will be an invitation to shoplift. I chased a guy out of Borders a few years ago because I saw him stuff several DVDs into a large paper shopping bag, such as what you get at department stores after a big purchase.

The purpose of those bags is for carrying the purchases you buy. Using them for illegal purposes is the same as a criminal using a gun for illegal purposes.

[FORTRUTHONLY]

Personal choice is the right answer when doing our share when it comes to environment. We do more because it's what we feel has to be done than what the government tells us we should do.

Kudos to you :)

[Stoat]

You got that right! Love your tagline, BTW.

Thank you very much for your kind words  :-)

 

[wolf78]

The government has no businsss dictating this issue. The cost of bags is factored into the cost of goods charged by the stores. If the stores want to ‘’give’’ away bags with their groceries, it’s their business.

All the more reason to avoid those shops. You can reuse a cloth bag for years, a time during which a shop overcharges you for plastic bags you don't need. One thing e.g. ALDI has got right.

Quote from aldifoods.com: We don’t hide the cost of bags in our prices like other stores do. You can bring your own bags, or buy our paper, plastic, or insulated bags for a very nominal charge. Of course, we encourage you to reuse and recycle bags.