Washington slaps fee on plastic shopping bags

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.af09375837a21e6bf486e0c8aed43c9a.01&show_article=1 ^

[CSA Rebel]

Residents of the US capital may have to dig a little deeper into their pockets when they go grocery shopping once the city slaps a five-cent levy on each plastic bag issued at the checkout line.

The measure, which takes effect on January 1, 2010 and is the first such initiative in the United States, seeks to make consumers bear the brunt of clean up costs for the bags which currently are dispensed for free with a customer's purchases.

[CSA Rebel]

Am I the only one on earth that uses these shopping bags for trash bags in our small trash cans at the house? We also use them to hold our used diapers. Do they really want me to start buying trash bags for this same purpose?

I know this is petty, but for crying out loud... can’t the liberals just leave well enough alone?

Happy 2010 everyone!!

[Mmogamer]

Do they still make paper grocery bags?

[Hoodat]

Better to cut down a tree to make a bag than to use a waste byproduct from refining gasoline. Idiots.

[max americana]

Will those libs wear those paper bags over their heads?

[GeronL]

liberals can’t leave well enough aone, nope. It’s against their religion.

[GraceG]

Next time you go shopping in Washinton, bring a Hefty bag, that ought to make the lefties wince...

[hinckley buzzard]

Plastic grocery bags are very useful and do no harm to the environment whatsoever. Cloth bags, OTOH, collect and breed germs like E. coli, and contaminate groceries unless washed frequently. Paper bags are still the best, but the people in charge of these lunatic decisions have no one's best interests at heart.

I look forward to reading about the depression in retail sales in the hellhole once called " The Nation's Capitol."

[GraceG]

Better yet next time you go shopping, buy garbage bags and at check demand that they put your groceries in them, the cost is about the same anyways and when you get home you can use them for trash liners.

If you bring your bag do they still charge you the 5 cents?

Also if you are checking out usually when you pay they are still bagging groceries, do you now have to wait until all of your groceries are bagged before you can settle up with the cashier?

[FrankR]

Well, WishyWashyton wants us to be Europe. I don't know if they still do it, but when I was in Germany in the late 60's the people had to take there own bags or some sort of container to the grocery store, as the stores didn't furnish any kind of bag, paper or plastic. Kroger - my favorite grocery store - is starting to push those mongrammed cloth "totes" to carry your stuff in.

I'll admit, when the plastic bags came out, and the question at the checkout was "paper or plastic", I always chose paper, because that's what I grew up with and I was used to it.

Then slowly and incrementally - as these things happen - plastic has almost entirely replaced paper nowadays. But, I've gotten used to the plastic, and even have come to prefer them.

I can carry up to 5 plastic bags on each arm when I get home, depending on the weight, because they have those nifty little handles. These little bags are pretty strong for their size too. We have one of those plastic bag holders under the sink where we keep all of these bags, they are NEVER taken to the dump unless we use them for auxillary trash bags. They're great for all sorts of things, like dumping the litterbox in, carrying your bait on a fishing trip, turn it inside out and pick up doggie poo, makeshift plastic gloves, etc.

Now, even a casual trip to the grocery usually requires 4 or 5 bags to get your bounty home, and a full blown grocery run can use up to 15 bags or more.

Now, having said that, those cloth, european style "totes" are not much bigger than a plastic bag, so if you go on a full scale supply run, you're going to need 15 or 20 of those bad boys. I've seen them advertised at $10 each, so it will cost you up to $200 to gear up for grocery shopping. The same number of plastic bags under WishyWashyton's rules will be only $2.00....or 100 big runs to the market.

Now, if my Kroger gets to the point where they no longer have plastic, or charge for them, I have already told the manager that I will start shopping elsewhere. It's not the nickle, it's the principle of the thing.

We sailed over here from Europe to get away from Europe...

[RushingWater]

Better to cut down a tree to make a bag than to use a waste byproduct from refining gasoline. Idiots.

I didn't know it was a waste product. Hah, I wonder if the re-usuable ones are surplus by products too?

[GraceG]

>> Will those libs wear those paper bags over their heads? <<

For that purpose plastic bags are far superior!

[Graybeard58]

Will those libs wear those paper bags over their heads?

This one should always wear one.

[max americana]

The surgery sure did wonders for Helen.

[pnh102]

Ahhh. So the Maryland-Virginia Grocery Store Stimulus Bill is now law.

I am not sure about DC but there is no sales tax on unprepared food in Maryland, so come and shop away!

[truthguy]

Am I the only one on earth that uses these shopping bags for trash bags in our small trash cans at the house?

No you sure are not and I also find many uses for these bags around the house and such. I frequent a dog park in my city and people bring in these bags and put them in a container for use in keeping the park clean. The city does not furnish bags but by law we are responsible for cleaning up after our dogs.

We are going through this same garbage (no pun intended) in California (SF Bay area). As I look out at the trash I see on the streets, at least 95% is paper or cans and bottles. The cans and bottles already have a 5 cent deposit on them but people still discard them anyway. Very little of the trash is plastic bags. These politicians are a solution looking for a problem.

[latina4dubya]

we use them for many things... my kids use them for doggy poop detail... one as a glove and one to hold the stuff...

[skinkinthegrass]

LL!

Why Helen, You've never looked better.

[NY Attitude]

They tried that crap in San Francisco, CA. It didn’t make it down to the South Bay as yet.

[Spunky]

"I'll admit, when the plastic bags came out, and the question at the checkout was "paper or plastic", I always chose paper, because that's what I grew up with and I was used to it."

Every time I hear that phrase I laugh. My granddaughter had never experienced going grocery shopping by herself until I sent her. She was then faced with the question "paper or plastic" she said she was taken back by the question then asked the clerk do you mean "cash or credit card"? LOL!