[AT7Saluki]

Every day, another "see, I told you so". It's getting tedious.

[Brookhaven]

Washing the bag after every use eliminates its “environmental friendliness,” as it then uses MORE natural resources over its lifespan than disposable bags.

[Izzy Dunne]

It’s been so long, that I forget: What is the “environmental impact” of the paper grocery bags I grew up with?

If they blow away, they rot and disintegrate within a year or two.

What’s the problem?

[JudgemAll]

Who needs scum trial lawyers when we have the EPA-CDC and government saying that everyone and every company is now incarcerated by the government for EVER, and that we are the problem children of society when they take from us and rape us.

Yes, sir... useful idiots sucking up to government need to apply for “I’m stupid, I need to blow my brains, too funny”.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

This proves soccer is unhealthy..

[cartan]

Since the Greenies think that overpopulation is such a great problem, they should welcome this development.

[TomGuy]

but but but

it was such a good idea!

on paper.

[/s]

Another ‘great’ lib idea without any consideration for the unforeseen consequences.

[oyez]

This green nonsense is going to cause a lot of unexpected problems.

In this case, just bring back the brown kraft paper bag. They are naturally green because they can be recycled and if they are discarded they decompose in quick order. With polymer technology they can be made quite strong.

[Cicero]

“We wash our clothes when they’re dirty; we should wash our bags, too,”

Which costs more in energy waste and money, using a new paper bag, or washing a cloth bag with soap and hot water every time you use it?

Let's be practical. It would use more money and energy to keep throwing the shopping bags in the washing machine and the dryer than it would to recycle a paper bag.

I recycle all our cans and bottles and plastic containers--except for an occasional can or jar that is filled with something really messy, which would take more energy to wash out than it would to throw away.

In any case, yes, it can be dangerous to keep reusing a shopping bag.

[ejonesie22]

Science will ultimately get it down to life causes death, there for in order to stay safe and healthy we should all die...

And from this will come a Presdential executive order and a new Cabinet postion...

[Cyber Ninja]

Well, if middle and high schools had a “Bags for Babies”
clean-up drives every Wednesday. Where collected plastic
bags were donated to Planned Parenthood, the use of
one-time-use plastic bags would become mandatory.

The problems of contaminated reusable bags could be solved.

[YourAdHere]

Well, at least the environment is healthy.

[skeeter]

I knew this would happen, but not so soon.

Idiot environmentalists.

[HamiltonJay]

Reusable Grocery Bags are disgusting, anyone using them is foolish IMHO. Yes, plastic has its problems, but choose paper if you are environmentally conscious.

I would NEVER use a reusable grocery bag, the idea of having a bag that has had meat juices leaked in it, and other things, and just holding onto it again and again and putting food in and carrying it is just asking for trouble.

And yes folks paper is completely renewable, and Weyerhauser et al has been harvesting and replanting trees for generations, very successfully too I might add. Its in their own best interest to take care of their timberlands... without it they go out of business.

[FrankR]

When I was stationed in Germany in the mid-60's, the German people had to take their own bags to the grocery store; I thought it was stupid then, and I still do.

This new push for us to do the same is just more of the pushing of America to be like the Europeans.

The day my grocery stop furnishing bags - plastic, or paper - is the day I'll find another store that does.

I think the bags are great, you can hang several on your arms to carry the groceries into the house, thus saving repetitive trips; we reuse them all of the time, for everything from kitty litter, to packing them for a trip to use for holding dirty clothes.

The reasons the greens are against all things plastic - bottles, sacks, etc., is that plastic is made from OIL...and we all know how much libs hate oil as they drive around in their BMW's.

The "GREEN" movement needs to go.

[allmost]

Buy some chicken (dripping) and put it in that bag. Yummy. The belt that all your groceries were on has not been cleaned either.

[onedoug]

...we should wash our bags, too,” said Kimberly K. Repp, an epidemiologist....

WASH YOUR HANDS!!!! Frequently.

[Vaquero]

I only use the throw away plastic free ones...

I throw them away if they held chicken or other meat...etc.

those used to hold dry goods I reuse them for everything under the sun.

[muir_redwoods]

I would happily use medium weigh denim bags with denim handles for groceries. Plastic and paper bags tear easily; denim bags would be as tough as a pair of Wranglers. it would be easy to wash these as well..

[Vendome]

Okay San Jose, San Francisco, et all. WTF where you thinking when you passed these idiotic ordinances.

You thought it would be a win-win which ever option the consumer chose?

Buy bags for your groceries @ 10 cent per and the city gets a new form of revenue.

Don’t buy a bag and Mother Gaia is saved?

You never considered the health implications which was just one the many reasons to use a disposable bag.

E-coli, Staph, Salmonella, Noro Virus, Cholera(Yep, it can happen)

prevention of those diseases was one the many wonders of plastic bag and you will see more outbreaks of diseases when people eat food contaminated by a bag that has been reused one to many times with no thought of hygienic.

Imagine a party where 200 people enjoy a barbecue of contaminated food from an unhygienic bag.

Now imagine those same people take home leftovers and Voila!

[Jeff Chandler]

traced a nasty outbreak of norovirus infections in a group of soccer players to an unlikely source: a reusable grocery bag

Not unlikely at all.