Plastic Bags = BADDD!!!

This is only because you are not paying it. Why won't they just switch to damn paper bags and be done with it, rather than levying a charge? The whole philosophy behind the move seems topsy turvy to me.

Of all the litter, plastic bags are the most mobile... sometimes you see them floating high above the street, free as a bird.

(I'm the Marat of the coming plastic bag war... incendiary.)

The more I learn about mankind, the less I understand.

"I am a submissive cross dresser into bondage and plastic bag asphyxia. My transvestite fetishes include headscarves, plastic rain bonnets and plastic dresses. Despite my innocent appearance I am one kinky woman!"

!!!!!

Good for Bangladesh.

For someone like me who has no car and needs to carry all my groceries on a 20 min walk, I so DO NOT want paper bags, they are useless. Plastic is ok but still not that great. well made, square based canvas bags rock my casbah.

buy a rucksack.

Yes!

I can't find the New Yorker article online, but apparently the author, Ian Frazier, wrote a nearly identical article for Mother Jones several years earlier.

http://www.muzen.com/NewBillPhoto.gif

Yeah, backpacks and canvas bags all the way. I guess we'll just have to buy special bags for all the dog-poop and cat-litter scooping though... hrm.

this fuckshit is my rep -- in BROOKLYN.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/simcha-felder-speaks-for-the-plastic-bags-for-the-bags-have-no-voices-9623959

asshole Cuomo rejects NYC's plastic-bag fee

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/n-y-lawmakers-urge-cuomo-compromise-disposable-bag-fee-article-1.2972351

had to create a psa for my epidemiology class. decided on single-use plastic. am not a artist by any means but am happy to be done with it.
https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/d84jhp9y1a7/?utm_campaign=copy%2Bshare%2Bby%2Bowner&utm_content=d84jhp9y1a7&utm_po=23621572&utm_source=player-page-social-share&utm_medium=SocialShare&mode=movie#/

What if this was all the result of a brainstorm session at a big catholic think tank?

1. get everyone's support against single use plastics
2. ban condoms!
3. profit: accepted @ heaven

:-)

utm_campaign=copy%2Bshare%2Bby%2Bowner&utm_content=d84jhp9y1a7&utm_po=23621572&utm_source=player-page-social-share&utm_medium=SocialShare&mode=movie#

really not looking fwd to this

I put my garbage in plastic takeout bags

https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/02/18/single-use-plastic-bags-will-be-banned-in-new-york-state-starting-march-1st-why-it-might-be-tougher-for-men

Just throw it out the window onto passing rich ppl

it's kind of strange that ny has taken so long to do this.

I use them for picking up dog shit and lining my smaller trash cans (bathroom, bedroom). I have reusable bags, but about half the time I'll forget them at home. It all kinda balances out well for me.

I just don't see how the inconvenience of ppl having to find replacements for free disposable plastic bags for other purposes can POSSIBLY come close to the harm that cheap single-use plastics are doing. Everyone I know has a whole cupboard of those fucking things and we all go around asking each other if we know a good way to dispose of them. I've used tote bags for my shopping for ages and yet somehow I still have a bag of bags that barely fits under my sink! Good riddance. People will figure it out.

Single use bottled water is next imo.

At this point I feel like I am absolutely pro-plastic bag. Very low environmental cost to produce, can be used again and again, yes not easily biodegradable, but not really polluting either, so long as they aren't just pumped out into the sea. But obviously an easy target for people who fly and drive everywhere and want to comfort themselves that they are doing something about the environment.

Now all supermarkets in the UK only sell big thick "bags for life" for 5-20p each and (from observation) the majority of people just seem to treat them as they did their little flimsy bags, the amount of plastic actually being used has increased massively anyway, so well done there lib dems.

Fyi they are pumped out to the sea

I can't wait for Canada to ban these fuckers.

xp Oh yeah sure, but what isn't?

This is fucking awesome news. I hope it works out the same as the smoking ban. I hope people look back on the idea that you could just go shopping with nothing to carry your stuff home in and just expecting to be handed a piece of shit plastic bag instead as essentially unthinkable and bizarre. Paper’s bad too. Bring a bag with you for fuck’s sake. They fit in a pocket.

Single use bottled water is next imo.

Yes. Just ban it. A little leadership, please.

what are those trash bags you buy in the store (Glad etc) made of? Aren't they bad for the environment?

I don't even really know what "composting" is so don't even bring that up.

deck chairs, Titanic, etc

But obviously an easy target for people who fly and drive everywhere and want to comfort themselves that they are doing something about the environment.

Are you subtweeting a certain group here or is this just...a straw-latte liberal, or...? In my experience people you "drive everywhere" have a way better chance of having 10 tote bags in their trunk when they get to the grocery store than New Yorkers who walk everywhere. Isn't this change still a net harm reduction? Other places all over the world manage somehow.

It doesn't need to solve climate change to be worth doing; less microplastics in the ocean is reason enough.

what are those trash bags you buy in the store (Glad etc) made of? Aren't they bad for the environment?

Totally. Biodegradable/compostable alternatives exist that are virtually indistinguishable from “real” plastic.

Would want to see coffee cups banned (and in the meantime surcharged for) before plastic water bottles.

Easy now

plastic bags have been banned here for five years, single-use plastic cutlery is now banned, free single use bottled water giveaways by companies are now banned. obv the latter needs to be extended soon to total ban, but it's a start. don't drink coffee so ban the disposable ones too. also this has nothing to do with anything here but ban strollers/"prams" too. and cars and guns and smoking in public.

Plastic bottles and coffee cups all over the place, and inevitably spilling out of overstuffed trash cans, irk me more, I think. At least plastic bags can be used for pet poop. There's long been a bin at the local grocery chain to place plastic bags for recycling, so I suppose they can be recycled. I can't remember if we (locally) have totally banned bags but stores do charge a small fee for their use. I know stores like Trader Joe's have moved to all paper or compostable, just as lots of places have quickly shifted to straws only on request.

controversial not serious opinion - stop picking up dog poop

It doesn't need to solve climate change to be worth doing; less microplastics in the ocean is reason enough.

― jmm

this

yeah it’s weird (not weird) how people forget about the myriad easily understandable, basic forms of environmental damage that aren’t on like a macro climate change level

the government liquor stores here just started using paper bags instead of plastic. their plastic bags were very sturdy but not capacious and so not big enough to fit into any garbage container, so had the additional issue of being literally good for nothing after you used them

i carry a baggu with me most of the time now, use very few plastic bags

paper is compostable

(also lol @ morbz not knowing what compost is)

this one record shop around here offers random old tote bags for yr purchases, like from random corporate/charity events and stuff

Paper’s compostable but still requires energy to make. Just carry a tote ffs

https://www.ecologique-solidaire.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/en_DP%20PJL.pdf

explains (in English!) the new laws here on single-use plastic products. Some highlights: plastic bags, cups, plates already banned (as are q-tips). Straws, cutlery, stirrers banned Jan 2021, as are expanded polystyrene containers (like the ones you get at kebab restos). In 2023 fast food restaurants will have to use reusable tableware for food and drinks consumed on site. Plastic tea bags and plastic fast food toys banned in 2022, as are plastic packaging (including stickers) for fruits and vegetables.

there's a single use plastics ban initiative in CA that should be on the ballot in November (it's currently gathering signatures)

the last three places I live(d) outside of nyc all banned plastic bags (france, chile, hawaii). It's not that hard. I had a large dog that shit out toddlers and I made do with always using totes because not doing so felt extremely bad.

i keep wavering on getting some reusable vegetable bags for the market.

yeah there are compostable bags that work fine for pet shit

(do not put pet shit in the compost tho)

At this point I feel like I am absolutely pro-plastic bag. Very low environmental cost to produce, can be used again and again, yes not easily biodegradable, but not really polluting either, so long as they aren't just pumped out into the sea. But obviously an easy target for people who fly and drive everywhere and want to comfort themselves that they are doing something about the environment.

Now all supermarkets in the UK only sell big thick "bags for life" for 5-20p each and (from observation) the majority of people just seem to treat them as they did their little flimsy bags, the amount of plastic actually being used has increased massively anyway, so well done there lib dems.

― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, February 20, 2020 7:59 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

imo fuck off

i use those ikea blue bags for sooo many things. also most wine/spirits stores give out reusable bottle bags that carry 4-6 bottles.

I think the NYC law only allows paper bags for a fee, not the heavy “reusable” plastic bags. Since paper bags are crap for anything heavy, this will be a pretty strong nudge for people to bring their own bag.

you can honestly carry so much more comfortably in the reusable totes too.

i've been bringing my own bag for the past year, it's easy and cool and you don't have to be a "pro-plastic bag" edgelord

otm. this is bad behaviour that has to be removed out of the zeitgeist. like smoking on airplanes or hitting on teenagers.

I use a backpack and never have any difficulty, I'd be fine with an outright plastic bag ban tbh

also how has no one itt posted this??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuJ31bu01mM

i VAGUELY know what compost is, Your Shakiness, ive just never had to do it

o. nate, i believe the link i posted says otherwise

Focusing on particular high-profile items, like plastic bags, makes it easier to explain the problem, but an effective solution to the problem will have to include a narrowing of choices by eliminating a large number of the worst ones, along with creating a culture of reduced consumption, reuse, and recycling.

yes of course it will

also it is a NY *state* law

Certain bags are exempt from the law, including bags used by pharmacies to carry prescription drugs, produce bags for bulk items such as fruits and vegetables, and dry cleaner garment bags....

Stores will continue to sell packages of plastic bags, such as garbage bags, ziploc bags, baggies and bags for cleaning up after dogs, according to the DEC spokesperson.

exemptions:

http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/117781.html

There was a piece on the radio some months back about which restaurants would let you bring your own containers to pick-up take out ...

Here it is!

https://www.wbez.org/shows/worldview/can-you-get-takeout-without-a-side-of-trash-in-chicago/fdab4761-534c-4cb2-9131-17979e34ae66

i was actually thinking of asking my usual friday night spot if we could start bringing in our own containers. They only use foil containers and paper lids but still.

and i saw a pick on reddit or something of a place that has a shampoo, body wash dispenser to fill bottles which is sooooooo needed everywhere.

our local co-op has been doing that for decades, all our soap/shampoo/lotion is handled that way

jfc Brad, no need to be a dick, this is the context of the plastic bag charge in the UK

These tweets are precisely why I would rather fricassée, and then subsequently eat, my own arm than vote Liberal Democrat.

That 9% in the polls looking positively princely to me tbh. pic.twitter.com/oKTrqKjEJ4

— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) April 20, 2018

jfc Brad, no need to be a dick

you were being a dick! in your initial post!

xxpost A lot of co-op styled places have a byo container policy for bulk items, from honey to peanut butter to oats or whatever, but there's a company called Loop, run by TerraCycle, that does this on a wider scale:

https://loopstore.com

how exactly was I being a dick? I was not rude to anyone.

i am absolutely pro-second hand smoke.

yeah, let's read the first lines of posts and ignore the rest shall we?

i thought that was your thesis. I didn't think you were being a dick. but it wasn't dick free.

idk it feels a little dickish to walk into a conversation about removing one form of single-use plastics from regular use in new york city grocery stores and what that change affects and how we could possibly use even less than that bc it would be really sick to have less plastic in the oceans, with "at this point i am very pro-plastic bag, because (based on only personal observation) that people use and discard these bags for life just as much, and jeez these anti-plastic baggers sure love to pat themselves on the back before taking their private jets to work"

although i understand now you were trying to own the lib dems, who are also not relevant to this conversation imo

my thought is, every little bit helps, gotta start somewhere, this plastic bag ban should've happened fuckin years ago

there is absolutely no parking for my private plane at Trader Joes. Their parking lots are notoriously terrible.

right, because one single post is about NYC then every other subsequent post in the previously-non-NYC-specific thread must also be about NYC?

If the net result of plastic bag bans is that the generations that ensured the demise of earth get to at least share in a small fraction of the suffering our descendents will have to endure, I am for it.

I keep reading this thread title as "Big Audio Diggity Diggity Dynamite!!!"

And just to be clear, I am of course open to alternative solutions for dog shit disposal should the Maryland General Assembly bring the hammer down.

wait, I was totally imagining people in the UK spending 2, 5, 10 quid on reusable bags and then just tossing them not the 5p-20p "reusable bags for life". Those were always stupid. They need to get rid of those too.

Can't beat plastic bags for record shopping in the rain, but other than that they can not rot in hell

the two record stores I worked at awhile ago, I always asked if they needed a bag because the bags are usually thick and nice and for cds not really good for anything else (even picking up poop). People were so trained to need that bag to walk their cd to their car or to put it in their purse. I did have a bunch take the bag and then realize how stupid it was and give it back.

P much as soon as I was old enough to be in stores by myself I started turning down plastic bags at checkout if I was buying one thing or things small enough to be pocketed, and not infrequently cashiers eyes would go wide and theyd be like "Really? Are you SURE?", or even sometimes argue with me and say insane things like "I HAVE to give you a bag for this, it's the rule". Crazy to imagine how future generations (if there are any) will look back on how we thought essential we thought these were to our lives.

I was buying some cheese mochi the other day and they went to bag them up and I was like, uh I am going to eat them now, can you just put them all into my hand. It was awkward.

and this is how the coronavirus started.

I wonder if it's that bags serve to elevate the product. If you're just putting it in your pocket then the acquisition seems more banal.

FYI to Cams but while you are largely otm re the use of bags for life, some supermarkets have started doing the £1 extremely compact bags which are themselves made from recycled plastic. They’re sort of cloth? Am I ever organised enough to bring a bag for life? No. Do I always have a foldaway bag on me? Yes and it makes a big difference to the amount of plastic bags I use! I also bring a backpack if I know I’ll be buying more than I can carry in two reusable bags. The bonus is they’re considerably stronger so the arse doesn’t bust out of them the way it does with the plastic ones.

But that’s obviously not something scaleable to lots of people and maybe things like the direction the co op is going in (making bags from compostable plastic) is a better solution given it takes a big push for people to change their behaviour?

the smoking ban proved lots of people can change their behaviour on a dime.

the success of the plastic bag ban in i.e. France also proves it. it’s simply societally weird there to not bring your own bag. it just becomes second nature. wallet, keys, phone, extremely crushable bag stuffed into pocket/backpack.

that said people do plan themselves a little better in France due to shops not always being open, tobacco and newspapers and bread only being sold in certain places etc. But the bag thing is honestly an incredibly easy habit to get into.

it's probably bad but I really like seeing people get flummoxed when there are no bags for them to use.

my town and most of the surrounding towns have banned them. it’s not a big deal at all. when i see a single-use plastic bag now it seems weird.

for the love of god let water bottles be next. when i walk down my street on recycling day it amazes me how many bins have almost nothing but single-serving plastic water bottles.

so glad there is a 10-cent deposit on those in Oregon

The large grocery store down the street from me has finally gotten rid of the 'reuseable' plastic bags... California finally banned them, acting on a loophole in an earlier ban on single-use bags. (The manufacturers just made heavier bags and called the reuseable and thus not single-use.) The loophole has finally been closed

Really bleak article on the petroleum industry going all in on plastic as gasoline demand weakens

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/19/they-pushed-so-many-lies-about-recycling-the-fight-to-stop-big-oil-pumping-billions-more-into-plastics

the "reusable" ones take 20x the energy to make as the old and free non-reusable ones (which I often reused multiple times anyway)

That aspect has been driving me nuts! My area started with a transition period where you could still get ordinary plastic-film bags but had to pay 25 cents or whatever — we really should have stopped there, or slowly elevated to a more annoying cost, because that alone was plenty of incentive to bring one's own bag. Instead, we now have the situation where inevitably, every few weeks, you end up stopping for something you did not expect to, you have no bag, you have to purchase an overpriced multi-use one, and eventually your household has dozens and dozens of unnecessary, resource-intensive reusables clogging up storage cabinets, waiting for you to figure out some way to get rid of them that feels better than throwing them away. Each one is acquired at point of sale, for somewhere between $1 and $2, only for reasons of immediate necessity — it's the rare situation in which people would likely be happier being "fined" $2 for a disposable film bag than "purchasing" a $2 reusable they want nothing to do with. And then on a larger level it bugs me that our political/regulatory processes make it so unlikely for people to acknowledge that a rule has been counterproductive and adjust it to have the desired effect.

In Maryland, you can use your own bags or pay $0.10 for a single-use paper bag. I like the paper bags from a nostalgia standpoint (like I'm in an Art Frahm pin-up or something), but have had them rip open on more than one occasion, which is no fun at all.

Giant Food sells both the flimsy reusable bags and a sturdier, collapsible "shopping tote." Although the totes cost more than twice as much as the reusable bags, they are sturdy as fuck - I've gotten years of use out of mine and they don't look much worse for wear. They're easier to clean as well. For a few bucks extra, they have an insulated one with a zippered lid.

https://i5.peapod.com/c/E5/E54L4.png