Not thinking things thru dept

[kengr]

Our new mayor wants Portland to join the cities that have "outlawed" plastic bags. He wants grocery stores and the like to charge 20 cents each for plastic bags to encourage folks to use reusuable or recyclable bags.

The stores say they don't like it and at a minimum want it applied to *all* stores.

And a few folks with *some* sense note that it'll be a hardship for low income people.

I was mostly in that camp until I started thinking on what I'd have to do on a shopping run.

Then it hit me. Even though I have one of those reusable canvas bags, it's not big enough for a typical run to the Albertson's next door. If I add my nylon Doc Martens bag, *maybe*.

Then it hit me. Produce. Bulk foods.

Paper bags *might* work for produce. For bulk foods (rice, beans, lots of other things n bins at places like WinCo, not a chance.

First of all, they don't seal very well. Second, the stores us *clear* plastic bags there for a reason. First is so they don't have to open them and dig thru the contents at the register to make sure you aren't trying to cheat them. And second is because they *can* be sealed (even if only with a twist tie) avoiding spills both when they are at the register (which having to open them to verify contents defeats) and because that means they don't get spilled going around the store either.

And they are used for storing stuff at home quite often as well.

I say they count as *packaging* and unless they want to outlaw or put a surcharge on prepackaged items that come in plastic rather than cardboard they need to seriously rethink this.

We went to plastic bags for some of this stuff for good reasons. At the very least they need to allow for a refund if we turn bags back in.

Comments

Intelligent application Vs Just to appear "Green" I call them ecocretins

[capybyra.livejournal.com]

The pinnacle of ecocretin logic is the "water saving" toilet. Second only to the junk science based war on Freon. But tied perhaps with the CFL Vs Incandescent bulb fiascos. The toilets, Freon, CFL wrangles ALL have the set of elements cherished by ecocretins. "They" have been drooling overtime in anticipation of somehow topping those ecocrimes. By replacing logic with ecopravda tactic. And sealing the deal by applying a Big Lie Zealotry that Gobbels would Heil. Such schemes are what defines an ecocretin. Their ruleset is a bit fuzzy at best. It tends to favor attack. Targets needfully must be deeply embedded in daily life. Then the target must be selected for attack in fashion demanding immense expense. AND the "Fix" MUST waste MORE resources than simply doing nothing.

[(Anonymous)]

San Francisco has been considering such a ban. One of the issues which came up in one of the articles was that many people reuse those bags they want to ban. For trash. So if the bags are banned, then folks have to *buy* plastic bags for their trash.

You have a good point with your list. But paper wont work for all produce. Some produce is wet. And I'd expand on your point with the plastic bags in the meat dept. The drippy meat problem probably cant be solved very well any other way. (Although the absorbent pads in the packages could probably go away w/o any real problem...)