U.S. Jellies: Are there any plans or proposals in your state to eliminate plastic bags or other single use plastics?

No. They stuff them and use them as Republican voters.

Well, you just answered for me, I’m in CT. I find it interesting that the ones who express, out loud, the greatest displeasure are really just griping at the inconvenience. When one buys a boatload of seriously unnecessary taxed items at Stop and Shop, then bitches about the dime, then credibility is lost.
Shopping is more interesting now!

But I’ve been using my own grocery bags for 40 years, so it’s no biggie for me.

In Tennessee I don’t think so. Thing is…. it’s not necessary… it is peoples behavior that needs to change.

We mostly shop where nothing is provided for bagging but when we go get groceries where bags are provided we try to get all the extra we can. We reuse them as small trash bags around the house and a good number of them get in the recycle bin when it’s all said and done anyway.

You can always just tell them to put the items unbagged back in another cart then transfer the items to a large tote in your car. Even the more durable bags are not environmentally friendly at all. Reusable bags often are not any better than the single use considering how much they have to be used to make a difference

Considering just how much waste is generated in shipping, convenience foods, disposable electronics and products designed to fail etc, etc I’m not sure what all the fuss is about bags.

@ARE_you_kidding_me: there have been so many debates and discussions about it recently, due to the new ban. Even though there is so much plastic thrown out, I feel like this is a start. I always saved my plastic bags and will use them to take food to work in and stuff like that, but I have to admit I’m a little more careful with them now that they’re banned and paid for.

The last few times I have shopped, I walk out with the items in my hands or just loose in my cart, and then deal with it when I get in the car. I’m used to Costco, where I shop a lot, and there were never plastic bags, although admittedly most of the items are bigger and easier to carry.

I feel if the bottle deposit were increased to 25 cents, people would be more conscientious with their disposable water bottles, but the beverage industry has a strong lobby and that probably won’t be happening any time soon. I agree with you, there is so much other wasted plastic everywhere.

All the studies that I’ve read that point out the whole Evil Cotton Bag thing don’t mention an important point: that we already have a bunch of cotton bags in house that been acquired over the years, most people are not getting new ones, so there won’t be a measurable increase in production of those.

@canidmajor: I get big plastic shopping bags at stores like Christmas Tree or TJ Maxx, and they’re good for traveling and also as gift bags at the holidays, instead of paying a lot for a paper gift bag. I won’t buy any more of them because my house is going to become a shopping bag warehouse haha.

I think places like Walmart will probably fight against it. I’m just guessing, I don’t know it for a fact. They don’t even have the option to get paper bags at their stores and their register is set up for plastic. I remember in the old days my supermarket had a place to set up a bag right in front of the moving belt you put food on next to the cashier. She rang the item and put it right in the paper bag. Do the Walmart cashier stands have space for that if they had to adjust? When I hand them my bags I bring with me it definitely is inconvenient for them and slows them down. They never complain though.

I love my shopping bags I bring with me, because they keep my food cool. All of mine are shaped like the paper bags with a rectangular bottom and they zip and are insulated. If you live in a hot climate it’s easy for the states to promote the use of them to avoid the panic that can come when you worry the ice cream or chocolate is melting.

I’ve heard some cities in SC have banned plastic bags.

In FL, the way I understand it, the state had intent to pass some laws, but there was big push back. I don’t think anything has been passed at the state level. Publix, a big FL supermarket chain, does always have paper bags available, and they usually ask paper ir plastic like the old days.

In TN I don’t know of any laws.

I would think most Southern states would argue people should have choice, but then as I said SC seems to have some laws in some towns.

In apartment buildings it’s easier to put your trash in paper bags. You can throw it out often. In the burbs some residential areas only pick up once a week and you want to be able to tie it up.

Not in Kansas that I know of, but in my household, yes.

@JLeslie you mention “choice”, but that’s exactly what the people in CT have: choice. Don’t want to buy the bag? Bring your own. That is a lot of the root of this.

I would think in the poorer states and states with a lot of seniors and conservative voters, politicians will hesitate to legislate any additional taxes or expenses where the citizens will cry that they can’t afford that.

There seem to be some stores that are working in that direction.

The shock is over in California and the bag ban has been in effect in San Francisco for several years. Already the city has declared war on bottled water & is well on the way to outlawing the sale of the stuff at ball games, concerts, and in schools and municipal buildings. The city is establishing water refill stations, paid for by the crippling tax on any beverage with added sugar. O brave new world.

@canidmajor I was thinking in terms of not having the plastic bags available at all. Red states won’t see it as a choice if they have to pay a TAX. They will see it as the government interfering in your life and taking your money. It will easily get sold that way to Republicans.

When I lived in Clearwater the Target i shopped in cave a 5¢ discount if you brought your own bag. I think that must have been a Target thing, but I don’t know if all of their stores do it. In Clearwater i happen to live right next to a Target and shopped there a lot, but typically I don’t.

I go to 7/11 a lot. Multiple times a day. I have for years.

I woke up one day a few years ago and plastic bags were banned in Eugene. Only the thin plastic ones you get with handles 7/11 and Safeway. Things like bags at department stores and bags for veggies are still allowed. It didn’t really bother me until about a year later.

Fast forward a year and I moved to place where the bags are not banned. And my god is it annoying. Really, why are you getting a bag for a can of soda and a bag of chips? Just carry the shit like everyone in Eugene has managed to do. And yeah, getting a bag slows the lines down. Reader says approved, grab your shit and bounce. No need to wait for a bag. I try my best to avoid getting bags and someone will start bagging before I can tell them to stop so now I am stuck with this plastig bag to store plastic bags that I never wanted and don’t know what to do with. BAN the bags, please.

Anyone who has ever been through the checkout line at Aldi knows bagging slows the whole process down.

Well you need to have an option to bag.

I keep hearing about all of these biodegradable “plastics” out there, but they never make it to market. Expense?

WE had a plastic bag ban in several shoreline counties but the State of North Carolina GOP led Congress decided they liked the money from the Retailers Association lobby better !!!! No more ban.

Multiple businesses, are taking steps. I think, at this moment, it’s not a state law that’s being considered.

Some local municipalities in my state are banning them.

New Jersey is imposing a statewide ban on plastic one use bans in May, 2022.