I agree with the idea; however, I've tried bringing my own bags, and you get looks.
Employees stare at you like you are trying to run them out of a job.
The customers usually think you are a weirdo.
Besides, the powers-that-be set this whole system up.
What am I supposed to do? Cost the plastics guy his job?
"Bill would make N.J. first state to ban plastic grocery bags" by Terrence Dopp/Bloomberg November 21, 2007
TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey would become the first state to ban the use of plastic grocery bags under a bill introduced in the Assembly.
The measure would require supermarkets and other retailers with a minimum of 10,000 square feet of space to phase out the bags over three years. Each year as many as 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, said Assemblyman Herb Conaway, a sponsor of the measure.
Conaway, a doctor, in a statement: "Plastic bags may be cheap and convenient, but they have costly long-term environmental consequences that just can't be ignored. We need to get these bags out of the waste stream because they are polluting our soil and our water."
In March, San Francisco became the first US city to ban the use of plastic bags at large supermarkets. Oakland has since done the same. In July, California enacted a law requiring large stores to take the bags back and encourage their recycling. The New York City Council has also considered a proposal calling for the recycling of the sacks.
That I agree with. Recycle the garbage.
Several countries have taken initiatives to reduce the use of plastic bags, the New Jersey lawmakers said. In 2002, Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags, reducing their use by 90 percent, while some communities in Australia have banned them in retail stores since 2003, they said.
Under the New Jersey legislation, large retail stores would have to reduce their use of plastic bags 50 percent by Dec. 31, 2009, and eliminate them entirely by the end of 2010. The stores would have to provide recycling bins for collecting plastic bags and sell reusable shopping bags.
Does that mean I have to buy a reusable, or can I use the ones I already have?
Plastic bags, introduced in 1977, account for 90 percent of grocery bags in the United States, according to the statement by Conaway and his cosponsor on the measure, Assemblyman Jack Conners, a fellow Democrat. The bags end up as litter, take longer to decompose than paper bags, and harm wildlife, they said.
Conners: "The statistics on the number of these bags entering the environment are absolutely staggering."
Donna Dempsey, managing director of Progressive Bag Alliance, a Houston-based trade group representing plastic bag manufacturers, said requiring the recycling of the bags is a better for the environment than banning them. She said that her group has worked to raise awareness about recycling and that locales that initially proposed bans on plastic bags - including Annapolis, Md.; Austin, Texas; and Philadelphia - are now pursuing stricter recycling standards instead.
Alex Dmitriew, the assistant recycling coordinator in San Francisco, said his city hopes stores eventually stop handing out bags:
"We hope people start bringing their own bags. This isn't a paper or plastic issue."
But, but, but... that was the only time I've been given a choice on something!
Now they want to take that away too!
