Comments

1
"There's something wrong with voters in your city. You didn't vote for this did you?" a guy asked me.

"Well, voters turned down a fee on bags but Ban opponents couldn't get enough signatures to put this straight up ban on the ballot. Most folks polled support a ban and so do a couple of grocery chains. It'll be fine."

"I hope voters revolt." the guy said.

He was less heinous than the dingdongs at bagtheban.com, at least.
2

Plastic bags are banned.

Of course you all allowed to transport tons of coal in open hopper cars which can spew dust into your children's lungs.

By the way...reusuable bags have been known to act as hosts for flesh eating bacteria.

3
@2: "have been known to act as hosts for flesh eating bacteria"

LOL, oh dear. Not so much.
4
@ 2 - Hysteria, much? The bacteria responsible for necrotizing fasciitis are everywhere. Don't be such an idiot.
5
When did plastic bags come on the scene? The early 80's? And before that we survived with paper bags. The hype about losing the plastic bags is bizarre to say the least
6
@2 works for the plastic industry, doubt the science cigarettes can't be bad for you

I support this ban to no end, if someone wants to revolt over it I hope we don't find each other in the trenches of said violent revolution because I won't take you seriously and it seems like you take yourself way too seriously. I would have a hard time thanking the guy who's final straw was not being able to get for free plastic bags for giving me that freedom, you do know this same government kills women and children for little reason right? I can only feel sorry for you and everyone you know if plastic bags are more important than other humans. I don't want to live on that planet.
7
I'd be pissed if milk leaked all over my groceries regardless of the bag they were in. How about not selling leaky milk Safeway?
8
When plastic bags are outlawed, only outlaws will have plastic bags.
9
@2 - you are a never ending stream of bullshit.
10
Friendly Delivery Man thinks we can somehow adapt to change? He must not be from around here.
11
Gotta start buying plastic garbage bags now! Hooray!
12
GERMANY 1934
13
@ 5 As someone in the 20s who has always had plastic bags, I like them they are easy to deal with, paper bags are a pain in the arse. This is government being where they don't belong (like they used to be in liquor sales). This is what happens when you elect a hippy ideologue into the mayor's office. He needs to go and we need as pragmatist in his place.
14
@5, plastic bags came on the scene because they WORK BETTER. There was civilization before electricity and dental care too but that doesn't mean it would be a good idea to go back to those times.

Now that bags are banned and we live in an ecological paradise, I wonder if anyone's going to notice that that decrease in plastics in the waste stream is...er...oh dear...pretty much zero. Maybe we can get together and chat about it over plastic bottles of water sometime.
15
@13, and what are you gonna do about it? Bitch on the internet? Yeah...that's what we thought. So if we want something out of your trap we'll slap it out of you kid
16
I do wonder what would happen to some of the people in this town if something actually bad we're to occur. What a bunch of overwrought ninnies.
17
Were, not we're. Foolish of me not to check the spellcheck.
18
@16 complain loudly about the inconvenience.
19
Take effect!

:-p
20
Shouldn't Sarah Palin be screaming "Freedom Dies!" Common, please, somebody come up wih biodegradable bags.
21
@20:

They already exist, and you can buy several brands in your local grocery store. Currently, they're used primarily for kitchen compost, as they can then be deposited directly into yard waste bins for disposal. They do have the downside, that when they become wet they start to decompose rater quickly (part of the design), and they're slightly more pervious to punctures than plastic grocery bags.
22
I like plastic bags. If you don't like plastic bags, fuck you, I'm still going to use precisely the same number of plastic bags I did before the ban.

I use the bags I get at stores as garbage bags. Every single one. This isn't because I'm cheap, it's just a matter of convenience to reuse the ones I get from grocery stores and the like. I can and will pay for plastic garbage bags, and there will still be *the exact same amount* of plastic going into landfills.
23
@22, you know that THERE ARE NO PLASTIC BAGS IN SEATTLE AS OF TODAY OFFERED BY STORES? Just wondering, and the $.05 charge is for paper bags.
24
@23 they didn't ban garbage bags:

http://www.seattle.gov/council/obrien/at…

tl;dr themoaryouknow.gif
25
i predict that we'll see more dog shit on sidewalks and yards now due to the ban on plastic bags.
26
@24:

So, it's your plan to walk around with a 30 gallon black Hefty bag in which to carry your groceries? In that case, please remember to also wear a sign that says, "NOT HOMELESS" around your neck so I don't accidentally try to give you any spare change.
27
@21 Biodegradable bags are also outlawed. I work for a bookstore, and we looked into it, books and rain being not so friendly. But then, the only solution for keeping books dry, I hear, is to stop buying print books and order ebooks solely from Amazon. Not a solution I embrace but I'm told I'm in the buggy-whip business anyway.
28
@22/24, I'm with you - I use every single plastic bag I have to line my smaller trash bins and dispose of animal waste. It was much cheaper than buying doggie bags or small kitchen bags, and instead I only purchase the biodegradable plastic bags for kitchen waste. Now I'm going to have the use my stash of bags as slowly as humanly possible.

And who's to say we can't recycle those plastic bags we USED to get for free? After putting away the groceries, just ball 'em up and throw 'em in the recycling bin. DUH.
29
@27 You could always hope for a solar storm so enormous it knocks out power all over the world for years. But then you'll be left to write books by hand or find an ancient hand press. (scientists say it will quite possibly happen).
30
@27 I could, I suppose, and I do know how to make paper and ink, but my plan is actually more insidious.

I'm going to teach children that, while there is a time and place for e-books, printed books have value too and should be treasured. I like the solar storm idea, but I like mine better. For now, anyway!
31
It will be nice not to ever have to hear the phrase "Plastic all right for ya?" again.
32
This is why I love the nanny state government banning things. Commenters here prove people just will not change their destructive behavior unless the government steps in.

You should have stopped using plastic bags 5-10 years ago when reusable bags popped up everywhere and everyone told you how bad plastic bags were. You didn't, so you get a ban. Next up, poison soda and torture meat.
33
A tip for you Seattle folks: reusable bags of the fabric sort can be tossed in the washing machine now and then, and hung on doorknobs to dry. Soap kills flesh-eating bacteria, although then you lack that yummy flesh-eating bacteria taste on your table grapes.
34
Funny thing is that the plastic bags were originally introduced as being environmentally friendly - their purpose was to save trees. No, I'm not making that up.
35
The ban will increase automobile usage. Most walkers, bikers, and mass transit users aren't going to carry bulky canvas or nylon bags with them everywhere they go, so they're going to go right past the grocery store on the way home, hop in their two ton car, and burn the equivalent of 500 plastic bags in fuel to do the shopping with their environmentally-friendly reusable bags.
36
@35, that's just silly. I live in the land of no-ban and I got myself a great set of panniers for my bike for going grocery shopping. They're waterproof and hold a ton. It's not hard to bike with them full. Of course, I live where it is flat, so braking isn't quite the issue it might be in Seattle with full panniers.
37
I have a giant plastic bag full of smaller plastic bags I've got from grocery shopping. Seriously, this thing is stuffed. I've been meaning to recycle them for the last 6 months or so. I will sell them to all of you bag ban haters.
38
You should have stopped using plastic bags 5-10 years ago when reusable bags popped up everywhere and everyone told you how bad plastic bags were. You didn't, so you get a ban. Next up, poison soda and torture meat.
Yet cigarettes and alcohol are still unhealthy and in no danger of disappearing, and it's rather likely pot will be legalized at some point soon.

So, we're not responsible enough to know whether we're drinking too much soda but we're totally capable of using marijuana responsibly?

Right.
39
@32 - yes.
40
@38 You might be conflating "unhealthy" with "bad for the environment". Post-smoking ban cigs are mostly a self harm thing. Non-smokers and smokers alike use plastic bags. Once cigarette filters move up to being a large consumer pollution stream then maybe a ban on cigs for environmental reasons. Same thing for alcohol containers.
41
@36, And how much does that cost? I just went to Amazon, and a decent rear bike rack is around $30, some good panniers are around $50, and if you're not mechanically inclined you might spend $50 for installation. So this ban just added $130 in cost to a bicycle commuter, assuming he even has the money. Most walkers and mass transit riders aren't going to carry big bags around everywhere. At the very least, this law should have applied only to those travelling by car, for whom the restriction is much less onerous.
42
I predict that the Seattle bag ban will contribute at least five degrees to the average temperature of the Earth by 2013, and will cause Seattle to be the new Venice by 2014!!!

(OK, i admit it. I just want to be caught up in the hysteria)
43
@40,
Well, if it were for environmental reasons, then they should just ban the filters, not the whole cigarette. So only unfiltered cigs would be legal.

But I was mostly harping on the "poison soda and torture meat" hyperbole. Those are both personal rather than environmental issues too. Same with pot.
44
#38- There's a big difference between drugs, especially plants, and easily replaced manufactured products. It's all about pragmatism. Bans on marijuana or alcohol don't work. Bans on products like free plastic bags, foie gras, battery cages, horse meat, lead paint, or asbestos do work, and nobody cares a couple years after the ban goes into place.
45
@7 The milk probably made the bag soggy because of condensation on the bottles, not because the milk itself was leaking.
46
@44,
So what is the easy replacement for soda? I drink diet soda myself, so banning regular wouldn't affect me, but you think everyone else will suddenly switch and "forget about it?"

And "torture meat" is just horse meat? Why didn't you call it that in the first place?
47
Tip: search for "t shirt bag" on Amazon. A thousand for about $20. We're all set, since retail stores are letting their employees sneak home with all their no-longer-legal excess bags.

http://www.amazon.com/1000ct-Eagle-Plast…
48
Plastic bags are better? Hardly. Why do you always need two of them for most standard purchases at the grocery store? Yeah, go check. There's probably two plastic bags per bundle. Sometimes 3. They weren't introduced as a matter of convenience, they were introduced because petroleum companies said "hey, save the trees with these sturdy and reusable bags!"

At the time nobody recognized that these bags actually were worse as a matter of basic chemical principle. Petroleum, some minor carcinogens and other nasty nasties. They are still acceptable because these people have lots of money, they can afford to turn the cogs on the PR machine. You remember the bag referendum, right?

These things you supposedly "need", for garbage, for cat shit, for whatever, is really just a forced commodity. If you're a lefyt or an Occupy type that withers about big oil this or multinationals that you should go and check your bags. Congrats, you prop up petroleum companies. HOORAY!

Now, as to reusable bags why is everyone hooting about the risk of germs? Yes, if you use something more than once you need to wash it. It doesn't matter if you use it a little or not, you ought to follow the same principle as you use with your underwear, which, as a matter of fact, harbor worse germs than bags.

Just as plastic bags were a convenient alternative that allowed us to stop killing so many trees, reusable bags are a convenient alternative that allows us to stop hurling millions of bags into landfills. Folks got over the transition to plastic bags, I'm sure you'll get over the transition to reusable bags.
49
I am one of those people who uses shopping bags as garbage bags, and thus don't feel too bad about asking for "plastic". But this discussion just inspired me to look up biodegradable trash bags. On Amazon, "Green Legacy" brand bags go for $8.96 for 60 (13 gallon size). That is 15 cents each, not counting tax and shipping, which is fairly reasonable. If you order 3, it's free shipping.

Note: Please be advised that this post has no (conscious) ironic content or negative intent.

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Legacy-Eco-F…

50
And for the record it isn't just about banning plastic bags -- this ban didn't happen in a vacuum. It's not a silver bullet nor was it ever intended to be. It was supposed to work in concert with a large variety of waste reduction campaigns like, oh, Seattle's recycling program and its 55% rate, schools banning bottled water, companies changing their packaging and so on. It is far from this isolated nanny statism that people insist it is. It's pretty universal at this point.

It's the weakest of logical fallacies to insist that this is a meaningless gesture. It's not. In fact, it takes very little effort to expand into the bigger picture. But if it helps your weak narrative, whatever.
51
Public health researchers identified food stored inside a reusable grocery bag or the bag itself as the source of a 2010 norovirus outbreak that sickened seven children and adults from Oregon who attended a soccer tournament in neighboring Washington state.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/…
52
Hm, I posted my amazon link before I saw Fnarf's amazon link.
53
A study done in 2009 by Dr. Richard Summerbell, research director at Toronto based Sporometrics, uncovered that many bags have bacteria, mold, yeast and even some more disgusting stuff in them.

And those unwelcome bag bugs can cause some very unpleasant things.

The first risk is food poisoning, but other issues include skin infections like boils, allergic reactions, asthma attacks and even ear infections.


http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/15…
54
BREAKING NEWS: Today Seattle's ban on plastic bags goes into effect. IN RELATED NEWS: Seattle’s ban on cops beating Black, Latino & Native People has yet to muster enough community outrage and therefore will not go into effect. #TellinTheTruthToShameTheCity
55
#50

Isn't WA state also the headquarters of Weyerhauser?

Gee...it is all for "our benefit"...right??
56
Bailo, do you wash your gym bag with any regularity? Your toothbrush? Have you ever taken a sip from a glass that has been sitting out for hours or days? Do you scrub every doorknob? Refrigerator handle? Lunch bags? Do you ever reuse mugs?

How many thousands of people use reusable bags a day? How many of them get ill?

Actual legitimate science is actually a better idea than selective hysteria.

But, yanno, whatever helps your narrative :)
57
#32, Are you sure it was the state, not the city, that enacted the ban? I am still seeing plenty of plastic bags down here in Olympia.
58
@ various comments... As far as the environment goes, it's a tricky question, the line between "making a difference" and feeling like you are "making a difference" so you can not worry about the bigger picture. Yes, recycling is good. No, it won't impact the course we are on.

The book "50 simple things you can do to save the planet" was my first taste of environmentalism back in 1988 when I was about 8, and looking back, it feels like it was a distraction from the structural issues that maintain unsustainability. I still feel guilty when I drive, even though I know that whether or not I drive will not impact anything - that politics and economics are the real determining forces in "saving the environment" (and I don't just mean policies banning plastic bags).

Damn you, 50 simple things, for making me think that saving the world was a matter of personal consumption!
59
@55: That must explain the charge on paper bags, right?
60
#57

It is just Seattle.

Thank God I can still get a plastic norovirus free bag here in Kent.

Of course Chargergate scoundrel Dow Corningware might extend his reach into the county.
61
#56

Simple difference.

I don't store Bibb lettuce on my doorknob.
62

Tomorrow in Pasco

Zero chance of rain
88
Partly cloudy

http://www.weather.com/weather/tomorrow/…

That's tonights Pascocast...brought to you by the makers of plastic shopping bags.

If you value your limbs...please say Plastic! at the checkout line...and avoid disaster...
63
Bailo... you lost yet again on Slog. Deal with it. Preferrably by, oh, NOT POSTING ON SLOG.

@41, or 40, or whoever posted about the expense and effort of installing bike panniers: Who commutes by bike and *doesn't* have a set of panniers? Who owns a bicycle and is yet so inept they can't even install a fricken rack? If that person exists, now is the perfect time for that person to nut up and learn how to turn a wrench. Sheesh.
64
Use these bags. They're great.
65
I'm only going to let my dogs shit once a week now.
66
@48, plastic bags ARE better. If you've ever tried to carry a dozen bags of groceries a mile home from the store, you'd know that it's just not possible with paper. Especially if it's raining. The plastic bags will cut into your hands, yes, but at least you'll get them home.

@50, yes, it's part of a bigger picture -- an inconsequential part, of a bigger picture that's never going to happen. As with most things having to do with the environment, banning bags amounts to a 0.000001% reduction in plastic -- while every minute of the day results in an INCREASE in the use of plastic. More plastic was used in Seattle today, even accounting for the bag ban, than the day before -- I guarantee it.

I liken banning bags to a guy who's three months behind on his mortgage walking around the neighborhood looking for dropped coins.
67
Several miles upstream, someone said that biodegradable bags are banned also. Not really, I hope. Those are what we're supposed to use in those green dumpsters we put garden/food waste into. You can't exactly carry food waste out to the street in paper bags.
68
@66: a DOZEN bags of groceriies a MILE home from the store??? Huzza huzza, you are quite tne MAN!
A few years ago I asked my husband to do the same thing only with reusable bags, then cooked him up a delicious dinner. He died from food poisining two days later.
Keep this in mind ladies, especially if he has good life insurance!
69
Take out food is still permitted to be carried in plastic bags, but according to the flyer I got from the City, biodegradable bags are, in fact, banned.
70
Once you commit to not using plastic bags, you figure out how to change your routine, and it becomes second nature.

My routine;
1. I always budget/ career plan to ensure I can afford to live within cycling distance of a grocery / fruit and veg store
2. I budget etc to always have a decent bike with two big baskets or waterproof panniers.
3. I carry several nylon reusable bags wherever I go, (they fold up small); http://fourcarats.blogspot.com.au/2011/0…
4. I have a large plastic bag on hand for covering up the stuff in my baskets in case it rains.
5. If I'm doing a big shop, i bring a backpack.

Easy peasy. And once I get too old and rickety to cycle, I'll take a shopping cart on the bus with me.

It's not that difficult.

71
I made it home in the rain last week with milk in a paper bag and my trip was much more than a mile, though I suppose all but 10 or so blocks was not on a bus and I had an umbrella anyway. The bag got wet, but held up and is in good enough shape to be reused..
72
@66, you mustn't try to interrupt us admiring the emperor's new clothes.
73
No offense, @66, but you have long admitted you drive to the grocery store 99% of the time, and you have no clue what you're talking about.

I walk to and from various grocery stores 100% of the time, all year, in all weather. It takes a squall of epic proportions to undermine the structural integrity of a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or Ballard Market paper bag. QFC bags fare slightly less well due to the lousy glue; the paper is fine. Safeway bags are worthless. (If Safeway starts buying decent recycled-paper bags, this ordinance will already have served a worthy purpose.)

Paper bags win out over plastic because they're 4-6 times larger, so your "dozen bags" worth of groceries will probably fit in two.
74
I agree with whomever thinks this bag "tax" is a ridiculous fraud and does nothing to help our environment, but only rather creates more taxes/inconveniences to shoppers.

If you're a reusable bag supporter who lives in Seattle and takes a walk, what if during that walk you go by a grocery store and decide to do some unplanned shopping?

Since you didn't plan to do any shopping, which helps the store and economy out, you are now penalized because you didn't plan to bring a reusable bag with you on your walk.

This plastic bag ban will do absolutely nothing to help the environment and hopefully a referendum will come in the future to ban this unnecessary ban/tax on shopping bags!

I've been saving plastic shopping bags which I can stick in my pocket and reuse when the ban comes into effect, which I can also order online in counts 1000 for around$20.

I'll likely be ordering a box of 1000 count plastic bags so that I can stick one or two in my pockets in case I decide to go out on some unplanned shopping while out being on foot.

It sure beats carrying around resusable bags with me everywhere I go in case I decide to do some shopping that was unplanned in which I couldn't bring reusable bags like a sheep!

75
I agree with whomever thinks this bag "tax" is a ridiculous fraud and does nothing to help our environment, but only rather creates more taxes/inconveniences to shoppers.

If you're a reusable bag supporter who lives in Seattle and takes a walk, what if during that walk you go by a grocery store and decide to do some unplanned shopping?

Since you didn't plan to do any shopping, which helps the store and economy out, you are now penalized because you didn't plan to bring a reusable bag with you on your walk.

This plastic bag ban will do absolutely nothing to help the environment and hopefully a referendum will come in the future to ban this unnecessary ban/tax on shopping bags!

I've been saving plastic shopping bags which I can stick in my pocket and reuse when the ban comes into effect, which I can also order online in counts 1000 for around$20.

I'll likely be ordering a box of 1000 count plastic bags so that I can stick one or two in my pockets in case I decide to go out on some unplanned shopping while out being on foot.

It sure beats lugging around resusable bags with me everywhere I go in case I decide to do some shopping that was unplanned in which I couldn't bring reusable bags like a sheep!
76
@75

The nylon reusable bags fit in your pocket too, and don't crackle while you walk.
77
Its not very practical to expect people to carry with them 4-6 cloth bags everywhere they go. To the city council and its citizens who helped pushed people to get people to ditch their cars and adopt mass transit, this feel like a cruel joke (added insult is shutting down dozens of commuter routes).

Its really easy to say "Ohhh this is easy" when you arnt the one having to haul 60-100$ worth of groceries twice a week.

Amazon Fresh is where I'll be doing the bulk of my shopping.
78
Fnarf, since you're the guy who insists that your time is waaaaaay to valuable for you to commute any way but driving, I call bullshit. You drive to the store, too. Every damn time. Ya fuckin milquetoast anus. You don't walk through the rain with groceries any more than you see pervs checking out porn at the library.

No wonder you have such a hardon for WiS. He's just YOU amplified.
79
@ 77, more bullshit. If people could do that with plastic handle bags, they can do it with clothe handle bags, or nylon handle bags, or whatever other petroleum products some of those reusuable bags are made of.

People don't do their major shopping on the way home from work. One or two items, sure. But they don't go to the park or the zoo or the bar and suddenly think "I need to get my bread, milk, cereal, produce, canned goods, paper towels, and toilet paper NOW." Those trips begin at HOME.

Some of you people have your entitled crybaby selves on full display here.
80
@79 it's bullshit that people don't do their major shopping on the way home from work. I know that I do. I'm already in the car, driving past the supermarket so it's more convenient than making a special trip originating at home. But I live where hygienic single-use plastic bags are still available, for now, although the city council might change that.

Regarding reusable bags, not only are they disgusting because people don't get that they have to be washed, but every transaction at the supermarket where the customer requires use of their reusable bags seems to take longer as the bagger has to wait while said customer digs out the bags.

81
I also see a lot of the reusable bag crowd at my local supermarket doesn't put produce in the plastic produce bags. They weigh it and stick the barcode on the item itself and have it bagged directly in the reusable bag. Maybe not the best idea: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/adv…
82
@ 80, so you've planned ahead, right? You've got your car, right? Just keep your bags in your car. AND.... since you know that they have to be washed, you can WASH THEM once in a while. Easy.

My comment is directed at those who claim major shopping is a spontaneous thing. I can see someone being out and about and suddenly remembering that they need toothpaste or a loaf of bread, but not a full week's worth of groceries.
83
@80 you numbnut crybaby. so you are in yer CAR as you stop at the grocery story on the way home from work? keep your reusable bags in the CAR. you have absolutely zero excuse there.
bunch of freaking crybabies.
84
@79

Normally its not a problem, I bring these plastic handles that allow plastic bags to hook on. They dont cut into my hands and I can carry 6-8 bags home. With paper or cloth bags, the plastic handles are useless.

Grocery shopping on the way home from work is more practical, because im just walking one block from the bus stop, get off on broadway, walk one block to QFC, load up, then 6 blocks home. If I decided to go home for cloth bags, then its 4 blocks up the hill, grab my cloth bags, 6 blocks to the store, load up, then 6 blocks back home. Sorry, but to expect me to walk 16 blocks to buy groceries, aint that a load of bullshit. Remembering to bring cloth bags with me, is about as hard as getting my wife to remember washing the pair of bags she's owned for 5 years, which she has never done.

Seriously, for people who dont own cars, this isnt a minor adjustment, its a major annoyance. It will be one more reason for people to use their car.
85
I think keeping a box of 1000 virgin plastic grocery bags in the trunk, like the one in the Amazon link, would be a lot more practical than having to wash reusable ones every week and remember to put them back in the car when they are dry.
86
@ 84, BULL. SHIT. The handles on reusable bags do NOT cut into your hands. They're broad, flat, and made of comfortable material. Plastic cuts into you because the weight pulls the handle into little taught strands a 1/4" thick - maybe less. Wide handles distribute the weight more - no cutting.

With you, it comes down to "I don't want to carry bags with me," even though there are some that fit in your pocket. Or "I don't want to change my habits and maybe do shopping on my day off." What, you don't take a bag or backpack to work like everyone else?

You're a lazy man. For you, it would be a minor adjustment. (And YOU can wash those bags yourself, you know.)
87
@ 85, do you usually fold up your laundry and put it away in your drawers and closet when they're dry, or do you leave them in the laundry basket, picking what you need every day until it's empty and you wash your clothes again?

If you put them away, then the bags are just one additional thing to put away - in your car.

This whole thread is a candidate as the poster child for #firstworldproblems.
88
@51 Norovirus via bag: They stored the bag in a hotel bathroom in which patient zero was sick for 6 hours with vomiting and diarrhea. The virus can live on a regular surface for up to two weeks. The bag of food got them sick because they stored it in a bathroom.

http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/05/…
89
Have none of you used the reusable Metro Market bags? They're fabulous. Two types of handles, some kind of vinyl material (that can be easily washed out and hung to dry), and they two can fit about $100 worth of groceries. I use them and *gasp* don't drive to the grocery store.

I know, walking a few blocks carrying 40 pounds might be hard on some of you. Get a cart, radio flyer, friend, etc if you can't carry them home. Seriously guys, minor adjustments are required for this to not be an issue.

People just like to bitch I guess.

90
@78: I've always assumed Fnarf and Will in Seattle were the same person.
91
@32: But my meat isn't tender enough for my taste unless it's been tortured just right, you monster.
92
@80: Your job takes a bit longer now? Cry me a river and be glad you have work.
93
Banaggedon 2012
As the streets fill with dog shit and groceries rot on shelves unbought, Seattle faces tourist boycotts and severed Sister City contracts amid Charlton Heston-esque cries of "YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT! OH, DAMN YOU, HIPPIES!"
94
@86 ", BULL. SHIT. The handles on reusable bags do NOT cut into your hands. They're broad, flat, and made of comfortable material. Plastic cuts into you because the weight pulls the handle into little taught strands a 1/4" thick - maybe less. Wide handles distribute the weight more - no cutting."

I never said they did. The plastic ones do cut into my hands after 6 blocks, which is why I bought a plastic handle that allows me to hook up to 4 bags per handle. Makes carrying up to 8 plastic bags home rather easy.

Because the cloth bags are larger, they wont fit into the plastic handle and because carrying 6-8 cloth bags with me at all times, really isnt practical, i'll end up with a closet full of these things a year from now. Why? Because i'll often forget to bring them with me, just how I often forget to bring the plastic handle that makes it easy to carry plastic bags home. To walk home, grab some cloth bags, then hike it to the QFC, load up then walk back home, is 16 block walk. Thats not some minor change, its a major inconvenience for those who dont own cars.

I dont want to switch because its inconvenient for me, thats all. While using plastic bags wasnt a walk in the park, its made shopping (for those who dont own a car) a tad more difficult.

You know whats easy? Telling other people what to do and how to do it. You yourself dont have a problem demonstrating this. Its easy for you, so it should be easy for everyone else.

95
@94,

So you're fine carrying those plastic handles with you wherever you go, but carrying some reusable bags around is a fate worse than death? Well, that makes sense.

@28,

It's very nice that *you* reuse all your plastic bags and that you're willing to recycle those you don't use, but most people don't. That's why the ban was put in place.

By the way, you can't just "ball up" plastic bags and throw them in the recycling. You're supposed to put several in one bag and tie it up. Plastic bags that are just tossed in the recycling get caught on the sorting machinery. The fact that you don't know this concerns me; it makes me think you know fuck-all about proper recycling.
96
The worst thing about the ban is that it's irrational.
* Calling them single-use bags is a lie. Many if not most are reused.
* Resource savings are dubious. Paper bags are heavier and cost more to transport. Canvas bags require washing, which takes a lot of energy. If the ban causes just one or two extra auto trips per year per person then all of the savings is eaten up in added fuel costs. Replacement garbage bags will likely be much thicker and wasteful
* It may reduce littering, but that could have been mitigated by requiring biodegradable plastics. Plus it will be counteracted by the lesser availability of free garbage bags for cars and pet owners.
Sometimes, the benefits of convenience are worth the cost. Indoor plumbing increases water usage, but I'm not about to give up the convenience to save water.
97
Matt from Denver I'm totally with you on this one. keep it up.
98
wah wah wah cry babies who are scared they might be inconvenienced by bag ban trying to justify their pout.
99
and for the crybabies...shoot, I think my violin just might be around here somewheres...
100
@ 94, if you already knew that cloth bags don't cut into your hands, then bringing up your plastic handles was superfluous. They're irrelevant to the discussion.

Reusable bags hold more than plastic bags - they're both bigger and sturdier. If you can carry 6-8 plastic bags of groceries that far, you can make do with 4 reusable bags which will carry the same amount.

And stop with the "for those who don't own a car" bullshit already. As you admit here, it's a matter of choice for you - the choice to only buy your weeks' worth of groceries on the way home from work instead of other times. This choice of yours is likely not taken by most people who also don't own cars. You don't get to use that for cover.

And finally, I haven't told anyone what to do. So what am I doing here? I'm calling bullshit on your silly complaints. At least you've admitted that it's just a matter of convenience for you. So go ahead - shop Amazon Fresh. That will be even more convenient, won't it?

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