The end of plastic bags?
Plastic shopping bags are one of the biggest little polluters in our lives, especially in an urban environment. As beautiful as a single bag dancing in the wind may seem, the sight of them every day in gutters and on sidewalks gets old.
According to the New York Times, Ireland has done something about it. Several years after passing a 33 cent per plastic bag tax, the use of plastic shopping bags has all but disappeared. Perfectly sensible and reusable cloth bags have taken their place as the ubiquitous haulers of stuff:
Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.
I have started using baggu bags at the grocery store. They are really handy and compress to tiny little squares of nylon when not in use. Normally I put them in my backpack or in my car when I’m not using them.
More permanent replacements for disposable stuff can be found at resuablebags.com.
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February 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
And check out BaggyShirts - Reusable Bags Made From Recycled Clothing for a Healthier Planet! They are made in the US, by artisans working from their homes and paid a decent wage…very green! Check them out at www.baggy-shirts.com!
February 4th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Also, Wal-Mart has reusable bags for $1/each. Not sure what they’re made from, but they seem really durable and hold as much as 2-3 regular plastic bags. For a buck a bag, they’re almost a no-brainer. (They’re around the freezer case at the Wal-Mart at 82nd and Milwaukee - not sure about other locations.)
I’d love to see a plastic bag ban or tax here, but it will be quite some time before any but the most liberal cities (see: San Francisco, Austin) actually do it.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’ve always preferred paper or reusable bags but I’m the exception since I was a recycle center mgr. at Cash For Cans in early 70’s at Coors warehouse. I also know the peril of plastic bags since I worked as a temp at Boren Services and was assigned to city landfill for nearly a year picking up litter blowing out of back of dumpster trucks and blue/white plastic bags were the major litter factor.
The only known purpose for those plastic bags is they are used for litter bags in cars and small trash cans underneath sinks since most trash is put in bags before going to dumpsters.