One of my primary objections to plastic carryout bag bans is that it imposes someone else’s solution to a perceived problem on everyone else. It does so, by banning plastic carryout bags and imposing a fee of 10 or 25 cents on paper bags to coerce the customer into using reusable shopping bags. While customers can always bring their own bags of any type, including plastic carryout bags, to the store to take their purchases home, the stores are only allowed to sell paper bags or reusable bags to the customer. Continue reading Pro-Choice on Shopping Bags
All posts by Anthony van Leeuwen
Plastic Bag Ban and Shoplifting
In an article titled “Store owners say plastic bag ban causes more shoplifting“ author Casey McNerthey (Seattle PI, 28 February 2013) reports that Seattle store owners have reported thousands of dollars in merchandise losses. The losses are blamed on thieves with reusable bags who are harder to track and monitor. The highest losses reported occurred in stores in low income areas with many homeless and transients.
Plastic Bags Today And Bottled Water Tomorrow
Many people may wonder why, after retirement, I chose to become involved in fighting the plastic bag ban. The answer is rather simple. Had our government leaders just banned plastic bags because of the litter issue and reported harm to marine wildlife, I would have simply gone along with it. But instead, they crossed the line when the ordinances imposed a fee on paper bags in order to coerce you into purchasing and using a reusable bag. When the government through force of law tells you to use a certain kind of shopping bag to take your purchases home from the store, you know you have lost a little bit more of freedom and individual liberty. That little bit of freedom was fought for by men and women from the founding of our nation to the present time, whose blood was spilled to preserve our nation and the precious freedom and liberty we enjoy. Continue reading Plastic Bags Today And Bottled Water Tomorrow
Do Californians Really Use 20 Billion Plastic Bags Per Year?
How often have you heard proponents of plastic carry out bag bans say that Californian’s use 20 billion plastic carry out bags per year or 531 bags per capita. Have you ever asked yourself the following questions:
- Where did this number comes from?
- How is this number is calculated?
- Is the number is reasonable?
- Is there a more reasonable number?
Continue reading Do Californians Really Use 20 Billion Plastic Bags Per Year?
Is a Plastic Carry Out Bag Ban Justified?
Many communities all across California have either banned plastic carryout bags altogether or are somewhere in the process of doing so. Environmental extremists have pushed for a plastic carryout bag ban in community after community based primarily upon claims of environmental damage to marine wildlife and marine habitats.
Shopping will cost more with Plastic Bag Ban
Protecting the environment from plastic carryout bags is going to make your shopping a lot more expensive. If community leaders have their way, a plastic bag ban is in your future.
A plastic bag ban normally involves a ban on plastic carryout bags and a fee of 10 or 25-cents on paper bags. The fee is intended to coerce you to purchase and use reusable bags.
Continue reading Shopping will cost more with Plastic Bag Ban
Disposal of Plastic Carryout Bags
Disposal of plastic carryout bags requires care to prevent bags from becoming windblown litter. The following are some helpful suggestions:
- Recycle plastic carryout bags through the Recycle Bin at the Grocery Store.
- If your Recycling Bin at the Grocery Store allows for recycling of plastic bags and wraps other than plastic carryout bags, take advantage of this by recycling clean plastic bags and wraps as follows:
- Clean produce bags
- Bread Bags
- Newspaper bags
- Dry cleaning bags
- Wraps from toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, water bottles, etc.
- If your curbside recycling bin allows plastic bags and wraps be sure to follow directions from your waste management company. Some companies require plastic bags and wraps to be put in a clear plastic bag and securely tied.
- Never dispose of an empty single plastic carryout bag in a trashcan in a public area. If you cannot avoid this, then simply tie the empty bag is a knot to prevent it from becoming windblown litter.
- When disposing of multiple carryout bags use one of the bags to contain the others, and drop off at a recycling container in a nearby grocery store or take home for recycling. If you cannot avoid disposal in a public trashcan, be sure the bundle is heavy enough to prevent it from becoming windblown litter.
Remember, All of us have the responsibility to keep the environment free of litter!
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Landfill Impacts of Banning Plastic Carryout Bags
There are many who want to ban plastic carryout bags to help protect the environment, but have never thought through the consequences. One California state legislator stated “the amount of plastics going into the waste stream is pretty large.” What this legislator does not know is that the Plastic Carryout Bag Ban that he favored has unintended consequences that will make matters worse.
A ban typically involves banning plastic carryout bags and charging a fee for each paper bag issued. The fee is intended to motivate the consumer to use reusable bags. The basic idea is that a reusable bag, because you use it over and over, has a smaller impact on the environment than a plastic bag. Continue reading Landfill Impacts of Banning Plastic Carryout Bags
The Upside of Plastic Carry Out Bags
The plastic carry out bag has been given a bad rap because of misinformation. With the internet the propagation of bad information or myths are almost impossible to stop. For example, the plastic carry out bag is widely believed to have caused the death of 100,000 marine mammals and a million seabirds as a result of ingesting plastic bags. However, the allegation is untrue and was based on a Canadian study that stated the deaths were a result from discarded fishing nets and fishing tackle and not plastic bags or plastic debris as reported in an article published in The Times of London on March 8, 2008 entitled “Series of blunders turned the plastic bag into global villain”.
Proponents of banning the plastic carry out bag have further demonized it by calling it a “single-use” plastic bag as part of a propaganda campaign. The real “single-use” bag is the plastic trash bag. Once the trash bag is used for its primary purpose to hold trash, it is never reused for any other purpose. The plastic carry out bag, on the other hand, once used for its primary purpose to carry purchases home, has a large number of secondary uses. Hence, this bag is really a multi-use bag. The reusable bag is also a multi-use bag but more durable. To call the plastic carry out bag a “single-use bag” is intellectually dishonest. Continue reading The Upside of Plastic Carry Out Bags
Plastic Carry-Out Bag Ban – More Plastic Headed To Landfill
One of the unintended consequences of banning plastic carry out bags is that more plastic will be headed to the landfill the exact opposite of what proponents of the plastic carry out bag ban want.
California state law (AB 2449) requires retail stores that issue plastic carry out bags at the checkout counter must have a recycling container in or outside each store. This recycling container not only accepts plastic carry out bags, but also other plastic bags and shrink wrap. These include produce bags, dry-cleaning bags, bread bags, newspaper bags and shrink wraps from paper towels, bathroom tissue, napkins, and diapers. Continue reading Plastic Carry-Out Bag Ban – More Plastic Headed To Landfill
Fight The Plastic Bag Ban 