More and more California communities are adopting local ordinances that implement a plastic carryout bag ban. In the haste to ban plastic carryout bags, officials fail to take into consideration the costs that are passed onto residents. Not only will residents incur out-of-pocket costs to purchase bags, but depending upon the type of bag chosen, residents are required to spend personal time to manage bags and maintain bags in a sanitary condition. In the article “Plastic Bag Alternatives Much More Costly to Consumers” the authors analyze the annual cost per household of different bag alternatives and monetize the value of one’s personal time at $12 per hour (half of the California Average Labor Rate). The article costs out store supplied plastic carryout bags, self-purchased plastic carryout bags, paper bags, durable reusable bags, and cheaper reusable bags. Continue reading What Will A Plastic Carryout Bag Ban Cost Your Community?
Category Archives: Plastic Carryout Bags
New Video From Americans For Prosperity Titled “Common Sense”
David Spady from Americans For Prosperity – California created a video titled “Common Sense” where he discusses the outrageous hypocrisy of those who push plastic bags bans on communities in California. You can watch the video yourself by clicking on the following link:
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ahKQK2MDIjLXL3PNG&s=iuLWJeORLeLSK3MPIuG&m=glLVKaNVLoKXJlI
This video is well worth watching. If you think this video was worthwhile seeing please forward the link to people your friends.
Related articles
- Statement From American Progressive Bag Alliance On California Senate Bill 405 (prnewswire.com)
- Capitol Alert: California Senate trashes ban on plastic shopping bags (blogs.sacbee.com)
Pro-Choice on Shopping Bags
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
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
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 