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California's plastic bag ban seems to be working

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posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 12:49 PM
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It seems that the statewide ban on plastic bags appears to be working. Evaluating the contents of litter picked up by volunteers during coastal cleanup days the amount of plastic bags has dropped by over 70%. Other states have or are adopting bans (albeit some are not as encompassing) and other countries are also doing so. Reusable bags are not in and of themselves environmentally friendly unless used with regularity. The article speaks of a cotton bag needed over 130 uses to break even in terms of environmental impact when you factor int he resources needed to make that bag.

For our household it was a steep learning curve as I had spent the vast majority of my life expecting a bag for everything. It took several months for me to routinely remember to bring in my bag. The trunks of our cars are now filled with them.......

earther.com...



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:07 PM
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originally posted by: FredT
It seems that the statewide ban on plastic bags appears to be working. Evaluating the contents of litter picked up by volunteers during coastal cleanup days the amount of plastic bags has dropped by over 70%. Other states have or are adopting bans (albeit some are not as encompassing) and other countries are also doing so. Reusable bags are not in and of themselves environmentally friendly unless used with regularity. The article speaks of a cotton bag needed over 130 uses to break even in terms of environmental impact when you factor int he resources needed to make that bag.

For our household it was a steep learning curve as I had spent the vast majority of my life expecting a bag for everything. It took several months for me to routinely remember to bring in my bag. The trunks of our cars are now filled with them.......

earther.com...


I'm the dude carrying 12 items.

Too cheap to pay a dime.

I don't carry around my own bags.

I'm glad the fish are happy...🐠🐬



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:09 PM
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We're not in California, but we have been using those recyclable bags for years now.
Considering that those bags have been resused once a week for years, I'd say we've gotten past the point where the environmentally issue is moot.
I don't like the cotton bags much. They can be washed, but they have no stiffness to them and are much harder to pack.

I 'd like to see those throwaway bags gone.
They are so thin now as to be useless.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:09 PM
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Thats one of those things they got right in Europe, that and having recycling stations in the grocery stores.

For your soda addicts like me having a simple spot to recycle bottles and cans as I go to get my next fix helps me make some money back and do something helpful.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:11 PM
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a reply to: FredT

Isn't the plastic bag issue in California more about eliminating the disposal into the ocean -- how much of California's Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is landfilled? I'm on the East Coast and a great deal of the MSW is landfilled and the issue is moot. As I understand it, plastic bags are more 'environmentally friendly' than paper bags, when accounting for resource intensity. I was in Austin for a couple years and they had a ban, but I never understood why. I very much understand why it works in California...



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:11 PM
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a reply to: FredT

What do they put their doggie droppings in?

yeah, the alternatives are rather nasty...

I want to save the environment too, but always was sure that dog waste and waste in general from organic lifeforms, was good for grass and other plant life.

Now if we can only focus on the companies who put EVERYTHING us 8 Billion humans buy on a daily basis, into plastic packages.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:12 PM
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a reply to: whyamIhere

Ive been there my friend. Yes I refuse to pay for them too. I still forget so I either lean on my food service skills and pick it all up or just leave them loose in the cart till i get the car



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:12 PM
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a reply to: FredT

I agree that plastic is nasty and does not decompose but I thought the US always used those brown paper grocery bags and not plastic. Maybe I watched too many (old?) movies?

I always shop with a rucksack.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:13 PM
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a reply to: BeefNoMeat


Isn't the plastic bag issue in California more about eliminating the disposal into the ocean

Thats part of it. Plastic grocery bags were 'everywhere' though, stuck to trees, cyclone fences, power lines, blowing in the wind.

I remember what that used to look like along the railroad tracks.

Now I don't see a one, so its working.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:19 PM
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a reply to: BeefNoMeat

Quite a bit is landfill here in CA. But given how expensive the land is there is a push for waste reduction. But extensive recycling programs have cut that back quite a bit of material that goes to the landfill and it has had a huge impact on how much waste we haul off

For our house of 3 we only have a small 18 gallon trash can that is half filled each week. the rest:

1) We have single stream recycling everything that is recyclable is put into one bin (it make sit easy. no sorting etc.)
2) We have green waste (garden trimmings that got to a municipal compost center and you get back free compost.
3) food waste is collected and goes to an anerobic digester
4) I make my own compost. I have 5 Aerobin 400 composters that I channel most of our food waste (except fat and meat) so I make my own fertilizer and growing beds (we have supper crappy soil here)

They accept everything for recycling except stryofoam



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:20 PM
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originally posted by: Tranceopticalinclined
a reply to: FredT

What do they put their doggie droppings in?


There are exceptions to the law. You still get those bags in the produce section, meat department and yes for your dog.

The Ban is really on giving them out for free and you can still buy them as needed



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:22 PM
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originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: FredT

I agree that plastic is nasty and does not decompose but I thought the US always used those brown paper grocery bags and not plastic. Maybe I watched too many (old?) movies?


No some do especially in more upscale markets. But the plastic bag thing came in vogue int he late 80's in our area. The problem is they are super thin and one use was all you got out of them.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:24 PM
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They didn’t ban plastic bags. They’re just making you pay a dime for one. Walmart and all the large supermarkets are still using plastic.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:25 PM
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Always have missed the good ol brown paper bags:



Even when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's we always saved them after a grocery trip. Had a lot of uses for them from individual room garbage bags, to crafts and arts, to using them to cover school books.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:30 PM
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And yet in the produce and meat departments, you still have access to plastic bags..

You can go to the liquor store and walk out with beer in hand, 5th in tow..

Got stopped by a cop, (because CA) and he asked for my ID and if the beer was opened.. nice cause and effect. Essentially, I'm forced to buy a bag to avoid interaction with police apparently.

Another "feel good" measure passed by Sacramento without doing the leg work..

Yeah, I got ticketed. It's going to be an interesting court date.

edit on E30America/ChicagoSat, 18 Nov 2017 13:38:26 -060011pmSaturdayth01pm by EternalShadow because: editing



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:32 PM
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originally posted by: eriktheawful
Always have missed the good ol brown paper bags:



Even when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's we always saved them after a grocery trip. Had a lot of uses for them from individual room garbage bags, to crafts and arts, to using them to cover school books.


it was a ritual for us on the first day of school: we would make covers out of those bags for our books.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:37 PM
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originally posted by: FredT

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: FredT

I agree that plastic is nasty and does not decompose but I thought the US always used those brown paper grocery bags and not plastic. Maybe I watched too many (old?) movies?


No some do especially in more upscale markets. But the plastic bag thing came in vogue int he late 80's in our area. The problem is they are super thin and one use was all you got out of them.


I prefer brown paper sacks because I save them and reuse them. The only place I can find them in my town, which has a Walmart, a Homeland and a small locally owned store, is the small locally owned store.

But when I do have need to shop at one of the others, I save the crappy plastic bags and reuse them too. I’ve no idea what I’d have done with my sons dirty diapers when he was a baby without those plastic bags! I also use them all wadded up as packing material when I ship things or store things at home, especially all my old heirloom glass Christmas ornaments.

I’m not near the coast....but I think the thing to remember is that if you must use a plastic or paper bag when shopping, at least reuse it as many times as you can. That’s what all of my grandmothers did with their grocery bags, too. Waste not, want not....



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:43 PM
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a reply to: FredT

About 3), do they comix with animal waste? Some of the largest ADs I've seen were built on CA dairy operations...any chance you know who ends up with that methane from the AD?


I'm still battling the English and Poison Ivy that Hurricane Fran brought in (came back and closed Jan 2016 but Fran was like 1996 or something), but once I knock that out and I can convince the neighbor to lemme borrow his Kubota (he's retired and a couple generations older, but he's always looking to have something to do with it...), I gonna try to do 4).



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 01:45 PM
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I always found it funny how those bags were designed to degrade under light, get buried in no light and it's the company that makes the bags fault.



posted on Nov, 18 2017 @ 02:04 PM
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Good news!

Dunno how many times I've stopped to do a little birdwatching on a walk an played "count the tree-bags" instead. Little disconcerting to say the least.


I got retrained a long time ago to haul my Aldi's bags everywhere. It's actually easier cause I pack my own stuff an less chance of squished items. LOL!! The cashiers seem to appreciate I enjoy bagging. Still keep some of the old plastic ones for kiddo-car illness or to pick up trash on a hike.




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