OT - plastic bags | Arthritis Information

In LA, they've started charging for plastic bags. Good thing.

Pip

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016/

I think it is a great idea. Maybe it will encourage people to buy reusable shopping bags and have the store put your groceries in them.

Personally, I like them much better that the plastic grocery bags at the market.

We hardly ever take plastic bags, and if we do we pay the 16 cents for the biodegradable corn bags if available. We bring canvas bags, which we have at home, in our bags and in the car. Also, we wash and re-use the smaller vegetable bags until they get holes in them. A lot of people do it. Once you develop the habits it's not a hassle at all.

The City of Vancouver is seriously thinking of banning plastic bags altogether.Gimpy-a-gogo2008-11-21 12:35:58 Very interesting and sad. I have a bag I tote back and forth to work from a store that gave them out- PacSun. It is made out of recycled plastic water bottles.I prefer to use the reusable. Mine is mesh type. I keep them in the car. The reason I use them is that it is easier to carry. The plastic bags hurt my fingers. I do wrap my produce and meats in the lil bags they supply. I have several extra on hand, so they wont make the bags to heavy also. Our grocery stores in the area use plastic, they do not charge (i think) for them. .................actually i lied........i don't usually buy vegetables as you can probably tell from the way i refer to my weight. this place rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!I also use cotton bags to carry groceries. Like GGG, I reuse the fruit and veg. plastics until they won't hold anything. I stuff 1/2 dozen of them down in my cotton bags then I have them at the grocery store. Any encouragement to get people to stop and think about the waste. LindySaw a news story about the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a massive area of debris, much of it plastic, entrapped by ocean currents in the Pacific. Makes one think twice about all the plastic we use and dispose of.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&type=politics

Astonishing Fact: It takes 500 year for a disposable diaper to decompose

I love to sew Gramma. You could make customized grocery bags. Make them washable and with pockets, possibly insert a separator...so the fruits don't touch the cookies....lol don't want to cross contaminate healthy with calories. You could also have a Key fob attached for those popular store discount cards they like to scan .

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Astonishing Fact: It takes 500 year for a disposable diaper to decompose[/QUOTE]

...............and im so full of useless information (sh*t) THIS PLACE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!

[QUOTE=inflamedOnline]I love to sew Gramma. You could make customized grocery bags. Make them washable and with pockets, possibly insert a separator...so the fruits don't touch the cookies....lol don't want to cross contaminate healthy with calories. You could also have a Key fob attached for those popular store discount cards they like to scan .[/QUOTE]

...................love to sew..........but love to eat more. everyone go see my pics.........i look awful!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS PLACE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]

Geez will you quit already, you are so frickin boring!

I sent this to all my friends yesterday and one wrote back that she was sending this to all of her elective representatives. I wrote her back and suggested that she say 'some places in LA are charging for a bag' and when they do, the profit goes to the company. If the city charges the price/tax for the bag, the money can go to the city coffers at a time when budgets are being cut.'

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Think about this and 'pass it on'.

Pip

ah yes, another tax. It would be a voluntary tax which could easily be avoided. I'd rather have a tax than an ocean full of plastic bags.

Some folks may think so what if there's all this plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean? So what if its killing wildlife? An excerpt from a PBS news story:

"The problem with plastic, they say, is that it doesn't biodegrade. It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, down to the size of grains of sand, bite-size for fish and birds.

Moore worries that plastic is entering the food chain. He's found six times more plastic than plankton -- tiny plants and animals -- in some trawls and inside the fish he catches.

CHARLES MOORE: We're starting to find more plastic than natural food in some of these fish. And, in fact, over 50 percent of the over 500 fish we've opened up have had plastic in them."

Hmmm, wonder what's in those fish oil capsules?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec08/plasticocean_11-13.html

"Hmmm, wonder what's in those fish oil capsules?"

Joie, I've been using reusable fabric bags for groceries for YEARS - long before it was neat, cool and sexy, so don't go there.

What's going to happen when the municpal government gets used to that plastic bag tax... and then people stop using them?
Can't plastic bags be recycled? I have some I want to recycle.[QUOTE=JasmineRain]"Hmmm, wonder what's in those fish oil capsules?"

Joie, I've been using reusable fabric bags for groceries for YEARS - long before it was neat, cool and sexy, so don't go there.

What's going to happen when the municpal government gets used to that plastic bag tax... and then people stop using them?
[/QUOTE]

That wasn't addressed to you, I have fish oil capsules in my frig (don't take them as often as I should) and I love to eat fish. So I'm concerned about what's getting into the food chain. And, I didn't speak to the issue of taxing plastic bags. Its good to see more and more folks bringing in their own bags to stores and more stores offering reusable bags -- like Trader Joes and Longs Drug Stores -- I use theirs.

I saw the news program on all this plastic garbage collecting in this one area of the Pacific -- the currents cause it to become trapped there. It's really disturbing to see and disturbing to realize how long it takes to breakdown -- to small particles -- what is its impact ecologically and on us? It may make one rethink the amount of plastic we buy and use and perhaps start some new habits.

They seem to find a way to recycle everything else, so why not the bags? I read a story last night about a lady that invented rubber sidewalks from old tires. Throw a little plastic in with it!
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