Should plastic bags be banned at grocery stores?

Question

I recently learned a lot about how bad both plastic and paper bags that they give away at grocery stores are for the enviroment. Lots of stores now encourage their customers to bring their own bags. What does everyone else think?

Answer 1

Plastic Bags are cheaper then paper bags, and if paper bags were the leading bags more trees would be up for destruction. Plastic bags can easily be re-used and recycled. Just if more people did it, it would be great. Plastic bags and paper bags are bad, but there really isn't a subsitute unless if you want a person who was buying $150 worth of groceries bringing about 50 bags. It just isn't very reasonable. I wish there was an alternative method for bags though.

Answer 2

I don't believe that they should be totally banned, HOWEVER, I work at a grocery store that chrarges 5 cents per plastic bag. Cardboard boxes are also available to be used, but I find that lately in the past 6 months, people have been bringing their own bags. The company that my store supports has a MasterCard, and you earn extra points on your card by bringing cloth bags or bins for your groceries. The company also sells cloth bags that are made of 80% recycled material in the store. The bags have been a giant hit, and many people have used them. People also reuse old plastic bags that they have purchased.

So, while I do not believe that they should be banned, I do believe that by maybe charging a small extra fee for a bag, people will begin to bring their own to save a few cents. Besides, now-a-days, the only way you can impact people is through their wallet.

Answer 3

I'm not sure banning them is the answer to anything because many of the products we now use that are made up of a percentage of post consumer plastic waste is, in fact, made up of recycled milk jugs and plastic bags. I'm not saying that these items wouldn't still be manufactured but might contain less recycled and more new plastics. At some point we reach a point of equilibrium or diminishing returns.

I'm the first to say that I don't know when that is or might be and there are far smarter and more educated people than myself who have thought about just such things but I just don't know that banning plastic bags at the grocery is one of our biggest concerns at this point.

For the record, although I have a couple of reusable grocery bags, we still have need of plastic bags at the grocery so we recycle ours to line dustbins (and then empty the contents into a large plastic bag at the end of the week to go into the garbage since they won't pick it up without it being in a bag), keep a few in our vehicles for trash or to wad up & use as scrubbies, and throw the remainder into our recycle bin to be picked up at the curb every Monday.

I'll have to try some of the crafts projects that another respondent mentioned. Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.

Answer 4

Since we don't have a local recycling center in my area, I reuse the plastic bags at home, so at least I get more than 1 use out of them. I was unaware of the recycling bins in the stores, but now that I know that stores are doing that, I'll make sure to bring my old bags with me when I go shopping next time.

Paper bags may be a smarter solution --- to a certain extent. Trees are still being cut down to get that paper, but if the paper's being recycled, that helps --- it's less wasteful.

Perhaps canvas/cloth bags are the way to go. I went to the store recently and picked up a free pattern in the yarn/needlework aisle in the crafts section for a crocheted market bag. Realizing the obvious positive benefits for the environment, I plan on crocheting this bag as soon as possible, and maybe making a few extra, for use on future shopping trips.

Answer 5

I think you should have to bring your own bags or be charged to use the plastic and paper bags. You can get organic material bags that are stronger than the grocery store bags. The plastic bags are such a waste and pollutant! I reuse my old ones because I don't want to just throw them away. They should offer some sort of recycled material bags for the customers. I know some stores will give you credit for using your own bags.

Answer 6

I think maybe eventually the bags at the grocery store will change to a different material than plastic used now. Maybe corn-based plastic? Until enough people can afford to buy canvas or other reusable bags or grocery stores start bagging in paper bags with handles on them it would be very hard to get rid of plastic bags.

Answer 7

Yes they should be. In New York a grocery store is starting the ban of plastic bags.

Answer 8

I think that they should definitely be banned. From what I heard a couple of days ago, San Francisco either just did or is still in the process of banning these bags and any "plastic bags" used will need to be biodegradable. This is a bold move and I'd like to see more cities such as my own taking steps such as these to eliminate these.

I fully agree that we should all bring our own reuseable bags, be they canvas, backpacks or whatever, and save on using the bags at all! Whole Foods sells reuseable bags in their grocery locations that are really cheap! Just throw them in your cart when you get to the grocery! Also, Fred Meyer credits $.05 for using your own bags instead of theirs (at least they did a bit ago, I moved and don't shop there anymore, it's a retailer that I believe is exclusively in the Pacific Northwest), which makes sense since they needn't pay for the bags that would have held your shopping. More stores doing this would be an excellent incentive, albeit a little one, to encourage bringing your own bags!

Answer 9

We recycle both our paper and plastic bags, and use 1-2 cloth bags most times when we shop for groceries. The plastic bags are more prone to blow away and rip, and I seldom reuse these, while the paper bags are handy for trips, etc.

I hate the plastic bags, but I don't think they should be banned. Education is the key. All stores should offer a bag with their logo. It's cheap advertising, isn't it?

Answer 10

I think it depends on the area and what their recycling policies are.

I think some stores should take leadership and stop providing plastic bags. I've been to a few countries where the stores don't give bags. People always go with their own bags.

I adopted that habit for myself here in the U.S. I have a large canvas bag that i take shopping with me and I refuse the plastic bags.

People before lived without them . . . we can do it again :o)