SFist: Free Plastic Bags!

Tink05

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:13:18 -0800

Growing up, my dad only bought groceries about once a month, when we finally had the money. Therefore we filled the grocery cart to the BRIM. I see a lot of other people in grocery stores with their carts filled this way. They would need to buy like 50 reusable bags to go grocery shopping! Those small reusable totes would never do. I grocery shop about every 2 weeks and need a lot of bags as well because I get so much at once. I just don't need to go more often than that. I don't live in the city and it's just not as convenient for us to shop a little here a little there like other people. So what do people like us do?

Katie

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:39:10 -0800

Bede, what you should be doing is buying compostable litter bags and biodegradeble litter. and if you want free bags i have enough to last you through the lifespan of both your pets.

itsjustme

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:52:07 -0800

I like supervisors looking for concrete things that can be done to make our city a better place. Especially when they are pretty simple and don't cost a lot. Go mirk! Don't listen to the haters.

QandA

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:55:57 -0800

This will never translate to Chinatown. Can you see little old chinese ladies walking around with cloth or paper bags? Ain't gonna happen...but it would be amusing to see them try.

Bede

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:26:16 -0800

why should i have to buy bags to put my cat litter or dog poop in, when i can get the plastic bag for free? i must agree with the above commenters who voice their disapproval at the board trying to again legislate our daily lives. while the collectivist desire to protect our environment is one thing, having it force-fed into our daily lives is not the ideal use of government; not to mention an extreme waste of time and tax-payer money.

J

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:29:13 -0800

I agree... we shouldn't selectively enforce the ban of plastic bags. It should extend across the City. A saying I heard goes like this - The only people who like changes are wet babies. This is one we should gladly embrace - watch that Planet Earth movie on the Discovery Channel, and you'll appreciate the need to re-use and making things last... Can also check out Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore's slide show about the danger of taking our environment for granted).

bluecanary

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:09:27 -0800

What I want to know is, when will this ban extend to Chinatown? I see far more of those infernal pink bags on the street than I do the white ones. My guess is that's a bandwagon Peskin won't be jumping on any time soon.

Austin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:04:39 -0800

Whoops, didn't mean to post three times. I kept getting an Internal Server Error.

Catrine

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:26:38 -0800

I happen to agree with the many comments about bringing your own bag, etc., so I won't repeat any of those points. However, to those of you who are worried you won't have little plastic bags to line your garbage bins or pick up after your dogs - I doubt that will be a problem. Small and independent stores, as well as restaurants, will still use plastic bags. You'll have more of them than you need, and without even trying. Even someone like me, who avoids using plastic bags whenever possible, has more of them in the house than I can stuff in the recycle bin at the grocery store.

Austin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:21:41 -0800

"the consistent nagging and hectoring by people all over, including many of the commenters on this thread, regarding every detail of how I should live my day-to-day life" As murphstahoe and bluecanary said, taking care of something like the environment isn't something that can be solved by some people doing the right thing, while others feel they don't need to be a part of society and do whatever they feel like. Sometimes you don't have the right to go against what most other people want because it affects us all, just like drunk driving, dumping garbage in the street, or second-hand smoke affect other people. It's not abut self congratulation on doing the right thing, it's about getting others to do the right thing so that we may all be better served. And dang, it's not like this is the hardest thing in the world to adjust to.

Austin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:21:11 -0800

Austin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:20:28 -0800

justin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:49:22 -0800

By and large your average person is lazy and selfish. I agree it's a waste of time to have to legislate people doing the right thing. But people aren't doing it themselves and our planet is heading downhill fast. If it takes legislation to stop the incredibly wasteful practice of giving away plastic bags then I'm all for it. DO THE RIGHT THING AND BRING YOUR OWN BAG WHEN YOU SHOP!

bluecanary

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:36:02 -0800

"the consistent nagging and hectoring by people all over, including many of the commenters on this thread, regarding every detail of how I should live my day-to-day life" Because when it comes to the environment, it's not all about YOU. A collective effort has to be made. As for other poster's comments about dog poop: go to the hardware store and buy bio-bags. They're thicker and you don't have to stare at dog shit as you're carrying to poop to the garbage can.

murphstahoe

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:25:56 -0800

"the consistent nagging and hectoring by people all over, including many of the commenters on this thread, regarding every detail of how I should live my day-to-day life" No shit! I can't believe these assholes have a problem with me driving drunk! OK, so maybe that's over the top. For a more realistic example, in the early days San Francisco's sewage just ran straight into the bay. Cheap and easy. Now we pay SFPUC all this money to keep the sewage out of the bay, because well, it turns out dumping tons of raw sewage into the bay is a pretty bad thing. Now, when I go swimming at aquatic park and pee in the bay, I'm really not helping the health of the bay, but we've stopped the systematic pollution, and it didn't happen by everyone deciding not to flush their toilets anymore - it was done by the city. This is similar. There are plenty of historical examples of something that seemed inocuous that would be considered revolting today. Since their is no realistic market incentive to stop the usage of plastic bags (they are dirt cheap after all) the ban is a reasonable action.

ned

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:25:30 -0800

I agree completely. It's much easier (and less effective) to legislate rather than educate - but that's how our city and state work. The pious feel more so, the poor and illiterate never get the memo, and the rest of us just start carrying paper bags of dog poop while we shake our heads and step over needles and puddles of urine. Also - that was not only a clear well-reasoned response, but a textbook example of the proper use of the word 'cockamamie'. In fact, I believe no other single word exists that can describe our Board of Supervisors so well.

Alex

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:24:18 -0800

I do use reusable bags much of the time; carry two canvas bags around in the car as a matter of fact. That's not the issue. I also like having a supply of disposable plastic bags around the house that I can re-use for various purposes; hence my comment about having to start buying Glad trash bags [instead of re-using plastic shopping bags for trash, like I currently do]. But my annoyance goes beyond the simple and selfish issue of not getting free trash bags anymore. My real annoyance is with (a) the consistent nagging and hectoring by people all over, including many of the commenters on this thread, regarding every detail of how I should live my day-to-day life (I swear, environmental moralists on the left are just as bad as religious moralists on the right); and (b) the SF board of supervisors' giving that hectoring, nagging, and meddling the force of law -- all so that these scolds can pat themselves on the back and congratulate themselves about how much more they care than the people they're forcing their values on. Just wait: next up, the supervisors are going to ban incandescent light bulbs and attempt to force us all to convert to those compact fluorescents. And when we complain about the ugly, cold, institutional-quality light that the CF bulbs emit, we'll be lectured in stern and self-righteous tones about our responsibility to care about the miniscule impact each bulb conversion will have on electricity consumption. Feh. sadly, we can't horsewhip our Supervisors in the streets anymore, but could we pass a city charter amendment that requires the board to personally repair a dozen potholes or do something else useful for every additional cockamamie ordinance they pass?

Leanne

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:11:12 -0800

YES, reusable bags are so much better!! Easier to carry and so less wasteful. Also, those mentioning Cala--I think some or most of those were bought out and are Delano's IGA now. They seemed to change overnight... They look exactly the same, except the lines are much shorter and they don't do the club card anymore. I've only been a couple of times, so I'm not sure about the prices.

Austin

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:52:56 -0800

To the people complaining about the weak paper bags, and even suggesting going to Daly City to get the old plastic bags, listen to other commenters and use resuable bags. It's not that hard, you don't have to worry about durability as they are stronger than any disposable plastic bag, and you can use them at any store you wish, near or far, San Franciscan or not. As for the Ed Jew supporter, did you not realize San Francisco, in general, cares somewhat about the environment, and every now and then takes little baby steps to help it? People that care about these things at all would hardly consider it a waste of time.

George.

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:18:37 -0800

It always amazed me how Target would somehow send me away with 4 bags when I only bought 3 items. Anyhow, let's see how the paper bags hold up with consumers when the rainy season (if there is such a thing) starts up again.

g

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:52:05 -0800

Why are they limiting this to just grocery stores and pharmacies? I'm not really a fan of over-regulating, but if the BoS is going to put in place a ban, why not ban plastic bags for all stores such as retail shops or takeout places?

Michael

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:43:57 -0800

Actually, Cala is a 5 cents per bag rebate. I'm not looking forward to having to import plastic bags from outside San Francisco to line my little trash baskets. I'm sure the same goes for people who have to pick up after their dogs being walked. And while we're on the subject: what will the Chinese grocers switch to? Pink paper bags?

murphstahoe

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:07:21 -0800

Whole Foods (5 cents - donated to charity) and Cala (10 cents) give customers a rebate for manning up and solving this problem without wasting all this time. BRING YOUR OWN BAGS. I can carry a lot of groceries in my Timbuk2 messenger bag. Whole Foods sells very durable, strong, nice grocery bags made from recycled plastic for $1 - I've "paid" for them many times over with the rebates. I laud the supervisors effort anyway because people are too lazy to organize themselves for the common good.

bluecanary

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:04:20 -0800

For gods sake, how hard is it to just fold up a canvas bag and keep it in your purse/backpack/car for when you go to the grocery store? I've been doing this for years, but listening to all the whiners you'd think the supes had just passed a law to cut off all left testicles.

Helena, Berkeley

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:03:04 -0800

FINALLY, SF is following in Europe's footsteps and thinking ahead! How about grocery stores charging for bags, paper or plastic (durable, so it's worth the 5 cents or whatever), such as Ikea and most of the rest of the world?? Forget the debate between biodegradable plastic bags or paper bags, bring your own bags of whatever material you wish. When will this happen in the rest of the Bay Area?

murphstahoe

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:02:56 -0800

Of course, the REAL solution is... http colon //www.cawrecycles.org/living_green/shopping_list/bags/reusable_bag or www dot timbuk2.com It's not advertised much at Whole Foods, and not advertised at all at Cala, but those stores give you five (WF) or ten (Cala) cents for using your own bags. At Whole Foods you can donate the nickel to charity. Whole Foods sells reusable bags for a buck. The bags are very hardy and durable. Of course people are lazy - instead of being organized enough to bring bags to the store, lets ban the bags. Sort of like buying carbon credits to help global warming - instead of biking or using transit.

Helena

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:02:00 -0800

Alex

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:47:45 -0800

I haven't seen the new compostable plastic bags, but I hope they're as good as you say they are and not weaker like those recycled-paper bags (the shorter fibers in recycled paper make it a lot more tear-prone than virgin paper). Otherwise I'm going to have to start buying Glad trash bags or driving to Daly City to do my grocery shopping. Your point about "more trees being knocked down" for paper shopping bags is flawed. First, paper shopping bags contain a substantial portion of recycled content, which as I mentioned above makes them weaker and necessitates more double-bagging. Second, when they cut down trees for paper, guess what they do? Plant new trees in their place. That's right, wood pulp is a renewable resource, and the trees they use for pulp are fast-growing. I.e., nobody's chopping down old-growth redwoods for paper; rather, commercial pulpwood is basically an agricultural product, and therefore reducing paper usage to "save trees" makes about as much sense as reducing breakfast cereal consumption to save oats.

J

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:42:27 -0800

Thumbs up from this Rincon Hill resident for banning plastic bags. Hoorah for Sup. Ross Mirkarimi!

aj

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:34:45 -0800

Kudos to Ed Jew on this one. WTF is the board doing wasting its time on crap like this?