4 ms·

Here in Portland we use paper bags. I have a nice pile of them that I use for holding recycling. There's no cost per bag either. More cities should go this rout

by dawnerd 10y ago

Here in Portland we use paper bags. I have a nice pile of them that I use for holding recycling. There's no cost per bag either. More cities should go this route.

WillPostForFood 10y ago
You'd need to show paper bags are less impactful than plastic before knowing whether to recommend them.
- TulliusCicero 10y ago
  Paper decomposes relatively quickly; plastic takes forever. This is already well known.
  - Someone 10y ago
    Forever? Depends heavily on the plastic. Plastic bags also are lighter and less voluminous, making transport of them to the customer (at first sight) less polluting. Paper bags also may see fewer reuses than plastic ones. The question whether paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic ones is not an easy one to answer. Most discussions on this I have read conclude you should bring your own bag, rather than single-use plastic or paper bags.
    - dawnerd 10y ago
      When I lived in Socal and got plastic bags from target they all ended up in the trash because there wasn't recycling for them available nearby and I wasn't going to drive way out of my way to do it. Here I've been using the bags at least once again, and they always end up in recycling. The city even recommends using them for yard waste and other compostables as the bags are perfectly biodegradable.
  - BobCat 10y ago
    Plastic grocery bags are now made to photodegrade. I guess this is not well known.
hilop 10y ago
Why don't you use canvas bags?
- dawnerd 10y ago
  I do, just not enough for my shopping trips. Most of the time I just forget to take them back to my car before going out or don't want to drag them around the store with me. Side note on them, target used to have these really nice fabric bags. I have two and would love to buy more but none of the stores seem to carry them anymore. Now they just have those thick plastic like ones.
csydas 10y ago
Well, other places in the world deal with it slightly differently as well. I currently live in St. Petersburg, Russia, and very few stores hand out plastic bags for free; most charge a small fee (5 ruble is the most I've seen) per bag. The net effect is that most people do end up getting a small collection of durable bags that get used for everything for as long as the bag lasts. (St. Petersburg has rather unpredictable precipitation, so it's not unusual to use plastic bags to protect whatever you're carrying with you either). Ultimately, the bags stay in use as long as they are fit for use. Similarly, when I was still living in in the US in Washington State, the city I was in did a bring your own bag initiative, which has been taken further this year, apparently. [1] My experience at the time was that you'd get a small fee added to your grocery bill to account for the number of bags you used, but if you elected to bring your own bag, this was instead deducted. With the WA initiative, it was much more environmentally minded. Ultimately both initiatives had the same effect - new bags were acquired by customers less frequently and reusable bags were more frequently used without much complaint. Once in a blue moon I see (saw) small breakdowns over charging for the bags, but most of the time people don't seem to care. WA cities weaned themselves onto the BYOB initiative. In St. Petersburg, I'm under the impression it was more of a "why wouldn't we charge for it?" sort of thing from the stores. Regardless of what direction cities decide to adopt, people will adjust pretty quickly and easily it seems - $.05 isn't much in USD, but 5 RUB here and there can add up to a transit pass pretty quickly in Russia right now. (30 RUB for surface transit, 35 for subway). Excess use of plastic bags is a habit of laziness. [1] https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/environmentalservices/office_of_environmental_policy_and_sustainability/shopping_bag_restrictions https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/env...

by dawnerd 10y ago

Here in Portland we use paper bags. I have a nice pile of them that I use for holding recycling. There's no cost per bag either. More cities should go this route.

WillPostForFood 10y ago

You'd need to show paper bags are less impactful than plastic before knowing whether to recommend them.

TulliusCicero 10y ago
Paper decomposes relatively quickly; plastic takes forever. This is already well known.
- Someone 10y ago
  Forever? Depends heavily on the plastic. Plastic bags also are lighter and less voluminous, making transport of them to the customer (at first sight) less polluting. Paper bags also may see fewer reuses than plastic ones. The question whether paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic ones is not an easy one to answer. Most discussions on this I have read conclude you should bring your own bag, rather than single-use plastic or paper bags.
  - dawnerd 10y ago
    When I lived in Socal and got plastic bags from target they all ended up in the trash because there wasn't recycling for them available nearby and I wasn't going to drive way out of my way to do it. Here I've been using the bags at least once again, and they always end up in recycling. The city even recommends using them for yard waste and other compostables as the bags are perfectly biodegradable.
- BobCat 10y ago
  Plastic grocery bags are now made to photodegrade. I guess this is not well known.

hilop 10y ago

Why don't you use canvas bags?

dawnerd 10y ago
I do, just not enough for my shopping trips. Most of the time I just forget to take them back to my car before going out or don't want to drag them around the store with me. Side note on them, target used to have these really nice fabric bags. I have two and would love to buy more but none of the stores seem to carry them anymore. Now they just have those thick plastic like ones.

csydas 10y ago

Well, other places in the world deal with it slightly differently as well. I currently live in St. Petersburg, Russia, and very few stores hand out plastic bags for free; most charge a small fee (5 ruble is the most I've seen) per bag. The net effect is that most people do end up getting a small collection of durable bags that get used for everything for as long as the bag lasts. (St. Petersburg has rather unpredictable precipitation, so it's not unusual to use plastic bags to protect whatever you're carrying with you either). Ultimately, the bags stay in use as long as they are fit for use. Similarly, when I was still living in in the US in Washington State, the city I was in did a bring your own bag initiative, which has been taken further this year, apparently. [1] My experience at the time was that you'd get a small fee added to your grocery bill to account for the number of bags you used, but if you elected to bring your own bag, this was instead deducted. With the WA initiative, it was much more environmentally minded. Ultimately both initiatives had the same effect - new bags were acquired by customers less frequently and reusable bags were more frequently used without much complaint. Once in a blue moon I see (saw) small breakdowns over charging for the bags, but most of the time people don't seem to care. WA cities weaned themselves onto the BYOB initiative. In St. Petersburg, I'm under the impression it was more of a "why wouldn't we charge for it?" sort of thing from the stores. Regardless of what direction cities decide to adopt, people will adjust pretty quickly and easily it seems - $.05 isn't much in USD, but 5 RUB here and there can add up to a transit pass pretty quickly in Russia right now. (30 RUB for surface transit, 35 for subway). Excess use of plastic bags is a habit of laziness. [1] https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/environmentalservices/office_of_environmental_policy_and_sustainability/shopping_bag_restrictions https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/env...