Reusable plastic shopping bags are actually making the problem worse, not better

Quartz | December 1, 2019 | Zoë Schlanger

[karpov]

No excerpt from Quarz allowed, story here.

[karpov]

The problem is that reusable bags are much thicker, so that in the UK, where they tax disposable plastic bags, the total amount of plastic used in grocery bags has increased, since so many reusable bags are being sold. Another problem is that Bags for life can pose food poisoning risk. "Bags for life" is the UK politically correct term for reusable plastic bags.

[RayChuang88]

That's why I have cloth reusable bags, ones I can clean off with soap and water in a sink.

[Sacajaweau]

Imagine what the normal women's handbag holds. And the bottom of your shoes....And how many doorknobs did you touch today?

Germs are everywhere.

Clorox wipes, soap and proper cooking are the solution to just about all the germ problems.

[Telepathic Intruder]

"The bags, the report says, should be banned. Instead, customers could bring their own bags to the market."

Vere ist your bag? You have no bag--guards! Zese men vill ask you some questions. I hope for your sake zat your answers are satisfactory.

[SkyDancer]

Use them for packaged food. None of that celery sticking out of the bag like in the movies.

[CatOwner]

Been using Trader Joe's reusable bags for years. Haven't had to toss one in the garbage because they were torn or soiled to the point we couldn't clean them up.

Have had to replace a few that were either left behind in one of the shopping carts or someone decided to help themselves to taking one from our shopping cart when we happened to walk away for a minute looking for something.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I switched several years ago to fabric totes I sew myself and sturdy cardboard boxes.

One box is my favorite and has the duct tape on the handles and corners to prove it! I get many compliments on it from Cashiers who tell me they wish everyone would just bring boxes and bags - it makes their life easier and saves the store overhead by not having to purchase paper and plastic bags.

I still own my Grandma’s ‘Market Basket’ which she took with us when we went to the Municipal Market back in the day to buy veggies we hadn’t grown ourselves or a live chicken for Sunday Supper!

Gee. I wonder which Eco-Nazi Law I’m breaking by doing what I do?

*SMIRK*

[the OlLine Rebel]

Somehow I don’t think cloth/canvas is going to be any better to clean than slick plastic. Actually, no, it’s worse. Just that if you have cloth it is “biodegradable” whereas plastic is not.

[Jeff Chandler]

I just ask for paper grocery bags. The products sit nicer in them and they stack better.

At home I use them to line trash cans, start charcoal chimneys, carry items to other locations, and . . . I always bring a handful when traveling to Calizuela.

[Rebelbase]

The only way to carry $70 dollars worth of groceries from the car to the house is with plastic bags.

[HamiltonJay]

You have to REUSE a reusable bag 132 times before you reach any carbon/environmental benefit over using the film bags...

The cost of manufacture and transport mean, if you don’t use the reusable bag at least 132 times, you were better off using the film disposable bags...

Now, the reusable bags, have their other issues like becoming contaminated etc... as well.

Its a “feel good” thing, not a real solution, to use re-useable bags.

[cuban leaf]

I like the disposable ones the stores supply. They are very useful, and the ones I don’t need I just burn. The trees love me for it.

[fruser1]

We should do it like all the other third world countries and just have women and kids bring stuff back from the store in baskets balanced on their heads.

[dfwgator]

The plastic bags are good for picking up dog poop.

[RayChuang88]

I have cloth bags labeled for Save Mart and WinCo Foods. Have no problem keeping them clean—I just wash them in a sink with warm, soapy water and then air dry them.

[Grampa Dave]

At home I use them to line trash cans, start charcoal chimneys, carry items to other locations, and . . . I always bring a handful when traveling to Calizuela.

In Calizuela, we can buy the paper bags for 10 cents. They have a lot uses as you noted.

[Jeff Chandler]

Fry’s Food (Kroger) in AZ offers them for free.

[Grampa Dave]

“someone decided to help themselves to taking one from our shopping cart when we happened to walk away for a minute looking for something.”

2 weeks ago someone stole my cloth bag while I was shopping. They had to move some heavy bottles/containers to get to them.

[I want the USA back]

I used to use those bags for the trash. No more. So I bought some trash bags, made out of plastic, which go into the dump the exact same way that the old bags did.

Politicians, stop trying to control us!

[IndispensableDestiny]

Up to the 1960s here and much later in Europe, mesh bags were common. They were good for everything, even carrying live chickens (did that). Easy to clean in the sink. Very little material used.