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Pandemic deals blow to plastic bag bans, plastic reduction
The Associated Press ^ | April 8, 2020 | By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Posted on 04/08/2020 5:48:51 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

PORTLAND, Ore. - Just weeks ago, cities and even states across the U.S. were busy banning straws, limiting takeout containers and mandating that shoppers bring reusable bags or pay a small fee as the movement to eliminate single-use plastics took hold in mainstream America.

What a difference a pandemic makes.

In a matter of days, hard-won bans to reduce the use of plastics - and particularly plastic shopping sacks - across the U.S. have come under fire amid worries about the virus clinging to reusable bags, cups and straws.

Governors in Massachusetts and Illinois have banned or strongly discouraged the use of reusable grocery bags. Oregon suspended its brand-new ban on plastic bags this week, and cities from Bellingham, Washington, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, have announced a hiatus on plastic bag bans as the coronavirus rages.

Add to that a rise in takeout and a ban on reusable cups and straws at the few coffee stores that remain open, and environmentalists worry COVID-19 could set back their efforts to tackle plastic pollution for years.

“People are scared for their lives, their livelihood, the economy, feeding their loved ones, so the environment is taking a back seat,” said Glen Quadros, owner of the Great American Diner & Bar in Seattle.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bags; ban; plastic; straws
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1 posted on 04/08/2020 5:48:51 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Oh dear. Common sense takes hold and liberals won’t be able to deal with it. Please don’t say we’re going back to plastic straws!! Hahahahahahahahahahaha


2 posted on 04/08/2020 5:53:38 AM PDT by albie
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

A lot of leftist sacred cows got slaughtered because of the pandemic

Ending single use plastics was just a feel good initiative that ended up killing us.

All of this PPE stuff, the masks, gowns, gloves, face shields ect is going to the landfill as well. So what was the gain from banning plastic bags? The environ wackos can’t explain that.


3 posted on 04/08/2020 5:54:28 AM PDT by Trump.Deplorable
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The ass wipe reusable bags are germ factories. They also take 132x’s the energy and cost to make over plastic bags. I shake my head in disgust every time I see some birkenstock wearing bonehead walking into a store carrying 10 of those petri dishes. And I still see them.


4 posted on 04/08/2020 5:58:25 AM PDT by albie
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Just go back to using (recycled)paper bags.


5 posted on 04/08/2020 6:04:22 AM PDT by Garvin (Democrats....have always will be the party of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation and the KKK.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

First they mandated plastic to save the trees. Then they saw the error of plastic tossed to the wind by third world countries (and folks who just don’t care). Then they banned them altogether. Some of us saw the disease potential of reused bags when they started to talk reused, but they were on the path and nothing would deter them. But it’s ok because they don’t want to take our guns.


6 posted on 04/08/2020 6:04:38 AM PDT by my job (TP shortage because...home cooking)
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To: albie

Liberals never acknowledge any unintended consequences or costs with any of their pet programs. No amount of facts, logic or the lessons of history can force them to see the downside of their wacky ideas.


7 posted on 04/08/2020 6:06:54 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Except in N.Y. King Andrew gotta collect his 5 cent bag for paper tax.


8 posted on 04/08/2020 6:08:10 AM PDT by printhead (I need a new tagline. Happy days are here again.)
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To: Starboard

One of the good things about this manufactured crisis: The do-gooders rescinded the plastic bag ban in my city. Many of us made the point not only were reusable bags more damaging to the environment after one wash, but that folks would probably never wash, making the reusable bags a public health hazard (salmonella anyone?)

Magically, plastic bags are back. To stay? Who knows.


9 posted on 04/08/2020 6:09:48 AM PDT by RinaseaofDs
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To: albie

“Please don’t say we’re going back to plastic straws!! “

You’ll pry my tactical titanium assault straw from my cold dead hands.


10 posted on 04/08/2020 6:12:38 AM PDT by BBQToadRibs
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To: RinaseaofDs

I think it will be very hard to make those germ-laden reusable bags of death mandatory after this. I think that idea is dead.


11 posted on 04/08/2020 6:14:19 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Governors in Massachusetts and Illinois have banned or strongly discouraged the use of reusable grocery bags

Meanwhile, Cuomo continues to push it and promotes spreading of the virus, UGH

12 posted on 04/08/2020 6:16:01 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Link to the map in this article.

Coronavirus Map




13 posted on 04/08/2020 6:18:33 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Die-ggl,TWT,FCBK,NYT,WPo,Hwd,CNN,NFL,BLM,CAIR,Antf,SPLC,ESPN,NPR,NBA,ARP,MSNBC)
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To: RinaseaofDs

The do-gooders rescinded the plastic bag ban in my city.

*************

They no longer have their virtue signaling bags. LOL


14 posted on 04/08/2020 6:19:38 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: Garvin

Paper breaks down quite easily so the best choice, and somehow those trees just keep coming back and growing.


15 posted on 04/08/2020 6:38:54 AM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
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To: Starboard

LIB/Leftists are lunatics. They are pathetic malignancies on civil societies everywhere.


16 posted on 04/08/2020 6:43:14 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp???)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Have heard nothing about lifting ban on plastic bags in Oregon. ..and I live here.


17 posted on 04/08/2020 7:29:05 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Trump is as good a dictator as he is a racist.....)
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To: Salvation

Oregon ping


18 posted on 04/08/2020 7:30:12 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Trump is as good a dictator as he is a racist.....)
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To: albie

“carrying 10 of those petri dishes”

Hey, your clothes, skin, breath are petri dishes. When you touch or breathe on something, you might be seeding a petri dish. Things on shelves that others have touched are petri dishes.

That said, I prefer to use single-use bags when shopping.

Something that’s driving me crazy lately are the elegant plastic containers for liquid laundry soaps that get thrown away. I re-use them as much as possible — for herbicides mainly. They are very easy to handle, have a wonderful pouring spout, and seal closed well.


19 posted on 04/08/2020 7:52:03 AM PDT by cymbeline
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The stores here still charge you for plastic bags. I suspect a kickback to the democrat party.


20 posted on 04/08/2020 9:22:07 AM PDT by minnesota_bound (homeless guy. He just has more money....He the master will plant more cotton for the democrat party)
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