SF May Ban Plastic Grocery Bags

WKMG TV NEWS ^ | 3-8-2007

[Cagey]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Paper or plastic won't mean the same for shoppers in San Francisco if some city supervisors get their way.

A proposal up for consideration next week would prohibit large grocers from using regular plastic bags. Supporters of the ban say the bags eat up fossil fuels, litter the streets and choke wildlife.

The measure would require grocery stores to offer only bags made of recyclable paper, plastic that can be turned into compost, or sturdy cloth or plastic that can be reused.

The proposed ban has the support of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. But it's opposed by the California Grocers Association as potentially doing more damage to the environment.

President Peter Larkin said confused consumers would wind up mixing biodegradable bags with regular plastic bags in recycling bins, thereby contaminating recycled plastic.

[voltaires_zit]

It's nice to see Newsome doing something productive with his time instead of making headlines with his personal life.

[JoanneSD]

Twenty years ago, shoppers were encouraged to use plastic bags, they were even forced on you in some stores, all this in the Name of " Save a tree"...

[Balding_Eagle]

LOL!

I remember when they banned paper bags!

Obviously, we are headed into a repeat of the "Global Ice Age of the 1970s".

[jveritas]

You call this liberal left wing lunacy "productive"?

[Carry_Okie]

However stupid this is, paper bags are better. We need to find a use for the lousy trees the government is growing so that the USFS can start over.

[paudio]

If they want to reduce the unnecessary use of plastice bags, they can have people pay for the bags, say 5 cents per bag.

[cubreporter]

I'm glad to hear that. I really don't care about newsome at all and could care less what he thinks about the idea cause it is not his idea and not HIS world.

That said...I love the idea and hope it catches on around the country. I personally am sick and tired of seeing plastic bags stuck in trees and plastered up against fences with names of stores on them. Let's go back to paper. It's the best.

I'm sure with today's technology they could do something so that the plastics wouldn't be mixed up in the recycle bins.

[voltaires_zit]

> You call this liberal left wing lunacy "productive"?

I don't think this is liberal left wing lunacy.

[cripplecreek]

I prefer the plastic and I reuse them till they fall apart. Also plastic recycles more cleanly than paper. I don't know about biodegradable plastic. Is it really clean or is it just out of sight out of mind?

[spikeytx86]

I guess that hefty grocery bag tax they imposed a while back did not do the trick. Why don't they just ban groceries? They do far more damage to the environment then bags.

Dear Lord, why do I think I gave them an idea!?!

[spikeytx86]

Me too, all my grocery bags double as um >cough< poo bags for my pooch.

[finnman69]

fags but no plastic bags

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

What about all the people walking around breathing? They just use the air once -- then they put a bunch of CO2 into it. Why not make everyone wear a SCUBA rebreather? If you can't afford a rebreather, you could just breathe into plastic bags -- or just wear one over your head until you nearly pass out -- then tie it to hold the CO2 for collection. The bags could be opened in greenhouses, or taken to a facility for sequestering in old oil fields.

[lafroste]

I like plastic bags. They fit my kitchen trash can. Sometimes, when the bags run low, I go to the supermarket and buy some items and bag them myself. You would be surprized at how many bags it takes to bring home the groceries.

[Paul8148]

Fox News this went through all the nutty things that is floating around the state.

[dhs12345]

Yup. We'll be cutting down more trees.

Like the global warming goofs who think that all will be solved if we simply stop using fossil fuels.

We'll all just burn more wood, etc. to stay warm. Need a MrFusion for my car, though.

Heck, we can even eat the protected prairie dogs if we get really hungry.

Humans come first.

[finnman69]

I use plastic bags for my trash, I never buy trashbags.

I bet ther energy reuired to cut down trees and manufacture paper is much more wasteful than the energy required to manufacture plastic bags.

[Patriotic1]

The measure would require grocery stores to offer only bags made of recyclable paper

Isn't most paper recyclable? Or perhaps they meant recycled paper? Idiots.