[SMGFan]

Elderly, poor and minorities will be hardest hit. /s

[Little Pig]

Wasn’t the whole point of these bags because we were “using up” all the trees to make the now-designated-recyclable paper bags? And there are numerous studies out there that prove reusable bags spread bacteria.

Everything old is new again, I guess.

[Graybeard58]

Plastic bags do not harm the environment, irresponsible people who don’t dispose of them properly do. Sounds kinda like guns huh?

Leave it to liberals to come up with a solution that affects everybody adversely, when it’s primarily liberals who created the problem. Conservatives don’t live like pigs, liberals do.

Contrast the Tea Party and “Occupy” for proof of that last statement.

[Doogle]

"....dat roll looks like dat reusable paper dat feels like sand paper.....it's gonna be one of those days"

[P.O.E.]

I re-use the bags for kitty litter, small trash can liners, laundry while traveling, etc.

So I guess it’s either pay for the bags or other resources to accomplish these tasks.

Gov’t picking our pockets one nickel at a time.

[eccentric]

...customers who packed groceries in their own reusable bags.

Customers don't pack these bags. Cashiers are expected to hold up a line of customers to "pack" them. I dare you to watch this mess.

[Hoodat]

Paper is far more energy-intensive than plastic. For the energy it takes to recycle one paper bag, 84 plastic bags can be recycled instead. And if you would rather go the landfill route, paper bags require seven times the landfill space as their plastic counterparts.

Idiots.

[Fresh Wind]

I don’t understand. They say the plastic bags will be recyclable starting in 2015, but the bags they’re using now are already recyclable. What will change (other than added costs to the consumer caused by government do-gooders’ meddling)?

[synbad600]

Not convenient every time, but you could buy a small box of garbage bags then take a few out after you pay for them and use them to put your groceries in.

[Fiji Hill]

That fee is only a nickel. But like a toll on a bridge, you can expect it to go up, and up, and up.

[wideawake]

That first sentence was entirely fictional.

[GnL]

You sell them for $.05 and I’ll set up shop outside selling them to your customers for $.03.

[New Jersey Realist]

I much prefer the paper bags anyway.

[kidd]

Our local grocery store uses biodegradable bags. They have a greenish color. After less than a year they fall apart (I know - last year's hats/mittens were stored in these bags and now the bags are dust).

Does the NJ law allow exceptions for biodegradable plastic bags, or is this just an opportunity to take more money out of the pockets of its citizens?

[fella]

Is this going to be like bottel deposits? If so at 5 cents a bag (Just noticed that there’s no cents key on my keyboard) I can forsee truck loads of bags heading foe N.J..

[Straight8]

Our local HY-VEE grocery gives a nickel credit for each plastic bag re-used by the customer.

[Buckeye McFrog]

and offer only recyclable paper or plastic bags by 2015.

uhhh....all plastic bags that are currently being used are 100% recyclable. Hence all current bags would fully comply with the law. Friggin' doofuses!

[sport]

They should charge a dollar.