Plastic supermarket bags ban
June 10, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Green Living
The People’s Weekly World reports that this week, the head of the United Nations Environment Program called for worldwide ban on plastic supermarket bags. Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary-general and UNEP executive director, notes that, “Thin-film single-use plastic bags, which choke marine life, should be banned or phased out rapidly everywhere… there is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere.”
Cute reusable bags from three beans & co shown above.
I agree personally, because plastic bags are a complete eco-nuisance, but I am wondering how a law like this might affect everyone without reusable bags. Paper bags will still be around for sure, but paper bags are almost as un-eco-friendly as plastic. I’m thinking that if this becomes law, stores will make a move to a more eco-friendly bag material somehow OR have massive chain wide promotions of store brand reusable bags.
What you should do – start learning more about your reusable bag options asap. You can always go with store brand reusable bags, but with few exceptions, these bags seem to have a very short lifespan and can be made of questionable materials. You’re better off going with a set of more expensive, but stronger and longer lasting cloth bags.
Do you think a worldwide ban on plastic grocery bags is a good idea? I do, even though I’m wondering about the logistics.
We recycle most of our plastic bags, the only exception are the ones we use for making things in the house or use as garbage bags instead of purchasing new plastic garbage bags.
With a growing family of 6, we typically fill what most people would put in two carts every two weeks. I’d say that’s about 20-25 plastic bags on a run as four of us usually make several runs to the car carrying several bags to get it all in the house. I’m having trouble figuring out how many reusable bags that would require us to have on hand and available for each vehicle for when we might go to the store and I’m worried about how making smaller multiple trips to the store (& the gas used) would offset the benefit.
Plastic bag recycling seems to be a helpful solution compared to moving back to paper bags for those who don’t use reusables…
I have mixed feelings on this one. I agree that reusable bags are a great thing. I’ve been using them for over a year. I like them because they’re reusable (of course), I can’t stand plastic grocery bags, and the reusable ones are sturdier and hold more goceries. I’m not so sure I favor the government getting involved in this though. I really don’t feel like every part of our lives should be micro-managed by the government.
Like you, I wonder about the logistics of all of this. And how many millions in tax dollars will be spent trying to make this law pass?
If I recall correctly, grocery stores spent 2-3 cents each on plastic bags. Maybe they could take that money and offer an incentive for those that use reusable bags. When I shopped at Lowe’s Foods, they would offer 50 points for each bag you used during your shopping trip. You could use your bonus points to buy groceries or more reusable bags.
Those are just some of thoughts on the matter.