San Jose votes to ban paper, plastic shopping bag

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SAN JOSE, Calif.—The San Jose City Council has passed one of the country's strictest shopping bag bans, voting to bar retailers from giving out most paper and plastic bags.

The ordinance passed Tuesday would prohibit stores from giving out free plastic shopping bags. Paper bags made with at least 40 percent recycled materials would be permitted, but only for a fee

The ban must undergo an environmental review and a legal analysis before it takes effect in 2011.

Supporters of the ban say plastic bags generate mountains of trash that clog waterways and threaten wildlife. They say the production of paper bags generates excessive greenhouse gases.

Industry groups opposed to the ban argue that improved recycling efforts are better than a patchwork of city-by-city ordinances.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13402466
 
Worst title ever. Reprint Email Font Size?

EDIT: What are the penalties for plastic bags? Jail Time? Fines?

If the store gets caught, can they blame the shopper for shoplifting?
 
A bit excessive, but it wouldn't bother me much since I've bought some of those $1 bags and use those most of the time. I just get plastic bags at target sometimes as I use them for the small bathroom trash can (grocery bags are a bit to small). If I forget, I keep the plastic bags and stick, them in the recycling bin at the grocery store.

But unfortunately the majority of people still get bags and chuck them in the trash, so maybe some formal changes are needed.

I'm not sure a law is the way to go. Maybe give a tax break to stores that shun bags or something to encourage them to do it.
 
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I walk everywhere. Do they expect me to carry around reusable bags made by little Chinese kids? There goes the impulse buying.
 
They should just let everyone take the fucking shopping cart home and promise to return it later. Hook that shit up to a trailer hitch.
 
It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I also use some of those reusable bags most of the time and have a store of old plastic bags from target/wegmans that are big enough for small trashcans.
 
[quote name='SpazX']It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I also use some of those reusable bags most of the time and have a store of old plastic bags from target/wegmans that are big enough for small trashcans.[/QUOTE]

I was just wondering what everyone is going to use for their small trash cans now... :(
 
[quote name='fullmetalfan720']I think we should vote to kick California out of the Union. Sell it to China or something.[/QUOTE]


might as well send any state that tries to teach creationism as a science along for the ride while you are getting rid of states.
 
[quote name='Ikohn4ever']might as well send any state that tries to teach creationism as a science along for the ride while you are getting rid of states.[/QUOTE]

Do you really want a Kansas-sized hole on maps of the USA? I think not!
 
[quote name='bigdaddy']I walk everywhere. Do they expect me to carry around reusable bags made by little Chinese kids? There goes the impulse buying.[/QUOTE]

The reusable bags are easier to cart around then plastic bags, give them a try.

Also could you tone down the racism a tad.
 
Impulse buying. Meaning, before, you could be walking home, see a fresh produce stand, stop and pick up some stuff - and they'd be able to give you a plastic bag to use to carry it home. Now, if you don't happen to carry the reusable tote with you everyday, you're only going to carry what you can squeeze in your pockets.
 
[quote name='camoor']

Also could you tone down the racism a tad.[/QUOTE]

i dont think it was a racist swipe. i think he was commenting on the fact that were dumping plastic bags (which are recyclable btw) to reusable bags that are manucatured in china, a country reknowned for their child labor.
 
Wow. What is it you people are doing with plastic bags that is so vital to your life that you'd get that upset when they are removed?

Find a new masturbatory toy, help the environment, and stfu.
 
[quote name='Strell']Wow. What is it you people are doing with plastic bags that is so vital to your life that you'd get that upset when they are removed?

Find a new masturbatory toy, help the environment, and stfu.[/QUOTE]

I use reusable bags sometimes, but not all the time. For the plastic bags I do get, they're used for trash (instead of buying trash bags) or for cat crap, so they are definitely reused. I know most people don't reuse them though.
 
I'm just saying they aren't this pillar of civilization some of these neanderthals seem to place them as. It takes so little effort to change that particular aspect of your life, and some people act like they won't be able to get erections anymore.

Since we can't count on people to reuse and/or recycle, and since Americans continue this whole "If I haves tuh change my life it's un'mercan" attitude, then what do you expect? Helping the environment isn't a good enough reason. Switching to filtering your water versus buying bottles, which helps the environment and saves you money, aren't good enough reasons.

What's a good enough reason for you people? Does Rush have to do it first? Does it need to be written in the Bible? What?

This is why other nations can't understand why we think we're such a big flippin' deal.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']Impulse buying. Meaning, before, you could be walking home, see a fresh produce stand, stop and pick up some stuff - and they'd be able to give you a plastic bag to use to carry it home. Now, if you don't happen to carry the reusable tote with you everyday, you're only going to carry what you can squeeze in your pockets.[/QUOTE]

True, something like this wouldn't work in NYC or another dense urban city. San Jose, like most of SoCal is all kinds of spread out and people don't walk everywhere for that reason. People drive, or take the bus etc. And that's the way it is everywhere outside of some dense urban centers.

So I doubt you'd see a ban on bags in those urban centers for that reason, but it works in places where people are driving everywhere, or planning trips to the store on public transit etc. vs. walking to and from work and buying stuff on the way home.

[quote name='RAMSTORIA']...dumping plastic bags (which are recyclable btw)[/QUOTE]

They are recyclable (and I do recycle them if I get more than I can use for trash etc.)...but it's always better to conserve than recycle. Especially with plastics and their use of petroleum etc.
 
[quote name='bigdaddy']I walk everywhere. Do they expect me to carry around reusable bags made by little Chinese kids? There goes the impulse buying.[/QUOTE]
I walk everywhere, and only shop with reuseabe bags. They're approximately one jillion times easier to carry than plastic.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I walk everywhere, and only shop with reuseabe bags. They're approximately one jillion times easier to carry than plastic.[/QUOTE]

Impulse. Meaning that you're not planning to buy stuff. Do you carry reusable bags with you when you're going for a walk with no intentions of coming home with anything?
 
This is a good idea. Backpacks and dufflebags are the way to go. Especially when you ride the bus to the grocery store.

There was a store called Aldi's when I used to live around Pittsburgh. They did not supply any bags and sold food at discount prices (kind of like cost-co). Speaking of which, Cost-Co doesn't hand out bags either.

Now if only the food prices will drop a little because stores don't have to buy bags ;)

Recycling doesn't cut it. It costs energy/oil to make the bag and more energy to recycle it not to mention transporting the new and old bags.
 
I dunno... I just don't care.

[quote name='perdition(troy']one more reason im glad i dont live in the craphole known as cali.[/QUOTE]

Still rather be in this craphole than the one that is Florida.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']Impulse. Meaning that you're not planning to buy stuff. Do you carry reusable bags with you when you're going for a walk with no intentions of coming home with anything?[/QUOTE]
I do not impulse buy. That sort of thing conflicts heavily with my budget.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I do not impulse buy. That sort of thing conflicts heavily with my budget.[/QUOTE]

But for those that do, carrying around a reusable bag at all times isn't really reasonable.
 
Then I guess they can move towns or just stop impulse buying.

People can adapt. I don't support the ban per se. But it's silly to make it out to be some enormous inconvenience.
 
This passed in Seattle a year or two ago -- it was a great idea then and it still is. Title is misleading, more accurate would be "tax imposed on nonreusable bags"... you can still get a disposable bag, just not for free.

We banned noncompostable takeout containers at the same time, but seems like only about 90% of restaurants are complying with that one (occasionally a teriyaki place will still give me styrofoam.. though they're supposed to be fined for that, I'm not sure how strictly its enforced).
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Then I guess they can move towns or just stop impulse buying.

People can adapt. I don't support the ban per se. But it's silly to make it out to be some enormous inconvenience.[/QUOTE]

I don't mean to say it's a *huge* deal or anything. I can just see how it would be an inconvenience for some people. The idea that reusable bags are the only bag one will ever need is a little off.

If something like this ever passed here, I'll just get the reusable bags and throw 'em away each time outta spite! (I kid, I kid...)
 
[quote name='numbier_wun']You're all missing the biggest issue here. Those reusable bags make you look gay.[/QUOTE]

And you're missing the bigger point. That saying something makes people look "gay" shows you to be a homophobic moron.

As well as a loser obsessed with what others think of them to the extent they worry how the look carrying a reusable shopping bag!

Get a life.
 
This is a great example of where majority voting to form most local laws can be a great idea.

If a municipality wants to ban the wearing of white shoes, that's cool too. If a city banned Apple products, more power to them (and I'd move there).
 
We're not talking about white shoes. We're talking about plastic bags that take oil to produce.

Camoor, if you don't want to buy something that the Chinese make, there's a needle and thread at about a thousand stores withing a couple miles of wherever you're posting from.

I always think it's funny when people act like they are no alternatives to cheaply made Chinese goods. Go old school and make something for once. Your grandma will love the few hours she gets to spend with you while you learn how to sew. Win-win unless it's too "gay" for you.

I guess self-reliance only applies when people don't want the poor to get a public option.
 
Yeah, and you don't have to even make stuff yourself. Just look at tags and find stuff made elsewhere. Spend more on better brands etc.
 
[quote name='numbier_wun']You're all missing the biggest issue here. Those reusable bags make you look gay.[/QUOTE]

What will be funny is when you move to an apartment with more than one floor and you become the one loving those reusable bags.
 
[quote name='Chuplayer']I wish governments would just butt the fuck out of my life.[/QUOTE]

Don't blame the government. Blame the fool that can't put a plastic bag in a garbage can. I doubt it would be as big of a problem if they weren't everywhere. I've found plastic bags floating in the water off both coasts, in woods, mountains, and deserts. They're everywhere. Even when you put them in garbage bags, they get out and end up all over the place.

It's not like plastic bags have been around forever. Our grandparents used to bring their groceries home in linen or paper bags that they reused.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']What will be funny is when you move to an apartment with more than one floor and you become the one loving those reusable bags.[/QUOTE]

Is walking up stairs more convenient with a reusable bag?
 
[quote name='depascal22']Don't blame the government. Blame the fool that can't put a plastic bag in a recycling bin. [/QUOTE]

Fixed. Just throwing them away sucks too.


[quote name='numbier_wun']Is walking up stairs more convenient with a reusable bag?[/QUOTE]

Yep, they hold more so you make fewer trips. And they are sturdier so you don't have to worry as much about them breaking on the way etc.

So definitely more convenient. I had 3 flights of stairs in my old place and 1 flight currently and making 1 trip instead of 2 or 3 is a nice plus.
 
[quote name='numbier_wun']Is walking up stairs more convenient with a reusable bag?[/QUOTE]
Walking is more comfortable with one. They just feel better on the hands.
 
To all of you who think this is a good law: Why in the hell are they creating a law that forces a fee on paper bags? Also, why not just mandate that plastic bags are made out of Ethanol based materials that are biodegradable?
 
I don't think anyone has said it's a good law. Some of us just aren't up in arms over it, nor think it any major inconvenience etc.

But I do think it's a silly law. Better to promote good behavior--give stores a small tax break if they don't provide plastic bags, encourage stores to give a discount for using your own bag--Target (at least the one I went to yesterday), gives a 5 cent discount for each reusable bag you use as do some grocery stores.

Do things to encourage people to use recyclable bags--I think that's a better approach than fining stores who give out plastic bags.
 
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