One Month Until Plastic Bag Ban Takes Effect (Houston, Austin: exemption, live)

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by atxcio

And their produce section is being reduced. They stopped carrying any kind of sprouts, company-wide supposedly. Bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, everything. You just can't get it there anymore.

Kroger has done the same thing... but it's because of the food borne illness risk they cause. HEB is just following suit. Jason's Deli has taken them off the menu as well. They're a huge liability and subject to frequent recalls - there's one for listeria in sprouts in the northwest right now. Even the federal government says "Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts)."

More on topic - I am concerned about the bag ban due to the increased risk of food borne illness, and am going to see if there's somewhere I can get to outside of city limits to shop easily. Since we reuse the non-icky bags for trash, paper isn't an option.

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by sheaday

Good point. I've only been thinking in terms of grocery shopping. Guess the ban includes places like Old Navy, Dillards, Pier 1 etc? Hmmm what about going to Barton Creek and all the store bags. I could see that being a hassle.

Yeah, I am not excited about the prospect of carrying bags into any store anytime I want to even look at something. It's possible this is going to lead to increased retail shoplifting, or draconian bag check policies.

The only thing I'm happy about is the fact that maybe the bags from Home Depot will be thick enough not to rip to shreds when you put normal hardware store items in there. They're the only ones we can't reuse because they usually barely make it home in one piece.

[stubbs4prez]

Originally Posted by sheaday

Good point. I've only been thinking in terms of grocery shopping. Guess the ban includes places like Old Navy, Dillards, Pier 1 etc? Hmmm what about going to Barton Creek and all the store bags. I could see that being a hassle.

This is all I could think of when doing my Christmas shopping this year. From shopping to Hobby Lobby, to Target, and Barton Creek, I dread having to carry my own shopping bags in every time I want to go to a store. All I see this doing is making it so much easier for someone to just steal. You are already carrying a bag in, why not just throw something in there and walk out.

Already out of instinct when I see someone in front of me at HEB/Target have reusable bags I always find another lane to go into. For one I have noticed it takes about twice as long to set the bags up, and then bag the groceries with the reusable bags, and on numerous occasions they bought more than they had room for in their bags so they had to either buy new bags or use the plastic ones anyways. It just seems to me for the first few months, going grocery shopping is going a very frustrating and time consuming process.

But hey, this is my thoughts so to each their own. If this is what Austin wants as a whole, then that is great and I will either have to get on board or do my shopping "over the boarder". I just don't like the fact that I didn't have the opportunity to let my opinion be known through a vote on this topic.

[austinrebel]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

In March 2013, businesses will be required to provide reusable bags at checkout. Options include:

Plastic bags: 4 mil in thickness or greater with handles
Paper bags: made of 40% recycled content with handles
Cloth or another type of reusable bag made out of durable materials

^That was straight off of the city website.

I guess the point is if the plastic bags are thicker people are more likely to not discard them?

Can't stores continue to give away bags and just raise prices to make up their higher overhead?

I thought the point was to require people to bring their own bags or buy a bag at the store.

[austinrebel]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

Paper or plastic? Pretty soon Austin won't have a choice

If you are in the city limits and have not yet gotten into the groove of bringing your reusable bags with you to the store, I'd start now. Its really not hard at all to do after you get used to it.

Don't let this happen to you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d545PS_AkOw

[10scoachrick]

I have the convenience of walking/biking to the CVS or Walgreens; but I'm in the vehicle whenever I grocery shop. Both autos have a couple of basic re-usable bags as well as one insulated bag. I'd say we use our 'forever' bags for 90+% of our grocery and drugstore shopping(for a couple of years, I reckon). We get the small discounts for having our own bags in a couple of stores; but we'd certainly do it with or without a ban. Since we're right on the border and can get to Cedar Park and Round Rock HEBs in a matter of minutes, we'll be able to 'go wild' and collect plastic bags should the mood ever strike .

Can't tell you the last time I took a bag from REI and our Home Depot heavy duty forever bag is over 5 years old. I'll admit the slightly larger Target bags fit one trash basket perfectly; but I reckon I can adapt if we ever run completely out of liners.

As pet 'visitors/sitters', we buy biodegradable 'doggie' bags for about 3 cents each(much cheaper than 'Bags on Board'). We've also enjoyed the 're-popularity' of handles on paper shopping bags. We collect our re-cycle-ables in them and it all goes into the bin(somewhat contained so the papers and plastics don't go flying through the neighborhood ).

It'll take a little getting used to and I'm not sure what difference it will make in the environment; but the bag ban won't make me move away or drive outside of the city to make sure I can get some 'free' plastic bags.

[verybadgnome]

Ironically the first time I was forced to buy a reusable bag in the Austin area it wasn't in Austin itself. It was at Ikea in RR a few years back and I didn't realize it until checkout.......Later on I used and used again those big bags for a multiphase in-town move so they did come in handy.

Still I don't think it has adversely affected Ikea's business in light of their recent expansion.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by mesmer

Kroger has done the same thing... but it's because of the food borne illness risk they cause. HEB is just following suit. Jason's Deli has taken them off the menu as well. They're a huge liability and subject to frequent recalls - there's one for listeria in sprouts in the northwest right now. Even the federal government says "Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts)."

Well, we don't have Kroger here and AFAIK HEB is the only place in town that has stopped carrying them in the produce department.

Lots of raw foods can be dangerous. Meats of any kind. Oysters. Eggs. Etc. Doesn't mean you stop selling them. If you are worried about liability, just tell people not to eat them raw. This is just HEB being lame IMO.

[Reggieray]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Because people in Westlake aren't really into the cheap disposable stuff anyway, and they like to keep the place pristine environmentally (very strict ordinances on trees, sign ordinances, etc). So the reusable rule would probably appeal to most people there. Plus it's cheaper for the store.

I think it's quite the opposite.

[Reggieray]

I have two heb close to me one in city limits one not. I will now only be visiting the one out of city limits for the plastic bags. This is just another mike Martinez austin city council deciding they know what's best for all us stupid citizens. They are also doing it to continue to play the one up game with Portland and San Francisco. It's all a game to them.