Austin Bag Law - What to expect (house, buying)

[eqshadimar]

Hello all -

I am being relocated to Austin (will be arriving shortly) by my company and I was wondering about the bag law. I walk into my local grocery store (HEB?) collect my goods and wander off to checkout without any reusable bags. What happens?

[mamacatnv]

you schlepp every item into your car and house without the benefit of a bag OR you pay the fee (was $1 for paper bags at HEB not sure what it is now, I avoid grocery shopping in Austin) Most places have gone to some sort of paper bag system

[MtnLion512]

Originally Posted by eqshadimar

Hello all -

I am being relocated to Austin (will be arriving shortly) by my company and I was wondering about the bag law. I walk into my local grocery store (HEB?) collect my goods and wander off to checkout without any reusable bags. What happens?

You buy their reusable/recyclable bags for a tiny fee, something like $.10 to $.25 I think. Some stores offer paper bags.

[atxcio]

You do one of the following

1 - Buy a resuable or non plastic bag at checkout
2 - load your things loose back into the cart and walk out to your car
3 - some retailers (like Randall's) provide free paper bags with handles now

It's no big deal once you are used to it.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by mamacatnv

you schlepp every item into your car and house without the benefit of a bag OR you pay the fee (was $1 for paper bags at HEB not sure what it is now, I avoid grocery shopping in Austin) Most places have gone to some sort of paper bag system

This is pretty much it. Once you get into the habit of toting your bags with you to the store though, it's not really much hassle at all. The biggest issue for me was the non-grocery stores. It was easy to remember when going to the GROCERY store to bring your GROCERY bags but not so much everywhere else. Most places have some sort of non-plastic bag and only a few of them charge you for it.

[centralaustinite]

We have amazing bags made of tent fabric that hold a lot and go easily into the washer. It isn't a big deal at all. I keep my bags near my car keys and now it is a habit. I also keep some "emergency bags" tucked away in my car.

As someone who uses the lakes and creeks of the city often, multiple times a week, I greatly appreciate the lack of bags strewn about the environment. I'll never go back.

[riaelise]

Funny, I live in a city and county that will probably never have a bag ban and I don't see a lot of strewn about plastic bags. I rarely shop in Austin anymore except for the one off thing. And any business that doesn't offer a paying customer a free paper bag, in my book, is not worth patronizing.

[Trainwreck20]

If you forget your bags, I think the plastic ones with handles (which are pretty sturdy) are sold for 10 cents apiece. They are essentially reusable, so I keep a few of them in my car in case I forget my cloth bags for some reason.

[iamwayne]

Shop outside of City of Austin limits... Reusable = diseases/bacteria/etc if not properly washed. Imagine meat juice in the same reusable bag over and over along with other stuff. Real eco friendly is re-using the bags as household trash bags, instead of buying new bags to throw away trash. Sad Austin[mod cut] people are so rich they just like spending money on bags to throw away trash...


If you don't want to pay or don't have your own bag with you, keep it in your cart. Put it in your vehicle and drive home and unload; or just pay the fee for the plastic bag.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by iamwayne

Shop outside of City of Austin limits... Reusable = diseases/bacteria/etc if not properly washed. Imagine meat juice in the same reusable bag over and over along with other stuff. Real eco friendly is re-using the bags as household trash bags, instead of buying new bags to throw away trash. Sad Austin[mod cut]people are so rich they just like spending money on bags to throw away trash...

I don't know about you, but my food never touches those bags.