Is anyone else angry about the mandatory paper-bag charge? (San Francisco: apartment, home)

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by dlyoung123

Its not so much the extra cost or hassal. But the simple fact we have a nanny government saying we have too. That is making people like me mad as hell. Its one thing to have an anti-litter law. Which would also clean up the mess. (I think a $200 fine for throwing a bag or other litter would be more of a deterrent than forcing everyone to pay an extra ten cents per bag.) Its another thing to force everyone to pay ten cents or carry extra bags with them.

Bags aren't nanny state. Nanny state is the talk about making a law outlawing smoking in your own home, if you live in a shared wall facility....

[Ultrarunner]

A relative is an assistant manager at one of the chain stores...

He said bringing your own bag has it's problems.

First is cleanliness... everyday without fail, someone will put the most disgusting, filthy bag on the check-stand... one looked like it was used for rotting fruit.

Another is aiding shoplifting... going through the store and placing items in the bag while "Shopping"

[tstieber]

News flash: while this bag-charging racket may seem extreme to some, it's been in use in Europe for decades. I guess only crazy San Francisco is over-the-top enough to adopt the world's radical environmental policies of the 1970s concerning shopping bags. Just another example of how much this country lives in a bubble, oblivious to the rest of the world. I mean, it's ten cents, and it's a paper bag. Who cares?

[Ceece]

I used to use paper bags I got from grocery stores as my receptacles for recyclables. Now I have to go and buy an extra plastic trashcan to use since I no longer have the paper bag option.

Well, don't you still have the option if you pay 10 cents? Use a 25 cent coupon for something and you still come out ahead.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by legal_eagle

Paper bags are destroying the natural ecosystem? LOL.

The Lorax says "Yes"

[ccm123]

I usually just bring reusable bags. Yes, this has gotten a bit ridiculous!

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by tstieber

News flash: while this bag-charging racket may seem extreme to some, it's been in use in Europe for decades. I guess only crazy San Francisco is over-the-top enough to adopt the world's radical environmental policies of the 1970s concerning shopping bags. Just another example of how much this country lives in a bubble, oblivious to the rest of the world. I mean, it's ten cents, and it's a paper bag. Who cares?

First this isn't Europe and second... I never paid for a bag all the time I lived in Europe.

Grocery stores always bring the empty boxes to the front of the store for customer use and I often would grab one to "bag" my purchase.

Also, I have been offered a free bag on occasion... there is no hard and fast rule that I am aware of "Requiring" stores to sell bags.

On one assignment, I brought over some Oakland A's lightweight duffel bags to give to co-workers... they really like them for shopping because the bags would easily compress to fit in a pocket...

As to bags in general... my bags are always re-purposed. It was not all that long ago when we were told plastic is the environmentally friendly way because it saved trees.

How bout this for a news flash... actually let the store set the policy and the customers decide where to their money is spent?

[gone down south]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

How bout this for a news flash... actually let the store set the policy and the customers decide where to their money is spent?

Because the stores don't have to foot the bill for externalities, they can just give the bags away and let someone else worry about the cleanup, environment, etc. By making the customer aware of the cost involved with the product, he/she gets to make a choice between contributing towards paying for the externalities or changing his/her behaviour. And then everybody wins!

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by gone down south

Because the stores don't have to foot the bill for externalities, they can just give the bags away and let someone else worry about the cleanup, environment, etc. By making the customer aware of the cost involved with the product, he/she gets to make a choice between contributing towards paying for the externalities or changing his/her behaviour. And then everybody wins!

If the bags are re-purposed as we do... the argument for externalities falls by the wayside.

Externalities can be argued for just about anything...

No cost Parking for Shoppers, produce bags, packaging from individual groceries, coupons, promotions, etc...

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

If the bags are re-purposed as we do... the argument for externalities falls by the wayside

Not nearly enough people re-use them or properly dispose of them. And they seem to escape the receptacles, trucks, and landfills that are supposed to contain them. Unfortunately, since cities don't have nearly enough manpower to clean all this stuff, it falls on non-profits like ours to try and get an increasingly out-of-control problem in check. Our waterways reach critical mass in no time with all this plastic waste.