SA's Plastic Bag Usage (San Antonio, Mart: fit in, apartment, home)

[The Black Irish]

City Vs. Plastic Bags - News Radio 1200 WOAI San Antonio Texas

A possible idea would be to issue each taxpaying household 10 burlap bags that could be used for grocery shopping, retail stores, etc. If you lose some you can purchase more through Waste Management or wherever. Basically like how they did with the recycle bins/trash bins. You cannot put plastic bags in the recycle bin and they take decades to decompose in landfills. I know stores have a lil place for you to take your bags and recycle them, but honestly how many people do that??? Not to mention the trash that is everywhere. I challenge you to go to your nearest HEB, Costco, Wal-Mart, or Target and take a look around. You'll most likely see plastic bags, amongst other trash, everywhere. Drive down the street near these stores and you will most likely see more of their trash. Honestly, do we need plastic bags? Other than the grocery store and picking up dog s**t would we miss them? Just a thought.

[Bo]

I have shopping bags, most of which I've acquired for free. Since I have occasional flare-ups of bagnesia, about 1/3 of the time I forget to bring my bags into the store with me. I also can't ever remember a time when I've carried my bags into a store and seen someone else carrying theirs in, too. A few times I've noticed someone else leaving the store who also used permanent bags. Since most shoppers here don't appear to use those bags, I doubt they'd be too thrilled about being FORCED to use them.

BTW, burlap? Ewww, scratchy! Tyvek would be my choice... like the Costco bags!

[Camper1]

I must be one of the odd ones because I do take my used bags back and put them in the recycle bin. I'm not perfect at using the reusable bags yet but I would say i do 85% of the time. It took some time to get there. I now leave the bags in the passengers seat when I get home so they are the first thing I see win I get it to go to the store again.

I hate the HEB bags!! I take my trusty Walmart bags into HEB and when they tease me I tell them why I don't like their bags.

[The Black Irish]

Not so much forced, but provided so you can use them if need be. I was thinking if given a choice maybe people would choose those bags instead of opting for the plastic. Also, was thinking burlap b/c it would most likely be cheaper. But yeah it would be kinda itchy I suppose. Bagnesia LOL!! Yeah, I get that sometimes as well. Have em sitting in the back and rush in real quick and then get to the cashier. Dangit!!! Forgot the bags! Sidenote- I used to work at Albertson's back in the day and was told by the store director to throw those plastic bags in the compactor to go out with the trash. Not saying HEB does this, but I wonder if they are really "recycling" those bags? They are an eyesore though in my opinion.

[Sarah TX]

When I was living in a 2nd floor apartment, reuseable bags were awesome. Plastic bags just couldn't hold enough stuff and we would end up making two trips. The reuseable bags are much stronger and easier to carry. I have also told cashiers not to bag items that easily fit in my pockets or purse, but some stores have security requirements that an item has to be in a plastic bag. I bought a purse from Sears at Ingram mall and they required me to put the bag in a bag!

Personally I wish stores would charge people for using bags, like they do in some other cities. I payed for my reuseable bags, and yet I'm still subsidizing plastic.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by The Black Irish

Not saying HEB does this, but I wonder if they are really "recycling" those bags?

There's another thread here somewhere where this was discussed. It's a small local company that does the bag recycling for the bags HEB collects. I can't remember what they recycle them into. (Maybe a side effect of bagnesia? )

[Azure110]

The city should charge tax on each plastic bag used. I think some cities already do this.

What would probably happen is that the stores will just try to pass off the extra cost to the customer.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by MattTx

The city should charge tax on each plastic bag used. I think some cities already do this.

What would probably happen is that the stores will just try to pass off the extra cost to the customer.

Of course they would - that's what happens with ANY tax/fee that is placed on ANY business. The sooner folks learn that, the better - because ultimately any tax/fee placed on business is going to be paid for by the end user.

Oh....an' when they factor that added fee in, they also factor a profit in on it, as well - and any additional costs incurred by having to implement the new fees....an' we get to pay THAT, too.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

I bought a bunch of reusable bags a couple of years ago. When we lived on the north side, I used them all the time, but once we moved across town, it felt like the stores here really aren't glad to see you walk in with a bunch of bags and the cashiers act flustered when they have to use them, so pretty soon we gave up and went back to using the plastic bags.

[GlorifiedMalcontent]

Originally Posted by Bo

There's another thread here somewhere where this was discussed. It's a small local company that does the bag recycling for the bags HEB collects. I can't remember what they recycle them into. (Maybe a side effect of bagnesia? )

probably into more plastic bags. i recall seeing "recycled" plastic HEB trash bags and the sort.

ps, i do return plastic bags once the bag container is full (those that are not sanctioned for ferret litter anyway).