my opinion: the bag law is a failure (San Diego, San Francisco: houses, contractors)

[RosieSD]

The freeways and road sides continue to be littered with those large industrial-type sheets of plastic that retailers and warehouses use for packing large items and that some contractors use in houses to protect floors. I've always seen more of that type of plastic trash than I have grocery store bags flying around.

I wonder why that wasn't addressed in the law? Maybe a fine for depositing it on roadsides? I would think that giant sheets of plastic are just as much of a danger -- if not more -- to the environment and wildlife than shopping bags.

But then, it has always suprised me how much trash in general people seem to just dump all over San Diego County. Sidewalks, parking lots, beaches, the sides of roads --- trash is everywhere here. Certain parts of the county look like a landfill exploded all over them. And, I've seen more dirty diapers just dropped in parking lots than I care to remember. What's up with that? Don't people use trash cans any more?

[JustMike77]

The funny thing is that I'm old enough to remember when they said that using paper bags will kill off the rainforest, so we need to use plastic bags instead. Now it's the plastic bags that will kill the planet, but paper bags are OK. Reminds me of all the headlines in the 70s about the coming Ice Age and now it's Global Warming. Apparently, some people just need something to be worried about.

[eastcoastbias]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

The freeways and road sides continue to be littered with those large industrial-type sheets of plastic that retailers and warehouses use for packing large items and that some contractors use in houses to protect floors. I've always seen more of that type of plastic trash than I have grocery store bags flying around.

I wonder why that wasn't addressed in the law? Maybe a fine for depositing it on roadsides? I would think that giant sheets of plastic are just as much of a danger -- if not more -- to the environment and wildlife than shopping bags.

But then, it has always suprised me how much trash in general people seem to just dump all over San Diego County. Sidewalks, parking lots, beaches, the sides of roads --- trash is everywhere here. Certain parts of the county look like a landfill exploded all over them. And, I've seen more dirty diapers just dropped in parking lots than I care to remember. What's up with that? Don't people use trash cans any more?

The inadvertent drop off of waste/plastic/rock/sofa chairs you name it stems from the extremely dumb hauling practices on the roadways here the police just seem to ignore. There is more time spent catching parking violations. In the past couple years alone, I've had a cracked windshield from a truck hauling rocks (uncovered) and I ran over a metal box and blew two tires from a "moving" truck/ ford pickup hauling past its limits. When I move I pay for a Uhaul and the insurance that is required. When folks move I have to replace my tires (almost missed my friends wedding too)


The trash is bad, part of the issue is infrastructure (includes trash receptacles) and maintenance of items- the city and its services are made for a city with half of the population we have- yet we continue to develop and overdevelop. Just like the stadium that was almost built and the avalanche of homes being built near Carmel Mountain/4S and Mira Mesa. From Traffic down the smallest details trash receptacles- NEVER considered. If you have a trash can that is full people dump. If you don't enforce hauling violations, people will drop and cause hazards in the process.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

The freeways and road sides continue to be littered with those large industrial-type sheets of plastic that retailers and warehouses use for packing large items and that some contractors use in houses to protect floors. I've always seen more of that type of plastic trash than I have grocery store bags flying around.

I wonder why that wasn't addressed in the law? Maybe a fine for depositing it on roadsides? I would think that giant sheets of plastic are just as much of a danger -- if not more -- to the environment and wildlife than shopping bags.

But then, it has always suprised me how much trash in general people seem to just dump all over San Diego County. Sidewalks, parking lots, beaches, the sides of roads --- trash is everywhere here. Certain parts of the county look like a landfill exploded all over them. And, I've seen more dirty diapers just dropped in parking lots than I care to remember. What's up with that? Don't people use trash cans any more?

The absolute biggest problem we have in San Diego City proper is cigarette butts. You won't see them now due the rain but during our drought it was horrendous. Every single intersection was inches deep with them. All of that washed into our ocean.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by JustMike77

The funny thing is that I'm old enough to remember when they said that using paper bags will kill off the rainforest, so we need to use plastic bags instead. Now it's the plastic bags that will kill the planet, but paper bags are OK. Reminds me of all the headlines in the 70s about the coming Ice Age and now it's Global Warming. Apparently, some people just need something to be worried about.

Or have control over people while they make money off of it.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Or have control over people while they make money off of it.

This right here.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

The freeways and road sides continue to be littered with those large industrial-type sheets of plastic that retailers and warehouses use for packing large items and that some contractors use in houses to protect floors. I've always seen more of that type of plastic trash than I have grocery store bags flying around.

The freeways are also jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Every single intersection was inches deep with them.

[opalminor]

https://phys.org/news/2017-02-norway...-stranded.html

Cant believe no one's posted this yet. this is so incredibly sad. Probably happening much more than scientists are reporting. Using your own bags is not a big deal.. people carried their own bags to the store for centuries, right? before we got spoiled with single-use plastic bags..? IMO the biggest problem is that they are not uniform and the cashiers in most places aren't used to using them, it kind of slows down the check out line, etc. And the new bags aren't perfect either.. they break or tear eventually, and then where do THEY go? But it's better than what we've been doing.. which can only get worse as the population continues to explode.

[StripeypantsB]

I agree that the ban is a failure the way it has been done, but perhaps for a different reason.
We used to have thin "disposable" bags that could be recycled if you care. Now, those thin bags are gone and we have thick (10x the plastic, easily) bags that are for all intents and purposes, still disposable. Just because they CAN be used 120 times, doesn't mean that they will be.

10 cents for a bag is not much of a deterrent. People still just pay for them. People will only start remembering to bring their own bags if the deterrent is greater. I'm voting for $1 a bag. And not a nice big fancy reusable bag that's just going to end up in a landfill, mind you. $1 for a normal disposable plastic bag. And the money goes to the city for something to be decided. (Environmental purposes?)

Then, folks will have the incentive to make a new habit, and we will reduce our plastic refuse, which was the whole point in the first place.