San Francisco to ban plastic grocery bags

[amwo 0]

What???!!!

Walmart throws away all those hangers????? That is ridiculous! No wonder they don't want to pay a decent wage and healthcare - their monthly bill for crappy hangers must be out of control! I wonder where those hangers are made and how polluted the environment is near THAT factory! Just another reason to boycott WallyWorld. (why, oh why are humans so stupid? greedy? selfish?.....)

I've been known to take my Tesco Bags for Life shopping with me here. In 18 months as a cashier at Walmart I have only had ONE customer bring in her own bags for re-use, I actually wanted to hug her! But I have to say that what I find worse from a landfill point of view (and cost wasting) is the fact that we throw out every single clothes hanger that isnt given to the customer and in a wally superstore that is a hell of a lot of hangers going to landfill.

[Dr_LHA 3]

They throw those clothes hangers out? I assumed Walmart would be recycling them to save money.

[Widge 0]

What???!!!

No wonder they don't want to pay a decent wage and healthcare - their monthly bill for crappy hangers must be out of control! I wonder where those hangers are made and how polluted the environment is near THAT factory! Just another reason to boycott WallyWorld. (why, oh why are humans so stupid? greedy? selfish?.....)

Actually they do pay a decent wage I earn more than I could earn at any other job here AND heathcare IS available to me (the majority of those working at who dont use it is because we are on our husbaands better policies) so that explodes those two myths.

As for the hangers I suspect it is totally NOT just walmart but every other retailer too until there is a total mindset change regarding recycling here in the US there will be waste at every turn - as a Brit the disposable nature of everything here with no price to pay appalls me but pleaaaaaaaase do not lay it all at Walmarts door., granted they could become a leader and set a new trend

[Widge 0]

They throw those clothes hangers out? I assumed Walmart would be recycling them to save money.

which was totally my reaction too - disregarding the eco element I would have thought the cost element would have made it worthwhile but it depends I guess on who supplies the hangers wally or supplier getting the back to distribution centres would be easy and cost efficient whether the clothes come in there ready hung would I guess be the cost restrictive element

[Robor007 0]

To those who don't have a recycling program that accepts grocery bags... Next time you're shopping check the front of your supermarket and you may see a bin for them. I know the local Publix and Albertsons has one.

Agreed, however its all about convience isn't it? If people can recycle at their homes, they're much more likely to.

That is very true. My previous community had recycling along with garbage pickup and I recycled everything they allowed (newspaper, plastics, aluminum, tin, and glass - maybe more but I can't remember). My new place does not so I do not. Well, I did at first but after getting a bunch of ants in the recycled items in my garage I stopped.

[mawilson 2,133]

Yet again the US is behind the times.....

If being "ahead of the times" means paying for plastic bags, I'm very happy we're "behind the times".

[Addie_Goodvibes 0]

I don't get it. The article says that shoppers are only returning 1% of plastic bags to the stores but goes on to say recyclable bags are not widely in use today. I think most of the bags I get have the '2' with the arrow around it on the bottom (meaning they are recyclable). The article also says it would prevent 1,400 tons of debris in the landfill. If people aren't returning plastic bags now what makes them think they'll return paper after this rule? And doesn't a paper bag weigh more than it's plastic counterpart? Seems like it would increase landfill usage.

A lot of Grocery stores & Super markets have a container to place recycled Plastic bags in,

well most of those stores simply throw those bags away,

My wife uses cloth grocery bags, we sometimes take plastic bags for trash bags when we are out & about.

I think it is a novel idea but there are more effective ways to save the environment. Maybe if there were more obvious means of returning those bags, better signage promos ect.. the public would be more likely to recycle, if it is diffcult or is not obvious people in general are lazy and will take the easy way out.

CRV is Ca. 's way of encouraging the recycling of cans and bottles yet it is damn near impossible to find one of the recycling centers open or that is not out of order.

If the Govt. is going to charge CRV it should be more conveneint to recyle those bottles & Cans.

Instead CRV ends up being another tax that the govt. gets to collect. and it makes it very difficult for the public to return their bottles or cans to get that refund back.

We have a rcycling Bin that goes out with our trash, we pu all of our plastic and cardboard there.

I think the Govt. should be held more accountable for the damage they cause the environment with all of thier waste and over spending.

[Addie_Goodvibes 0]

When I lived in Japan I was very impressed with how clean it is with so many people , one reason is their extensive recycling programs.

Recyling in Japan

[Carl & Susan 0]

There's a big debate in Uganda going on right now about banning plastic bags.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/556997

Rwanda and I believe Tanzania have already banned them. In fact when you take the bus from Uganda to Rwanda they board at the border and confiscate all the bags. The real problem is that there is no trash services here, everything gets burned or thrown to the side of the road and those bags are everywhere! They clog up all water ways and what passes for sewer drains.

On the other hand they are amazingly strong and make it easy to carry my big bottles of water home.

[Reba 2]

In Toronto and surrounding area, they have curbside pick up of garbage, composting and recycling. The province provides bins for all of it, plus you can buy the composting bags (bio-degradable bags) for the kitchen bin, which then get tossed into the bigger bin for pick up. Some cities there even charge extra money for each Garbage bag over the family household limit of 2 bags (I believe it is). And, IMO, with all the other services picked up, there is NO reason any family should have 2 bags of garbage to pick up anymore!

The compost includes everything from paper plates to snotty kleenex, baby diapers and cat litter. There really is hardly anything left to toss out to landfil anymore. And there shouldn't be.

Somehow here in (most?) the US however, its just not "cost effective" to divert or convert garbage. Which really boggles my mind.

[Caladan 19]

Yet again the US is behind the times.....

If being "ahead of the times" means paying for plastic bags, I'm very happy we're "behind the times".

It's actually not that bad; when you go through the line, you just say '2' or '3' and they charge you five cents a bag. I'm not sure if it cuts down on waste, since I don't see a lot of people reusing them, but it isn't really an inconvenience.

[Widge 0]

Yet again the US is behind the times.....

If being "ahead of the times" means paying for plastic bags, I'm very happy we're "behind the times".

Aren't we though leaving a much higher price for our next generation to pay by dumping all our waste in landfills

[eric&gen 0]

Im guilty i use plastic bags they hold better than paper bags more easy to use for me.