Recyclable carryout plastic bags exists. Some San Jose stores have them, cost is 10 cents per bag. But, living on the coast, considering some of these plastic bags end up in the Pacific ocean, we may not be offered that alternative.
CBS, channel 5, 4/22/13. "12 San Mateo county cities enact plastic bag bans on Earth Day."
SAN MATEO COUNTY (CBS SF) — A dozen San Mateo County cities celebrated Earth Day on Monday by implementing plastic bag bans.
| Bring your own recyclable plastic bag? |
.... Daly City is among the dozen cities joining San Mateo County in implementing plastic bag bans Monday. The other cities are Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Pacifica, Portola Valley, San Bruno and South San Francisco, according to the county. Four other cities—East Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Carlos and San Mateo—have similar bans in the works. Millbrae already has a plastic bag ban in place." Read article, includes embedded video, 3:14 minutes."
Related - San Mateo County Times, 4/17/13. ".... The laws aim to encourage the use of reusable bags, which county officials say are better for the environment. If shoppers don't bring reusable bags, retailers are required to offer them paper bags -- for 10 cents each. After Jan. 1, 2015, each paper bag will cost customers a quarter. The law applies to grocery and convenience stores, pharmacies and other shops, but not to restaurants. Plastic bags for produce, meats, bulk foods and prescription medicines still will be used. .... Woodside is the only one of San Mateo County's 20 cities that has resisted jumping on the bandwagon. Although council members have discussed it several times, they didn't vote on a ban in February after disagreeing about whether customers should be charged for paper bags.
Related - to the contrary. Recycled plastic.com, (marketplace for plastic scrap, plastic recyclers, recycling centers), "Reusable cotton bags are not eco-friendly." "According to a government sponsored research done in 2008, Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags by Dr. Chris Edwards and Jonna Meyhoff Fry, cotton bags need to be used 131 times before it has the same environmental impact as its plastic counterpart!" Photograph above from this website article.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
4 comments:
Its a pia but like everything else we will get used to it. Does the 10 cents per bag go to the merchant or to the county?
You have to remember to keep the bags in the car and bring them into the store every time.
To the merchant. That's why you didn't hear the expected uproar from them when this was proposed.
Take them out of the car and wash them occasionally unless you have a hankering for salmonella.
The 10 cents goes to the merchant? Woohoo! This council really is pro-business. Oh wait, that's my money they're spending, isn't it? I should have known. Always with the sneaky hand in the taxpayer's pocket.
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