Monday, September 19, 2011

No more plastic bags in San Jose, beginning January 1, 2012

 
What a drag the trend of ridding our modern world of plastic carry bags is. I love plastic grocery store bags, so light, convenient, clean, easy to recycle. Besides, with repeated use cloth bags are subject to internal collection of dangerous bacteria. We're so 21st century, why can't these plastic bags be evolved to  biodegrade, or is that called paper? Personally, I hope Pacifica does not consider adopting a "no plastic bag" ordinance.  Plastic bags keep our vegetables clean, and newspapers dry.  Take care in recycling plastic bags always, no ocean or creek wildlife should have to die because a human was not careful. 

Mercury News/Carol Rosen, 9/15/11. San Jose-  "It might be a good idea to add reusable cloth shopping bags to this year's Christmas lists. Beginning Jan. 1, San Jose's plastic bag ordinance goes into effect. Grocery stores, pharmacies, small and large retailers will no longer be allowed to provide plastic carry-out bags at checkout counters. Stores may still offer paper bags made of 40 percent recycled materials and charge a minimum of 10 cents per bag.

Californians use 4 million plastic bags a year. While the bags are convenient, they create numerous environmental problems. The bags are the most commonly found items during creek and beach cleanups. Plastic bags are dangerous to sea life, including sea turtles, which mistake the bags in the ocean for the jellyfish that are part of their diet.

Cloth or heavy plastic reusable bags can be purchased at grocery stores and gift shops. Most cost less than $3 and provide more room than plastic ones. In addition, local branch libraries sell bags for toting books, but they work just as well for groceries and other items. The city no longer collects plastic bags at curbside because single-use bags interfere with machinery used at recycle plants. Single-use plastic bags can be returned to grocery stores and pharmacies for recycling."

Reference:  "What you should know about plastic bags", from the American Chemistry Council, Inc.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

2 comments:

ian butler said...

Don't be fooled, plastic bags cannot be recycled into other plastic bags, they are typically shipped to China and "downcycled" into benches or decking.

It takes a bit of effort to convert to reusable bags, but once you get used to it, it's no big deal. And even after a city adopts an ordinance, if you really need a plastic bag for something they are always available for purchase, and they are still free in the produce section.

Anonymous said...

The cloth bags are a drag. They get dirty quickly and have to be washed out. How smart is that? Water will be the commodity we fight wars over in 20 years or less, just like oil. Keep using plastic, "downcycle" to China and let the Chinese get their benches and trex decks-just like us. Whole new market for Webers.