Home › Forums › Open Discussion › civil bag fee discussion thread
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August 22, 2008 at 4:27 pm #587846
KenParticipantI am decided a while back to leave this discussion alone. But the reason is selfish.
I have my habits and my own ideas about how to balance my convenience and my concern for the environment. This issue (so far) is not going to affect me for one reason.
I don’t shop at any of the “urban” WS food markets.
I would also rather see a return of minimal package requirements for manufacturers and an end to huge packages made from nearly indestructible plastic which cannot be opened without tin snips and the jaws of life. This would save thousands of times the plastic (and the oil it is made from) especially if it were enforced nation wide.
So I will continue to shop at the Roxbury Safeway just outside the city limits until it gets too crowded with bag fee refugees.
I use my plastic bags 2-3 times before I bundle them for the recycler. I would have to buy bags from a wholesaler if there were no alternative.
August 22, 2008 at 5:05 pm #635081
mellaw6565MemberKen – not sure why you would have to buy bags from a wholesaler? Can’t you buy re-usable bags instead? (which is kind of the point of the user tax)
I agree with you on reducing all packaging. One of the worst is the vegetable bags in the grocery stores – those can’t be recycled. So I went to organic vegetable delivery and now there are no bags, I spend less money, and ultimately less gas. Just another alternative for some to consider.
August 22, 2008 at 5:07 pm #635082
beachdrivegirlParticipantChildrens toys are pretty awful to with the packaing!!
August 22, 2008 at 5:11 pm #635083
condodwellerMemberI appreciate your balanced, thoughtful approach to managing the carbon footprint we leave.
Sometimes the things we buy are so overpackaged I am afraid I will have to throw them away because I cannot get them out of the packing.
It would be a shame though if our local stores lost business because of a political action that put them at a disadvantage.
August 22, 2008 at 5:21 pm #635084
mellaw6565MemberCondo – IMO the only way that a store would lose business is if people don’t want to do the environmentally responsible thing and decide to go somewhere else just to get plastic bags for their own convenience. (not to mention the extra fuel used to get there)
If everyone would use non-plastic bags, then they could continue to patronize their local store at no additional cost to anyone. In fact, the local store could quit purchasing plastic bags altogether! Wouldn’t that be grand?
August 22, 2008 at 5:22 pm #635085
mellaw6565MemberBDG – I hate kids’ toy packaging!!! And music/electronic ones too.
August 22, 2008 at 5:26 pm #635086
HPMemberBdg, You beat me to it, just a few years back with 4 little girls at our house for Christmas the amount of gabage going out our back door was unbelievable and not to mention the time it would take us adults to get those toys unpackaged so that the kids could play with them!!!!!!!!!!!! I have since boycotted some toys just because of the packaging. Because not much of it is recycleable. Then there is the gift wrap that also goes into the trash. We should all move toward recycleable gift wrap from the spendy stuff at the paper stores to white paper with natural ribbon material , or get oldschool with the funnies from the newspaper for the kids. That will be my holiday season commitment. And for all the gift wrap you have in your storage use it but reuse it, my mother irons her gift wrap and tissue and I cant tell you how many times I have gotten the same bows on gifts from her because she saves it all, when I was younger I just thought she was being cheap! Who knew she was ahead of her time in the earth friendly recycle game.
August 22, 2008 at 5:37 pm #635087
beachdrivegirlParticipantAnd I here I thought my mom was the queen of resuing gift wrap, boxes, tissue paper bags etc….you should watch me open a package…my friends and fianace give me the hardest time b/c of how “scared” i get to rip the wrapping paper from a package…
My mom also (i shoudl get better at all this) will reuse a zip lock baggie time and time again just by washing the inside of the bag with soem warm soap and dishwasher …
August 22, 2008 at 5:48 pm #635088
SueParticipantFor opening those awful plastic packages, I purchaed an OpenX tool: http://www.myopenx.com/home.htm (I’ve had it for years – I think it was cheaper on eBay at the time). It’s still not fool-proof, but a bit easier.
I’ve taken to writing to companies to complain about the packaging if I think it’s excessive, and ask if there are changes in the works. Like a protein powder I buy, only comes in a small container with no refill or larger size available. Even though the container is recyclable plastic, I’d rather buy it in a larger container and save the plastic. They said they had heard from other people about it and were considering it. Some companies do care what customers think.
I’ll admit I haven’t been paying much attention to the “bag tax” discussions here or elsewhere. I have so many reusable bags that I seriously can’t remember the last time I took a bag from a store (grocery or otherwise). I guess my big question is, if “they” think that the plastic bags are such a big problem, why are they not banning them outright? Not that I’m saying they should necessarily do that – haven’t admittedly given it enough thought about my position on that. It’ll be interesting to see how it all turns out. In the meantime, all I can do is take care of myself and my own choices.
August 22, 2008 at 5:50 pm #635089
HPMemberBdg that is hilarious b/c my mom does the exact same thing!!!! And all plastic food containers become her new dishes and storage containers. You can open her fridge and think there is margarine but oh no its soup incongnito.
August 22, 2008 at 5:52 pm #635090
beachdrivegirlParticipantHP, I have done that before many many times.. and cnat really talk b/c i actually do that myself now! The margarine containers seem to work better than most of the cheaper ziploc containers you buy @ the store…
August 22, 2008 at 5:56 pm #635091
rs261MemberI’m not either of your moms (way to many problems with that) but I do it too…until they get wholes in them that is! I hate all the excessive packaging at costco/sams club/bulk food stores…so I refuse to shop there.
I also wonder, if its the plastic bags that are the issue…why are the paper ones being taxed as well? or am I wrong in that thinking and they will not be taxed?
August 22, 2008 at 6:02 pm #635092
beachdrivegirlParticipantPaper bags will be taxed too. And that is part of my problem with the bag tax. I find it odd that 1)only grocery stores will be taxed and 2)Paper bags will be taxed too.
It seems to me that their would be other solutions that would be a bit more friendly than the one that they approved.
August 22, 2008 at 6:05 pm #635093
HPMemberBdg,Oh I know eventually they rub off on us. I cant say Ive never done it but the bf ends up throwing them in the recycle or the garbage hes a bit anal about how things are arranged in the cupboards and those dont fit his stacking criteria and I’ve been working on him for years to not throw everything out hes gotten better but still pretty “typeA” things must be in perfect order. I am an only child so I tease my mom about the fact that I am going to have to clean out her house with out the help of any siblings and it will take way too long if she doesnt stop saving everything. And the funny part is its all very organized and labeled. But tons of stuff there she even saved all my magazines I subscribed to as a teenager and filed them in chronilogical order, theres vouge, W and a few others with years worth in boxes in her garage!!!
August 22, 2008 at 6:10 pm #635094
beachdrivegirlParticipantOh I know exactly what you are talking about! My parents have lived in their house since 73′ …. i am not an only child but my sister and i give out mom a good teasing at least once a year b/c it frightens us at what we might find after someone keeps and organizes 30 + years of books, magazines, and whatever else…. She actually had two extra storate rooms added on to the garage! ARe you sure r moms aren’t related???
August 22, 2008 at 6:19 pm #635095
GinaParticipantI like the reusable bags, they are light, they dry quickly if it is raining, and the handles don’t stretch and cut through the palms. Also the sharp packages don’t tear through the side of the bag. Paper bags in Seattle? Rain. Paper. Big soggy mess.
I don’t care for the design of the wheelie baskets offered at this time. Something built on a jogging stroller type frame, sturdier, easier to push and able to hold cat litter bags without collapse is what I imagine. Or those biketrailers that can convert to strollers. But without seats.
And for the wayback memory–The Seattle PI was spread on the kitchen counter after it was read, breakfast fruit skins and coffee grounds dumped on it, paper folded up and carried to the garbage can. Half of paper was saved for lunch waste. The Seattle Times was for evening meal garbage. Wastebaskets were dumped directly into the garbage can.
Glass bottles were collected by kids, and taken in to see how many pennies you could get from the grocer to spend on candy.
Beer bottles could not be redeemed at the local store, had to be taken to the brewery for redemption.
I suppose that there would be a surcharge now for using newspaper for garbage wrap because it can be recycled.
Brown paper bags were saved for school book wrap and cut open for coloring on.
You could buy white butcher paper for coloring, but it was harder to color on because of the shiny surface.
August 22, 2008 at 6:27 pm #635096
RSMemberI re-use zip locks too, but my favorite green packaging strategy is using pillow cases for x-mas presents instead of wrapping paper. Our family has been doing that for several years now!
August 22, 2008 at 6:34 pm #635097
HPMemberBdg, I am not sure that theyre not related but if not definitly soul sisters. I am scared to ask you if your mom wears your old clothes/shoes most of my clothes she wouldnt be caught in b/c they are too conservative but she wore a pair of my old tennis shoes for so long they were pink and grey nikes from my seventh grade year and only did she wear them out about 2 years ago and I am 37. So I could chalk this up to a rave for nike quality also 24years of semi frequent wear!!! And Gina I also used brown paper bags for book covers. Which were great for decorating.
August 22, 2008 at 7:04 pm #635098
RainyDay1235MemberI encourage people to read the fine print about the tax initiative and have the vote do to the people…that is why this country is so great.
I also encourage people to simply start shopping with reusable bags. It’s easy, sturdier than paper or plastic, and safe for the enviornment. Government intervention or not! :)
August 22, 2008 at 7:05 pm #635099
beachdrivegirlParticipantOld clothes no! But shoes yes!! And yes those paper bags for book covers were teh best :) Do kids still do that these days???
August 22, 2008 at 7:09 pm #635100
HPMembernot sure my kids arent old enough to have started bringing hardcover schoolbooks home yet.
August 22, 2008 at 7:18 pm #635101
HPMemberIn addition Why dont apartments and townhouses have recylce along with the garbage that is huge quantities of recycleables going into landfills each year?!
August 22, 2008 at 7:19 pm #635102
beachdrivegirlParticipanttownhouses do! at least my old one did! i think the worse part about apartments/condos is that it is hard to track back to who is and who is nto recycling.
August 22, 2008 at 7:22 pm #635103
beachdrivegirlParticipantfrom the home page. Sometimes i think we forget to read here. Two interesting things:
1) That they have enough signatures after two weeks!! Yeah!! :)
2) It sounds like they are tyring to say that the signatures are invalid b/c the siganture gathers were misrepresenting the facts by saying that the signature on the paper was to vote on the bag tax when in fact the bag tax had already been voted on (by the city council) Interesting argument.. not sure i by it.
August 22, 2008 at 7:35 pm #635104
barbMemberThe apartment building I live in has recycling
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