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Connecticut quit plastic bags around ghe same time too.
I saw one blowing in the wind as I was driving, realized, "damn I haven't seen one of those in a longgg time" It was like a relic.
It's shocking how much we had all just internalized seeing plastic bag litter. Our ban really did have a noticeable effect on the trash lying around. It's not just an invisible benefit "for the planet".
The only thing I think you really need plastic bags for is trash. Need to be able to compress and tie.
Plastic bags for groceries was always a stupid nonsense. Paper bags fit more stuff, are easier to pack and their handles don't turn into string that garrote your hands. And obviously the reusable grocery bags are superior to both. Two of those will last me like five years before they start becoming dubious. Can't remember the last time I carried groceries in a classic plastic bag. I associate that with the 90s. Can't believe it's still a thing in any grocery store anywhere.
Anyone been to a state that has outlawed* banning of plastic bags? The roadsides are covered in - you guessed it - plastic bags stuck to fence lines.
*Yes that's a thing. And yes it is utterly stupid
Maryland shut down plastic store bags a few years ago. We're doing just fine.
When I drove to another state that was still using the disposable plastic bags, I get a little nostalgia for the convenience factor, But it no longer seems like a hardship to either carrying my own bags or use paper, I do wish they would give me the option to spend an extra quarter a bag and not make them out of fuxking tissue paper though
In Norway we made the plastic bags really expensive (about half an Euro atm) and it's working wonders. I still have a stash of them, but they're for special emergencies. The stores sell actual trash bags that's much smaller and thinner, and thus more convenient (for me at least) so that problem is taken care of as well.
I keep 4 reusable fabric bags around as well, two for shopping, 1 for glass and 1 for recyclable bottles.
I find that I much prefer this system. And I still have the option to pay 5kr for a plastic bag at store if I have to.
5kr for a bag is juuust enough for me to get my reusable bag at home if I want to make spontaneous trip to the store on my way home.
New York City has also banned plastic bags since 2020. I was skeptical about the ban at first, because by measure of material weight, bags are but a small fraction of plastic waste. Thin film is just too efficient in terms of use-per-weight ratio. I also thought anyone who didn't want to use plastic bags already had the option to bring their own reusable bags with them.
My newfound appreciation for the ban is that not only does it divert the use of plastic material, but it forces a change in the public perception around plastic use itself. Sure, you could bring your own bags, but it felt awkward because no one else did. You felt like you were inconveniencing the cashiers and other shoppers by breaking the routine, as if you were asking for special treatment. But now it's perfectly normal! You want to carry that bag of potatoes in your arms without an external bag? Go right ahead. You want to run home carrying a jug of milk dripping condensation on the pavement? Doesn't make you look like a crazy person! All thanks to the ban. Single action by the government on behalf of the collective has achieved what collective action by many single individuals could not have.
Nothing helped me get into the habit of remembering bags like going to the store and having nothing to pack my shit in, so you either buy reusable bags or walk out with your stuff still clanking arounf your cart loose.
It only took a few weeks to get the hang of it, and now after years, I nearly never forget my bags, and we keep spare ones in the car anyway.
Such a positive behavior change the whole community made
No more free bags for lining small trash cans, hiking trash and for the car
Paper works for all of these purposes.
I'm in one of these bagless wastelands. We use bags from the groceries themselves. Many of the products we buy are also in some form of closeable plastic and just get put into a second piece of plastic for the short trip home.
Yay more paper bags for my compost however
I don’t live in Norway but where I live in the US plastic bags have been illegal for years
And in Alabama, when the city of Birmingham banned plastic bags, the state turned around and made a law that banning plastic bags was not allowed 🤦♀️
The right, "We hate gov control of local govs unless we like it."
"Alabama: Boldly refusing to accept diversity and the inevitable since 1819."
(I wonder how bad the brain drain is at this point)
We had laws put up in Toronto. All it did was let corporations make more money off us. The bag fee was not ever required to be given to the city, the stores just kept it. And now instead of getting a plastic bag at the store, i get yet another reusable bag that is worse than. 100 bags and I’ll never use that many times
Bruh what are you talking about? The reusable bags you get from chains here (Shoppers, Canadian Tire, etc) are fantastic quality "cheap" bags. Canadian Tires's are massive
Don't get me started on IKEA bags, those cost like a dollar and are absolute top notch (especially now that they have the pride ones)
Good on you Vermont, proud of you
I just wish more places put handles on the paper bags.
I don't mind a paper bag, but I hate having to, like, roll the top to carry it. Just give me some handles. Even a reinforced hole cut in the bag. Anything.
The number of upvotes suggests that people on here find it common for paper bags to not have handles, which is just completely weird and stupid. Shut down all the governments until they know how to handle bags.
Right? It's literally Trader Joe's and Aldi that have handled bags where I live. Every single other store only has handleless bags. It's terrible.
I am not from US but...
Your paper bags don't have handles? WTF? That's not a bag - that's a fancy packaging paper. Where I live, paper bags have handles made from...paper. Just tightly twisted, the same bag itself is made of, and it holds astoundingly well. You can feel when when the bag is too heavy to handle, but as of today, I only had bag itself give out rather than handles.
I assume handles cost more money to produce. But yes, bags without handles are useless if you’re shopping for the week.
They are also kind of fragile, if you put any force on the handle in any way other than directly vertically up, they fail easily. And they can still easily fail from a heavy bag or if the handle twists at all.
Would it be feasible to bring your own bags? I picked up a cheap 10 pack of fabric bags and they are sturdy enough I can usually fit a week's worth of groceries in two or three of them