Is banning/taxing plastic grocery bags the solution?
By Carol Brown
@blitzfrick (2890)
United States
October 13, 2015 1:17am CST
There seems to be a movement afoot to ban or tax plastic grocery bags. This puts the burden of the problem on the shoulders of the consumers, in my opinion.
Have you ever looked around your environment to see how much plastic is in it? You can do it without getting up out of your comfortable seat by googling "plastic" and clicking on images. Bags and bottles top the list. But there's so much more to the story of plastic in our lives.
We sip our fast food beverages from plastic cups through plastic straws. And those little screw-on caps are everywhere. I have several containers in my fridge right now that have those, and for the most part, the containers themselves are plastic. Tonight the meat for my dinner came out of the fridge on a styrofoam platter wrapped in plastic film. Oh yes, styrofoam is a petroleum product.
Scrolling down the images page, I find plastic dinnerware, plastic toys, plastic furniture, plastic baskets, plastic storage containers, and hey, there are those ring thingies that hold a six-pack of cans or plastic bottles together. No, I won't go on, but I invite you to take a look around you and observe the plastic in your life. Plastic that has become so commonplace as to become practically invisible.
Do you think we'll solve the problem by trying to change people's behavior? It's a worthy goal but one of the hardest things in the world to do, make people change.
However, let's assume for the sake of discussion that everyone stops using petroleum-based plastic grocery bags. Do biodegradable grocery bags made of cellulose or cornstarch have a place in the solution? What else do you think might stem or stop the ubiquitous presence of plastic in our lives? Or do you think getting rid of petroleum-based plastic grocery bags will do the trick?
11 people like this
12 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
13 Oct 15
I see very little benefit in reducing the amount of plastic by persuading someone to use 2 carrier bags instead of 3 while the groceries are sold in plastic containers wrapped in cellophane. An unnecessary amount of my shopping consists of packaging that I do not want and have to dispose of.
3 people like this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
I totally agree with your comment and that of @Asylum .
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
13 Oct 15
Here in our country , the people uses Eco Bag instead of plastic bags and if you don't like to buy those ecobags because you have one already , but just forgot to bring it with you , they put it at big brown paper . I found brown papers not good because they easily tear so i always have a folded ecobag in my bag . 
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (82710)
• United States
13 Oct 15
I agree that although the brown bags might be better or the environment they do tear easily and are difficult to carry
2 people like this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
@Marilynda1225 Decades ago, groceries were sometimes boxed in cardboard boxes in addition to, or instead of, paper bags. They were easier to carry than the paper bags. Some stores around here use paper bags that have handles, which helps. Others will "double-bag" paper bags if the groceries are heavy. My point was that instead of, or in addition to, banning or taxing plastic grocery bags, why not mandate at least a reduction in the use of plastic packaging for groceries and ban the use of plastic in many other products such as straws, toys, bottles, etc. Googling images of plastic really opened my eyes wider than ever.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
@Marilynda1225 Do you wash your Eco-bag? If not, check this out: . Eeeeuuuwww.
Way to go, all you planet-saving shoppers who've made the switch to reusable bags! But consider:
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
14 Oct 15
I think it might be better if they just stopped making them and went to something biodegradable. If they can send a man to the moon they should be able to handle this.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
14 Oct 15
There actually are already biodegradable bags on the market made from cellulose or cornstarch. I don't think the industry will make the switch though without being mandated by the feds, who of course are huge fans of the oil industry. Much easier to impose controls on the masses than give up all those perqs from the oil lobbyists. Oh dear, do I sound cynical? Is it cynicism when the thing is true? Sigh.
@LadyDuck (471354)
• Switzerland
13 Oct 15
We pay for grocery bags from at least 15 years, this solved nothing, people do not care to spend 5 cents to buy a bag that will end up in the bin. The only solution is to teach people to use personal bags and stop to offer disposable bags.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
So I can understand you correctly, do you think all the other stuff made of plastic and all the plastic packaging isn't a concern to be worried about or addressed? And taking care of the plastic grocery bags will solve the situation?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471354)
• Switzerland
14 Oct 15
@blitzfrick Absolutely NO, we are producing too many plastic products. It was so much better when every drink came in a glass bottle. Glass is recyclable and it does not pollute, but of course plastic is lighter... so let us pollute the planet!
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (82710)
• United States
13 Oct 15
In our store we have a choice of paper or plastic. The store also has a big recycling bin for the plastic bags and I'm surprised at how many people actually bring the bags back to recycle
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (82710)
• United States
13 Oct 15
@blitzfrick I agree and try to use paper rather than plastic. It's a difficult situation where we are surrounded by everything plastic in our daily lives as you mentioned n your post
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
Recycling plastic sounds quite noble and may be a worthy action—I'm all for recycling and recycle everything I can—but plastic never goes away. It's photodegradable—it degrades in light—but not biodegradable. If there was a way to do away with it altogether, I'd be for it, with a possible exception given to medical uses.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (43184)
• United States
8 Sep 16
@blitzfrick The bags are solid oil slicks but easier to carry than the paper bags. Biodegradable would be great.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
8 Sep 16
I totally agree! Why not offer the compostable/biodegradeable ones made from cellulose? I suspect the oil industry is the reason.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
8 Sep 16
@akalinus I'm with you. Just wish the manufacturers would switch to natural raw materials in the making of them, instead of petroleum, which doesn't biodegrade but only photodegrades, compounding the problem.
I honestly believe much of our cancer epidemic could be traced to plastics in our soil and water, and possibly in the air. I grew up in a town that had a "necklace" of petroleum processing plants. The town, on the Texas gulf coast, is located in what's called the Cancer Belt:
The South is known for many things: hot, steamy summers, iced tea laced with sugar and friendly people with a tendency to welcome strangers. But beneath the veneer of Southern hospitality and gracious living lurks a silent killer: cancer. Vanderbilt-Ingram
@allknowing (136100)
• India
14 Oct 15
There was a bit of drama here - orders to stop selling plastic bags and those carrying plastic warned of punishment. This lasted not more than 6 months. We are now back as before.
No plastic manufacturer's license is cancelled and on the contrary more licences to manufacture plastic bags are issued
1 person likes this
@xuliwei830406 (94)
• Fujian, China
9 Sep 16
The municipal government asked everyone to raise awareness of environmental protection.If not only is not allowed to use plastic bags.Does not have any effect.So, we also improve environmental awareness.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
13 Oct 15
Do you wash your personal bags? This article, ( ) and others, reports high levels of bacteria found in personal bags because people tend not to wash them.
Way to go, all you planet-saving shoppers who've made the switch to reusable bags! But consider:
@Freelanzer (10743)
• Canada
17 Oct 15
In most stores here they charge 5cents for a plastic bag they say to discourage its use but then they pocket the money. I carry my own reusable bags or bins
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
13 Oct 15
There is a unique problem with plastic bags that does not happen with plastic cups and plates, etc. Plastic bags become airborne and end up in the ocean, lakes and rivers. They are far worse than other items. But, I sure do prefer glass to plastic for containers and paper to plastic for bags.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
14 Oct 15
A bazillion other things end up in the ocean too, Elizabeth. Albatrosses are feeding their young bits and pieces of plastic, including those little screw-on caps you see on cartons and jugs of milk, or those plastic ringy thingies that hold together a sixpack of bottles or cans. Whales and fish are full of miniscule pieces of plastic not visible to the human eye. It doesn't all come from plastic bags. Take a look:
Hey, good to see you again! So this is where you went! Lotsa Bubbz peeps here! YAY!
