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392 Comments
- TalkingMuffin, on 01/23/2008, -5/+102You know, many of the countries in Europe have had this figured out for a while. There are simply no disposable bags at the grocery store whatsoever. Oh, you forgot your bags? Well, you'll have to buy these reusable ones we have sitting by the til for 50 cents each. It only takes a couple of times of forgetting your bags before you always remember to bring your own from home.
BTW, grocery store hours in North America rock. Try buying some bread past 6:00 pm in France...not gonna happen. - inactive, on 01/23/2008, -9/+92I don't understand the whole bag mentality. I was behind a woman in line at the grocery store and she got annoyed that the checker didn't have a plastic bag big enough for her Rubbermaid tote....she wanted a plastic bag to put her big plastic box in.
- trenchcoat, on 01/23/2008, -3/+54I remember when stores did away with paper bags to save the trees.
- hiplobonoxa, on 01/23/2008, -13/+62personally, i'd like to see grocery stores stop supplying bags altogether. they're a convenience, and as long as there's an easy way out, most people will take it -- and most easy way outs result in unnecessary waste. is it that hard to bring your own canvas bag and/or backpack to the grocery store? whining about the imposed hardships of said system (carrying bags everywhere, not being able to shop on a whim, etc.) will not be counted as a valid answer, but as the second stage of grief.
as glad as i am to see even a small victory over plastic bags, we've known for long enough they're bad news. i can't help but to think they're being banned because it's hip to be "green." they should have been banned long ago. before it was cool...and before it could be used as a marketing angle. good riddance nonetheless. - thetedster180, on 01/23/2008, -8/+53there is always the option of making bags out of the coats of puppies...
- aldenhg, on 01/23/2008, -3/+36Biodegradable plastic takes a lot of energy to create - more than a paper bag of comparable size. It's still better than petroleum based plastic, but it's not as good as paper. Besides, paper is way crazy recyclable and it's better to use a resource many times than just once.
- inactive, on 01/23/2008, -3/+35Why? I reuse plastic bags for home use
- inactive, on 01/23/2008, -3/+32the checker should have stuffed her in the rubbermaid tote.
fixd - AgentKalaw, on 01/23/2008, -10/+39Whole Foods = Whole Paycheck
- bonechilling, on 01/23/2008, -2/+28I worked in corporate at Whole Foods for five years (until a little over a year ago). We tried ever plastic alternative in the world (literally, all of them, I'm confident about this) and they're all woefully inadequate. I don't ever remember corn plastic bags coming across my desk, but is probably because corn plastic is generally thin and crappy.
Something else to remember is that corn plastic isn't exactly green. Corn is the most heavily cultivated crop on earth, so using up the bulk of America's good topsoil to grow plastic bags is neither cheap nor good environmental policy. Corn also requires frequent application of petroleum-based pesticides, and countless applications of nitrogen-based fertilizers, both of which harm not only local habitat severly, and well as upset the ph balance in the ocean (read about the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico to get an idea about the size and scope of the problem).
The only smart thing for a responsible company to do is to ban plastic bags entirely. It raises people's conscious and encourages smart and practical environmentalism without resorting to draconian government policies or per-bag taxes. There is no downside to this at all. - pintomp3, on 01/23/2008, -2/+23the checker should have put her other stuff in the rubbermaid tote.
- sockpuppets, on 01/23/2008, -6/+27I always get paper bags anyway, they're handy for my dates.
- geekchic, on 01/23/2008, -14/+33They could just as easily have switched to biodegradable plastic, or even plastic made from corn starch if they wanted to.
No need for a complete ban on plastic - or a switch to paper bags. - toxicityj, on 01/23/2008, -1/+20yeah, they make great trash bags for the small trashcans some people have. and they're great for using as lunchbags. great...I'm the martha stewart of plastic bags :/
- borez, on 01/23/2008, -1/+18Are they also gonna eliminate excess packaging as well then?
- dannahlea2001, on 01/23/2008, -8/+25It's about time!!
- monkeymagik, on 01/23/2008, -5/+21I actually use all palstic bags I get to put my garbarge in. If we get rid of plastic bags it just means I have to go out a buy garbarge bags specifically.Wasting money and still using the same amount of plastic.
- vocalyouth, on 01/23/2008, -1/+17I wish I could afford to shop there!
- tribble222, on 01/23/2008, -1/+16For use on the head, I assumed.
- squirmalicious, on 01/23/2008, -10/+25I wondered about this, and I'm glad to hear about it.
- HanSolo69, on 01/23/2008, -7/+21Why not stop tomorrow? Why wait until Earth Day?
Oh wait, the press will be better. - bluecubbies4me, on 01/23/2008, -0/+14Whole Foods ain't gonna make a difference, tell Wal-Mart to do it.
- nreynolds, on 01/23/2008, -6/+19USA! USA! USA!
- inactive, on 01/23/2008, -2/+12I know people that reuse plastic bags a whole hell of a lot more than reuse paper bags.
- joessandwich, on 01/23/2008, -0/+10OR... just bring your own cloth or canvas bags. They are stronger than paper or plastic, hold more, and have better handles. I bought one from Trader Joe's three years ago and barely ever use plastic or paper anymore, even when I walk to the store.
- theblt, on 01/23/2008, -1/+11Awesome. Now if I could afford to shop there it'd be even more awesome.
- CatalystDM, on 01/23/2008, -0/+9In my experience, plastic bags tear a heck of a lot more than paper bags do.
- inactive, on 01/23/2008, -3/+12You know, you can recycle paper bags also. How about taking your own bags? Most major chains carry cheap, reusable grocery bags now.
- chazizzle, on 01/23/2008, -4/+13I'm going to use that. "No bag please, I'm saving the world!!" I'll have to practice to get my voice super hero-y enough.
- bonechilling, on 01/23/2008, -2/+11Actually, Whole Foods paper bags are extremely durable, and have handles.
Making plastic in it's first cycle, as well as recycling plastic, are both pretty environmentally devastating processes. Recycling plastic bags is a stop-gap solution. The only way to deal with the problem is to stop making cheap one-use plastic bags.
Anyway, the point isn't Whole Foods is switching to paper. Had you bothered to read the article, you'd know that the emphasis in on encouraging the use of reusable plastic or canvas bags, which is one of the easiest and most practical environmental measures that the average person can do, as well as one of the easiest ways for a company to cut its carbon footprint and reduce the amount of litter. - Speed, on 01/23/2008, -1/+9Gas stations aren't capitalized unless you're talking about a specific company called "Gas Stations" Hence his comment about being happy with the shift key.
- dood, on 01/23/2008, -1/+9To me, 2.5 teaspoons of oil is a shockingly high amount for something that just moves food from one place to another. The oil I use for food is probably not the same as the oil used in bags -- olive vs corn -- so I don't know if it compares evenly.
- Speed, on 01/23/2008, -0/+7Have you ever used Superstore or Safeway plastic bags? Unless you want them to be practically empty, you have to double bag them.
- Speed, on 01/23/2008, -1/+8At least you can grow more trees
- moosenut754, on 01/23/2008, -3/+10The paper bags at Whole Foods have handles, dum dum.
- theblt, on 01/23/2008, -4/+11I personally like the way Aldi's handles this situation. You pay 10 cents for paper bags, and 50 cents for plastic bags. Then when you come back to shop again, you just bring back the bags the purchased previously. You also have to bag your own groceries but that's there to reduce the cost of the groceries. I shop there occasionally (not for produce or meat) and have had the same plastic bags for over 9 months now. If we all started adapting this sort of attitude towards grocery shopping it would be a much better alternative than even recycled paper bags.
Hell, Aldi's doesn't even use fancy packaging on any of their products. Of course it saves them costs, but it also reduces their impact on the environment.
A little fun fact, the man that created the Aldi Foods is one the richest men in the world. Something must be working for him. - Aidenf77, on 01/23/2008, -2/+8Wow, the self-righteous "smug" was so thick coming off your comment that it clouded my monitor! I could barely see to type...
I really hope for your sake that you are actually joking about that. It's that sort of self-important conceited statement that only serves to make environmentalists look like total *****. - inactive, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6They do it because they are cheap. Like Sam's Club. They are doing it to cut down on their own cost, not for environmental purposes.
- t0ken, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6...or we could kill some more dinosaurs and wait a few millenia and have all the oil for all the plastic bags we would ever need! ...oh wait.
- inactive, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6Price Chopper in NY gives you a few cents off your order if you reuse your own bag, but does not make you pay for theirs.
- theOster, on 01/23/2008, -3/+9who doesn't use those bags for a bunch of other purposes? small trash cans, taking ***** to work, etc? i wouldn't use a paper bag for that stuff and i wonder what i would use instead? a bigger plastic trash bag? i guess i could buy a lunchbox, but i'd probably grb those disposable ziplock bags... i dunno. worth a thought...
- overtoke, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6Bring your own bag.
- t0ken, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6My favorite is when you buy a bag of stuff WITH A HANDLE and the clerk puts it in another bag with a handle.
- ptsd, on 01/23/2008, -2/+8i used to bag groceries at some soulless corporate grocery mart, i got so sick of plastic bags i can no longer stand the sight of them. i now bring my own bags. but there is a good reason to use plastic bags especially when you are buying meat. contamination, because of how our meat here in the u.s. is slaughtered, your chicken, beef, fish, and pork can be covered in a slurry of feces and harmful bacteria. you dont want this ***** dripping on your vegetables.
you could use one designated bag just for your meat, but then you would have to wash the bag, and you would be contaminating the other meat as well. you dont want bacteria from one meat getting in another cause you cook different meats at different temperatures and you wont end up killing all the bacteria and then you get sick.
speaking of vegetables, i wonder if whole foods is going to get rid of the plastic bags they use for produce. cause that would be a bitch of a problem if they did. - jeexbit, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6That's because the bread is made fresh daily, and probably sold out by sun down.
- katrayun, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6Dugg because I hope to witness someone doing that some day.
- ScottMitchell, on 01/23/2008, -1/+7In Korea, they have plastic bags at many of the grocery stores, but most charge around 50 won per bag, which is roughly equivalent to five cents USD. They do something similar at Starbuck's too: 50 won extra for the cup you drink it out of, but if you bring it back for recycling, they'll give you your 50 won back. I don't know what recycling entails. For all I know, it means that the next customer gets to use that cup.
- MoosaofND, on 01/23/2008, -1/+6Well yeah, but on your way home from work, when you realize you forgot your own grocery bags, you're going to shop somewhere else. No store wants to lose that business.
A better bet may be grocery discounts for reusing bags. The store saves money on supplies and you feel good about doing your part for the environment and save some change. Everybody wins. The Whole Foods and Trader Joe's I used to live in gave you $.10/bag. It's not much, but it made me feel good. - mikoss, on 01/23/2008, -0/+5the Real Canadian Superstore as well, and they offer heavy duty re-usable bags for less than a dollar each, and plastic totes as well that are re-usable a thousand times over.
I used to work there and had to deal with irate retards daily who didn't want to spend 4 cents on shopping bags, when they were free at any other store. Hopefully soon every store will catch on... doubt places like Walmart ever will... they cater to those ignorant tools too lazy to use their brains to think about anything but themselves. - sum33t, on 01/23/2008, -0/+5Im sure those are the bags that Mr Burns uses
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