16 responses to “Au Revoir, Le Plastique”

1. hillsider

   April 22, 2013

   I got stuck behind an old guy at Lunardi’s today who could not comprehend the change. And then it took him 5 minutes to decide whether or not to pay the 10 cents for the bag or not. Nothing is as easy as the 5 elders think. And what happened to poor old Holyroller anyway. Did she get hit by the kid on Hillside.

2. Joe

   May 6, 2013

   I had a lengthy wait in the “Express” line today while several shoppers in a row fumed over leaving their bags in the cars, paying for paper bags and generally being confused. I hope this ends soon, but in the meantime maybe every store could put a sign out front reminding people On The Way In to bring their bags?

3. Joe

   May 30, 2013

   From today’s SacBee:
   A proposal to ban plastic grocery bags in California went the way of so many plastic bags – into the trash can – on Thursday when it failed to garner enough votes in the state Senate to move ahead in the lawmaking process.
   Senate Bill 405 by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, would have prohibited supermarkets and drugstores from providing plastic shopping bags to consumers beginning in 2015. Paper bags would be available for purchase. Padilla argued that the ban would be good for the environment, reduce litter and help local governments that now deal with cleaning them up. Many senators said the bill would promote good habits among Californians, who would get used to carrying their own reusable shopping bags.
   But several of Padilla’s Democratic colleagues opposed the measure, saying it would cut jobs for constituents who work in Los Angeles-area bag factories and would hurt consumers who re-use their plastic bags for garbage, dog waste and other household needs. Republicans also opposed it, saying the Legislature had more important things to work on.
   “I think there is an education campaign necessary,” Padilla said after the final 18-17 vote on his bill.
   Four senators did not vote – Democrats Ben Hueso, Curren Price, Lois Wolk and Rod Wright. Padilla said he hopes to persuade them to vote for his bill and wants to move it from the Senate’s trash can to its recycling bin, so it can get another vote next year.
   Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/05/california-senate-trashes-ban-on-plastic-shopping-bags#storylink=cpy

4. Pete Garrison

   May 31, 2013

   Unintended consequence:
   Call Primrose needs folks to bring not only food for the poor, but also plastic and paper bags into which to put the alms; corner of Howard and Primrose- behind the Methodist Church…

5. Joe

   June 1, 2013

   OK, I just pulled a couple out of the recycling bin. Thanks for the heads up.

6. Sarah Nexion

   June 23, 2013

   Reusable Grocery Bags Contaminated With E. Coli, Other Bacteria
   50 Deaths in Bay area so far.
   Another idiot liberal idea.

7. Joe

   October 16, 2013

   We’re a full service blog here at the Voice so I just want to remind everyone about a Safeway deal that I just remembered myself. Back around the Grand Opening, I signed up for the on-line “Just 4U” deal. Safeway used to send out a weekly email with deals for loyalty card holders who enrolled. For some reason the emails stopped so I forgot.
   But I was thinking about it this week and went to their site, signed in and clicked on a few Just4U items. These are extra discounts below what is shown on the shelf as the card discount. Turns out I saved another 7% with J4U. Not bad.

8. jennifer

   October 16, 2013

   So, the Just 4U tracks what you purchase, right, just like the Safeway cards……..wondering if they also sell your information to other companies….

9. Joe

   December 31, 2013

   Reviewing the posts for the year reminded me of this post which reminded me of a news item I saw this week on the subject. Here is the study results with a link to the full piece on the University of Arizona site at the end.
   Reusable grocery bags can be a breeding ground for dangerous food-borne bacteria and pose a serious risk to public health, according to a joint food-safety research report issued today by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California.
   The research study – which randomly tested reusable grocery bags carried by shoppers in Tucson, Los Angeles and San Francisco – also found consumers were almost completely unaware of the need to regularly wash their bags.
   “Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from coliform bacteria including E. coli, which were detected in half of the bags sampled,” said Charles Gerba, a UA professor of soil, water and environmental science and co-author of the study. “Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags on a weekly basis.”
   http://uanews.org/story/reusable-grocery-bags-contaminated-e-coli-other-bacteria

10. jennifer

    December 31, 2013

    If you stop to think about all the germs on that (often moist) conveyer belt, shuffling the items towards the cashier, I’d bet a fair amount amount of bacteria ends up on everything: foodstuff (before it even gets put in any bag), plastics, cloth, your receipt and the cash, of course. It all ends up in the bags, peoples pockets and purses, and also on whatever we purchase.
    Getting compulsive about washing cloth bags is probably the last thing on my list. Don’t forget that a lot of people reuse the plastic bags for doggie business, and these “piles” are left for ages, here and there on the sidewalk and in bushes when people don’t want to carry them home. So since the plastic stays intact for so long, lots of bacteria blobs around that nobody wants to touch, and it is just festering in a tightly wound plastic bag.
    Unless the use of those oil-based bags becomes more commonplace (and cheaper), I’m all for the cloth.
    For the really concerned, I’d bet there is a lysol or ‘green’ counterpart spray that can do the trick for the interior of the canvas bags.

11. Holyroller

    December 31, 2013

    With Global Warming, Unemployment, O’Bama Care-if that ever happens, Mexican Undocumented workers,lets not forget the Removal and Replacement of the Burlingame Recreation Center, I do not know how much longer we can go on without it….
    Happy New Year
    Holyroller
    PS
    The single positive contribution The City of Burlingame has made, and continues to make, due to Jennifer is the planting of trees, and the maintenance of the Urban Forest.
    Jennifer- Burlingame Citizen of the Year.
    Thank you now, and thank you for all the future benefits those trees will provide our City, and the community that will be here.
    You must work very hard.
    Holy

12. jennifer

    December 31, 2013

    You are very kind to say that, thank you…………:)j.

13. Burlingame Betty

    January 3, 2014

    I agree – Jennifer’s hard work and positive perseverance has resulted in some wonderful additions to Burlingame – please don’t ever move!

14. fred

    January 3, 2014

    Getting rid of plastic bags made a lot of sense. Charging for paper bags is just silly and dangerous considering there has been an increase of E.coli illnesses and deaths as a result.

15. fred

    January 3, 2014

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/plastic-bag-ban_n_2641430
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-green-bacteria-in-shopping-bags,0,4837500.story

16. Joe

    April 3, 2020

    Now, “Bonjour, Le Plastique”
    In the latest sign of how dramatically the coronavirus pandemic is altering the social landscape, even the liberal San Francisco Bay Area this week banned reusable grocery bags as a sanitary measure, dismaying recycling advocates who say durable sacks should still be allowed at stores.
    The Bay Area counties reduced the types of businesses and facilities that can stay open to the public and tightened requirements for those still operating, including grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants still open for takeout or delivery. Among the updated requirements in the order, which lasts through May 3: “Not permitting customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home.”
    https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/04/01/its-come-to-this-liberal-san-francisco-bay-area-bans-reusable-grocery-bags-1270319?fbclid=IwAR0mFF0C0xDz8QlamfG7w3ytL-PsQiIVRBnGAYWzSl-p9ed8uygewOz8QnY