Those darn grocery store plastic bags!

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
I generally stay clear of the self check out lanes. I usually end up having to call someone over anyway. I went shopping today to pick up the last few items I needed for the holiday. Already the stores were packed so I decided to go through the self check out. All went well until I tried to open those plastic bags.
Impossible. It would have been quicker had I waited in line. It was so tempting to wet my finger but with the flu and colds in full swing I definitely would not do that,ever.
My next stop was the supermarket. I wiped down my cart with the wipes they provide and proceeded to the produce. Same problem. I couldn't get the bags open. To make matters worse they provided a little can of some kind of wax that you are suppose to dip your fingers in to open the bag
This thing was disgusting! It had hair,dirt and remnants of all sorts of stuff embedded in the wax.
I still had one of those wipes left so I wet my finger with that and it helped.
New Jersey is about to ban plastic bags as well as paper.
Until then I'll use the canvas bags I have. I can't wait to see those pesky bags go.
 

Ruth, if NJ bans paper bags as well as plastic what will merchants put a person's purchase in?
 

They've stopped providing plastic bags here at the checkout. We can buy woven recycleable bags but at between 20p and Ā£2 each it adds a lot to the bill . Only fresh raw meat that is likely to affect other food in our baskets is provided with a slim bag of it's own for free
I take a large zipped cool bag with me , and some string and some cotton bags to the supermarket..

However not providing bags gets taken a little far sometimes. I bought a half dozen large pasta bowls the other day from one of our largest supermarket superstores , and was told they wouldn't provide anything , not a bag , not a box , not even paper to put in between each plate to protect them to get them home without any breakages . I had to walk from the store through the car park to my car precariously carrying this pile of plates , before searching for some thing in my boot to wrap them up in to get them home.
 
Austin banned all bags, years ago. It was a bit absurd, and a royal PITA! Gradually, stores started phasing them back in, making sure they were the biodegradable type. Then, the ban was ruled as illegal. Still, many stores no longer provide bags. We carry heavy-duty canvas bags, with very high-end company logos on them, so all other shoppers who see them know that we're better than them! ;)
 
I always take my tote bags with me when I go grocery shopping
Once in awhile,I'll ask the cashier for a plastic bag to put as example,ice cream to seperate from rest of my groceries
The few plastic bags I have I use in my waste paper baskets
NYS is going to ban the use of plastic bags I think starting next yr. People will have to bring their own tote bags
 
Our ban goes into effect on March 01, 2020.

I hate to see them go because then I will have to start buying plastic trash bags instead of reusing the free bags from the grocery store for my trash, progress.

When the ban does go into effect you will still be able to buy a paper bag for a nickel.

I've repurposed a couple of cloth bags for my shopping but it is still a learning process for me to remember them and also to have enough sacks to accommodate my stops at various shops when I'm out running errands. I'm also a little bit concerned about carrying things like raw meat, fruit, cleaning chemicals in the same sack. Then there is remembering to toss the sacks into the wash every now and then.

"Got a pebble in my shoe, ouch
And you gotta keep dancing all the time ..." - Van Alexander (m) Harry Tobias (l) as rec by Ella Fitzgerald w Chick Webb & his Orchestra
 
My building's trash room on each floor has a special bin for plastic bags. That's new, they've just added them. I imagine someone collects them, and when they have enough, they bring them over to the big box outside of the Giant.
 
Pappy said:
Our local Publix uses plastic bags. Several for just one or two items. I use them to put our recyclables in. Then thereā€™s Aldis who does not have anything to bag with. I wheel cart out to car, put everything in a tote except frozen. We have two nice insulated bags for those.
Click to expand...
Aldi here, has a choice of recyclable bags ranging from just 9p a bag....
 
Aunt Bea said:
Our ban goes into effect on March 01, 2020.

I hate to see them go because then I will have to start buying plastic trash bags instead of reusing the free bags from the grocery store for my trash, progress.

When the ban does go into effect you will still be able to buy a paper bag for a nickel.

I've repurposed a couple of cloth bags for my shopping but it is still a learning process for me to remember them and also to have enough sacks to accommodate my stops at various shops when I'm out running errands. I'm also a little bit concerned about carrying things like raw meat, fruit, cleaning chemicals in the same sack. Then there is remembering to toss the sacks into the wash every now and then.

"Got a pebble in my shoe, ouch
And you gotta keep dancing all the time ..." - Van Alexander (m) Harry Tobias (l) as rec by Ella Fitzgerald w Chick Webb & his Orchestra
Click to expand...
This (bolded) was a problem for many of us here when the free bags started costing money , people either didn't buy them or if they did, then stopped using them as trash bags.. and had to start buying bin liners.. but generally most people have got used to it now

However, even after all this time, and also carrying my own bags in the boot of my car, I often find myself forgetting to take them into the store, and not remembering until I get to the checkout, then having no option but to buy more recyclable bags..
 
hollydolly said:
They've stopped providing plastic bags here at the checkout. We can buy woven recycleable bags but at between 20p and Ā£2 each it adds a lot to the bill . Only fresh raw meat that is likely to affect other food in our baskets is provided with a slim bag of it's own for free
I take a large zipped cool bag with me , and some string and some cotton bags to the supermarket..

However not providing bags gets taken a little far sometimes. I bought a half dozen large pasta bowls the other day from one of our largest supermarket superstores , and was told they wouldn't provide anything , not a bag , not a box , not even paper to put in between each plate to protect them to get them home without any breakages . I had to walk from the store through the car park to my car precariously carrying this pile of plates , before searching for some thing in my boot to wrap them up in to get them home.
Click to expand...
Our neighbor is a "dualie" with dual citizenship from the USA and UK...she goes back to her village in the UK to see her mom twice a year and usually brings plastic bags with her, as her mum asks for them.
 
I bought some of these for shopping. ... mesh cloth bags. ... They work out fairly well and cut down on bags at the grocery store.

iu
 
I will be sad to lose the plastic bags, I now re-use them to bag used cat litter and for my kitchen trash bin.

Some ladies at my local Nextdoor ask for those trash bags, they use them to make sleeping mats for homeless people, I guess they look like those rug mats people used to make. @Bonnie, where did you buy those bags, they're pretty and practical, too.

I used to wet my finger with my tongue to open those bags, but then realized the chances I was taking with germs. Now, I just touch a wet produce and then open the bag with no problem.
 
treeguy64 said:
Austin banned all bags, years ago. It was a bit absurd, and a royal PITA! Gradually, stores started phasing them back in, making sure they were the biodegradable type. Then, the ban was ruled as illegal. Still, many stores no longer provide bags. We carry heavy-duty canvas bags, with very high-end company logos on them, so all other shoppers who see them know that we're better than them! ;)
Click to expand...

It IS illegal. Other states have also banned the ban. Anyway it's major corporations who are the main polluters of our environment and they get away with it all like always, while the average citizen is continually inconvenienced with these stupid rules.
 
Yes they are a PITA if you try to get one loose from a pile of them. I do like to get them at a particular store I go to so I can use them to line the small waste baskets I use...they are good for that! :LOL:
 


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