Let the complaints begin...

[Dreamstalker]

Today marks the day that the total ban on plastic shopping bags goes into effect (very poorly thought-out idea, manager suspects that Town Meeting wasn't actually thinking when they proposed this). I thought the store was going to take advantage of a loophole that would let us be exempt from the ban, but Cthulhu forbid the company do anything to reduce the tantrums us drones are subjected to. So all remaining plastic bags had to be sought out and locked in the cash office so nobody uses them by accident...I have a feeling the town's going to send in 'inspectors' every so often to make sure we don't have any evil plastic bags lurking (I wonder what happens if a customer is using our plastic bags as their reusable bags).

We did get paper bags with handles...ASM said they tried it a number of years ago and it was a miserable failure (also, far more expensive for us to have them). I know that unless doubled, they do not last long in inclement weather at all. These new bags are just the old ones with thin handles glued on. Trader Joe's paper bags can last for a few months of use if 'properly' taken care of, not sure how these will fare.

Crazy Can Lady always steals a few reams of plastic bags whenever she darkens our door, an upside I can see to this is that I can legitimately tell her NO and she may not come back.

[bhskittykatt]

You have my sympathies.

Though over here at least, I never saw anyone throwing a fit over our ban. We've had it for a couple years(?) now and people seemed to adapt well. It was almost a non-event. Here's hoping it goes as well for you.

[Estil]

I hope they never do a plastic ban bag where I live...I like using those plastic bags for taking out garbage and doing kitty litter! I know the pro-ban people insist it's for the good of the environment...well I'm doing the very definition of recycling by reusing the bags, doesn't that count as being green?

[fireheart]

I hope they never do a plastic ban bag where I live...I like using those plastic bags for taking out garbage and doing kitty litter! I know the pro-ban people insist it's for the good of the environment...well I'm doing the very definition of recycling by reusing the bags, doesn't that count as being green?

We had the exact same argument down here.

While recycling/reusing them might be "green" in itself, the bags do not degrade well, get caught up in sewers and clog whatever the hell it gets caught up in. The "thicker" bags don't clog up as such because they also do not float well in the wind....(if you think of the Forrest Gump feather sequence, replace that with a plastic bag)

I had two very bizarre requests pre-plastic bag ban:

1) Was a lady who wanted to get a whole "pack" of our plastic bags (we had them in "packs" that were in a box. 1 pack=about 50 individual bags). The reason why? They coordinated with her kitchen decor.

2) This bitchy lady and her daughter who wanted 1 item per bag. Three guesses why. And this was even for the light-ass stuff.

Of course, since the ban has come into play, people adapted very well to it. They'll either bring in their own bags or they'll purchase and reuse the bags that the supermarkets sell.

[Dreamstalker]

fireheart, when we changed our plastic bag supplier (heavier plastic, different color), I had a request similar to #1. I still see customers with the old brown plastic bags--given that we switched from those about two years ago, they hold up pretty well.

The weeks leading up to the ban had some pretty bizarre bagging requests (one item per bag, triple plastic; etc) and we guessed people were hoarding them. For the last hour on Saturday night, ASM told us to just let people grab packs of bags if they wanted (a lot of people here use them for trash/pet waste because they're easy to tie). Hey, less for us to round up. The few complaints I did get yesterday, people realized that they should be yelling at Town Meeting about it and were just happy to find an employee who felt the same way they did. I give this a month before there's an article in the paper about how it was a bad idea.

The indie bookstore I used to work at got a few extra months to comply until they use up all their bags; the manager was quoted as saying that they could not find a suitable substitute for their large heavier plastic bags. One question I haven't figured out yet: what are we going to use for damaged items that are leaky/slimy/smelly/have glass? I came within inches of slicing my hand open on a broken jar candle somebody had just put in the returns cart O_o If I'm expected to buy puncture-proof gloves now, the store better find a way to pay for them. We still have the thin greenish bags for meat and produce, but those tear if you look at them wrong.

[EricKei]

DS -- Maybe they'll let you grab a box of heavy-duty Ziploc bags or something similar to use for that purpose...?

[Dreamstalker]

They'll have to. I'd love it if we could get Town Meeting to pay for all the changes we need to make because of them, but I know that's never gonna happen.

[DerangedHermit]

One question I haven't figured out yet: what are we going to use for damaged items that are leaky/slimy/smelly/have glass? I came within inches of slicing my hand open on a broken jar candle somebody had just put in the returns cart O_o If I'm expected to buy puncture-proof gloves now, the store better find a way to pay for them. We still have the thin greenish bags for meat and produce, but those tear if you look at them wrong.

If they had stronger garbage bag liners, that could work.

[Dreamstalker]

Ours leak badly if there's any amount of liquid in the trash can; we sign out a box of the contractor bags every so often. Back when the damages cart still existed (the sign was removed and I haven't had time to make up a new one--also ASM hasn't reimbursed me for materials like he promised would happen), I was considering lining it with a couple contractor bags---theory being we wouldn't have to use as many single bags. (I'm now wondering if grocery stores can get a pass to use plastic internally for broken/messy stuff).

Ziplock bags would make more sense as I can more or less glance in the cart and see where there's glass/mess/etc rather than getting surprised (I always look in the cart first anyway, but IMO you should not have to pick through everything before starting to sort returns).

We had the first bag casualty last night; a gallon of milk and 2-liter soda bottle (in the parking lot; I don't know if the bottom fell out or the handles failed). We've had to chuck a fair number of bags right out of the pallet with bad handles or open bottom seams. There have also been complaints about the way stuff is being bagged so a few of the baggers had to be re-taught; in general it's the same as when packing a reusable bag, but they're not as sturdy.

I do know that a number of customers have said that they'll go to the next town over due to the bag ban so it looks like we will lose some business over this. How much remains to be seen, and whether the suits will know where to put the blame.

[workerbee222]

I can understand that plastic, improperly disposed of, would be a problem. I'd suspect though, that it takes more natural resources to make a paper bag. Isn't plastic a by-product of petroleum?

[Estil]

And what's the difference between using a grocery bag to put your garbage in versus a regular ol' trash bag? It's the same plastic pretty much right?

[Dreamstalker]

Pretty much, except the grocery bags can be tied easily and they fit in smaller trash cans (in our kitchen we only have room for an under-sink cupboard door rack that is designed specifically for the plastic grocery bags).

[Aethian]

under-sink cupboard door rack that is designed specifically for the plastic grocery bags).

They make bags that size. They are just kinda rare, if you need some left me know and I can dig up a box or two.

[ADeMartino]

I can understand that plastic, improperly disposed of, would be a problem. I'd suspect though, that it takes more natural resources to make a paper bag. Isn't plastic a by-product of petroleum?

It takes more natural resources to make a NEW paper bag, yes, but like plastic, paper can be recycled. I don't know which of the two requires more resources to recycle, but the issue is more what happens to either when they do eventually reach the landfill. Paper will decompose, where plastic won't, or at least not as quickly.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

It takes more natural resources to make a NEW paper bag, yes, but like plastic, paper can be recycled. I don't know which of the two requires more resources to recycle, but the issue is more what happens to either when they do eventually reach the landfill. Paper will decompose, where plastic won't, or at least not as quickly.

Not only that, but petroleum is a non-renewable resource, where as with paper we can just keep planting trees.