Am I the only one who finds it annoying, inconvenient, more costly and even more deleterious to the environment in not being able to save plastic bags no longer provided by Newton retailers for containment and transport of purchased items, and then using them as waste basket liners? I say environmentally deleterious because the replacement plastic bags available for specific purchase to line waste baskets are thicker and generally larger, beyond what is actually required as well as additionally harmful to the environment, compared to the former free plastic bags.
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
I detest single-use plastic bags and I go out of my way to always use my own reusable bags, but in the grand scheme of things my efforts are nothing more than meaningless virtue-signalling, because at the supermarket I proceed to fill them up with loads and loads of plastic junk.
A single-use plastic bag weighs 5 grams (one-ninetieth of a pound). But at Sud Farms or Trader Joe’s I generally take home about a pound of plastic packaging. For example we go through 4 gallons of milk per week and each bottle contains 60 grams of plastic, so for the milk alone, we’re taking home about a half pound of plastic…then there are the strawberry crates, the bread & bagel bags, the cottage cheese containers, etc. (And let’s not kid ourselves that any of that packaging is still actually being recycled at this point, although that’s another discussion.)
In Montreal, 2 out of the 3 largest grocery chains now allow you to BYOC for produce, deli/butcher, and bulk items –
https://www.mtlblog.com/news/canada/qc/quebec-iga-stores-inviting-customers-to-bring-their-own-reusable-containers
But there’s been very little mainstream effort in Boston to address the waste that comes from packaging – just this feel-good anti-plastic bag movement. Oh and let’s not forget the ban on plastic straws, which weigh in at a whopping grand total of half a gram, less than a tenth of the plastic that’s contained in the cup that usually holds the beverage.
It’s similar to how I get great self-satisfaction in using BMW (bus-metro-walk) to get around everywhere in Boston, but then last night I hopped on an Air France 777 which spit out 1-2 tons of CO2 for my seat alone – equivalent to about 15,000 miles of driving in a car.
It is legitimate to ask whether replacing a thin plastic bag with a doubled up (always!), rather thick paper bag is a good idea. I hope our councilors can chime into this thread. I feel like single use food and drink containers are a much bigger contributor to plastic litter than shopping bags, and would love to see them eliminated.
Michael is making a good point about the obscene amount of plastic every customer carries out of the grocery store. I’m nearly in tears every time I check out. Indeed, our society wants to feel like it’s doing something good without actually sacrificing anything.
@Michael: The push to ban straws has nothing to do with their weight but with their shape and the fact that they break down into small pieces that can be ingested by turtles and other animals. Of course, just like you say about grocery stores and planes, the hypocrisy here screams to the heavens, considering the atrocities our eating habits inflict on animals in our food system and in our oceans.
I don’t miss the plastic bags decorating the trees is the carriage way for blocks on either side of the Star Market…
Not an argument for or against, just a curious personal anecdote.
Our wonderful elderly neighbor goes for a walk every day, summer or winter, around the neighborhood. She always brought one of those single use bags with her and filled it with trash she picked up along the way. When Newton banned the bags she was very concerned.
Ever since we’ve been smuggling them into Newton for her from any out-of-town shopping we do in plastic-happy towns.
I have mixed feelings about them. I like that the plastic bags are easy to roll up and fit in my purse, weighing very little and taking up little space, so I could always have a couple with me in case I needed a bag while I was out. I have found lightweight nylon bags that roll up and fit the bill. On the other hand, it really is easy for animals to get their heads caught in the handle holes and get strangled.
@Newtoner – If I forget a reusable bag, I just ask the bagger not to double-bag my groceries. Not difficult at all.
Meredith – maybe you ask, but most people don’t.
No we should not revisit it. Instead the state should pass a statewide ban which would be fairer to businesses and less confusing to consumers.
Yes, get rid of the bag, straw, >65 dB leaf blower, and middle school football bans. If people feel these are not things they want to use/take part in, I have no problem with them refusing them.
P.S. I too have bags smuggled into newton from outsiders
P.S.S. My kid still plays football until they try to ban that in high school too
No more time should be spent on plastic bags. BTW, people still put three apples in one produce plastic bag and three oranges in another plastic bag. I happen not to use those plastic produce bags because I can’t re-purpose them. Of course Wegmans is happy to sell me a tray of cut up veggies wrapped in plastic. Again, I don’t purchase those either.
I use the plastic check out bags for many things – lining trash cans is one very useful thing.
But I hate when I purchase meat (chicken or beef) and the package leaks all over my re-usable bag. Having those germs in the bag, means I have to wash the bag, and usually I can’t save that re-usable bag.
I think Newton should spend time on allocating funds to re-build our infrastructure, including new senior center, upgrading schools (and getting on a cycle), streets, local pensions, local health insurance costs, potholes, the Gath pool and stop spending time on plastic bags, straws and single use water bottles.
It’s a simple reminder that there are not easy solutions to most difficult problems.
Except this one.
https://youtu.be/DkGMY63FF3Q
I’ve refused plastic check-out bags and used my own cloth bags for shopping for about 20 years, ever since seeing miles of plastic bags from US supermarkets washed up on the shores in Uruguay; avoid using those thin plastic bags for supermarket vegetables and fruits; recycle plastic containers that the City won’t take by putting them in the bins at Whole Foods; and still use wax paper (like everybody did when i was growing up). instead of plastic wrap. Just a stupid old guy, i guess, not really making any difference (except for feeling a bit better). Oh well…
The plastic bag ban is an insult to Newton not for its intent but for its execution. See Mr. Reibman’s comment above for an approach which is both substantive and fair. Nonetheless, it should not be revisited. To do so would lend support to those who would use referenda to undermine the will of the people as expressed by their duly elected representatives. Right now, it is far more important for Newton to provide support for robust development (both because it will benefit the city in the short, medium and long term and because property owners should be afforded the right to broadly dispose of their property as they and not their neighbors see fit) than to look backwards to revisit the small minded plastic bag ban imposed.
I do wonder though if there would be support for something like a GoFundMe campaign designed to place in stores throughout Newton containers full of dimes to be used by those who prefer to not spend their money on this useless imposition. Kind of like “give a penny, take a penny” but for bags.
I’ve done some on and off consulting work on environmental and local government issues at Boston College’s Irish Institute since I retired several years back. The Institute has helped establish cross border networks by inviting participants people with similar professional backgrounds or interests from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to Boston as part of the Good Friday Accords.
The Irish who come here are shocked by the amount of packaging, plastic wrappings, throw away bags, discarded consumer items etc. they see over here. We did a statistical analysis and they produce less than half as much waste per capita as we do in Massachusetts. Yet, in the Republic, at least, the people have readily accepted bans on virtually all the consumer waste products we are still fighting on over here. They have led the EU in many of these initiatives. They have also made progress in resolving just about all of the thorny social issues (abortion, same sex marriage, church state issues and climate change) that still divide us here. Maybe this is one reason the Economist magazine rates the Republic as the world’s 6th most vibrant democracy while the US has slipped to Number 26.