The county where we lived has finally passed a law banning all plastic bags. While some stores have already instituted the change, others have told us they have until September 1, 2014 before all plastic bags are gone.
Now I am all for being green. I recycle, reuse, and reinvent ways to save money and the planet. I have a garden and I collect rainwater. I even use a bucket to collect the extra cold water that we run in the shower and the kitchen sink while we wait until it gets hot. We make our own preserves, and can whenever possible. We take things to Goodwill and sell our unwanted items for practically nothing whenever possible so that others can gain some enjoyment out of it. I can't imagine how much greener I can get.
I completely understand why we need to get rid of plastic bags because the use of them has simply gotten out of control. I much prefer paper bags anyway, but now we are being asked to pay 10 cents for a paper bag. Why should I pay for a paper bag, when it wasn't that long ago I didn't have to? And this is just at the grocery store? What about other stores such as Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Macy's Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue? Do you see where I am going with this?
While we are now being asked to buy or bring our own bags to the grocery store, what happens when they become contaminated by chicken or beef juices from the meat we buy. Surely you've had that happen right? The plastic wrap on the packages are not fool-proof. They always leak. So now we have to use these same bags...over and over again...at every single store we shop at...including the ones where we buy our clothes.
Oh I know what you're all thinking. We can just wash them, right? Maybe, but that doesn't mean that the contamination has been completely remove. I can assure you that some stains, no matter how much you scrub them, when they penetrate the fabric they don't come out when you wash it. And can you tell me that we are going to clean our bags every single time we use them? Just one more thing for us busy women to do, right?
To make matters worse, we are now going to have to bring these same bags with us when we go shopping for our clothes. After spending hundreds of dollars or more, we will have to cram them into our stinky reusable grocery bags in order to get them home. I can just see it now...everyone's beautiful party dresses, suits and other expensive items stuffed into a stain laden reusable food bag. I can hear the comments...the outrage! Oh some stores may return to the paper bag, but they won't be the same anymore. They will be cheaply made and probably charge us for them, just like the grocery store and Walmart.
A solution, use separate bags for clothes shopping vs. grocery shopping. Right...I dare any woman not to feel outraged the first time they have to shove their expensive dress for this year's holiday party season into a cloth bag along with the shoes, lingerie, makeup and other accoutrements.
I wonder if the powers that be who made this great decision thought about these things. For me, personally, it doesn't affect me much as it would others. I can live with it most of the time, but I am sure there will be others that won't. I'll just have to shop online which means my dollars will be spent outside of the county. Just one of the many reasons why banning plastic bags is such a debacle.
Biodegradable bags are on the horizon. Once the kinks are worked out, we will have a solution! The bottom line for me is that I just want to shop in peace. So I will bring my grocery store bags to the grocery store and shop online for my clothes.
Wishing you moments to do the same!
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