CALIFORNIA PLASTIC BAG BAN : OPINION BY PATRIOTIC PURCHASE BLOGSPOT

California has now banned plastic shopping bags at stores within the whole state.  (Stores we've purchased at are allowing you to provide your own, or will sell you a paper bag for a dime and sometimes give away heavy promotional plastic bags or sell heavy plastic bags, destined, they hope, for reuse.  Though there have been local votes in some places, such as Los Angeles City, any further localization of this ecology driven law is pointless.

On the basis that so many plastic bags are imported from China and other countries rather made in the USA, we have for the last few years tried to find and use bags made in the USA, with little success except for cloth bags bought at Trader Joe's.

WE HAVE FOUND SHOPPING MORE CUMBERSOME THAN EVER.  We really want a bag from the store we just purchased in to carry our purchase out and around.  We try to carry some folded, previously used bags around, jammed in a purse or the backseat of a car, but despite our best efforts we still find ourselves out shopping and needing more bags.

We have been stopped when our own bags, bulging with purchases from more than one store, appeared suspicious to sales clerks or a buzzer went off at a store front through no fault of our own.  GREAT!  Recently we were carrying both Farmer's Market Produce and clothing bought on sale in one bag when we entered a third store on a shopping avenue and the buzzers went off.  Then again, we were once accidently charged for a library book at a cash register when we set the book down to get the wallet out.

MANY OF THE BAGS STORES ARE CHARGING A DOLLAR TO FIVE DOLLARS FOR  HEAVIER BAGS THAT STILL FALL APART RAPIDLY.  Often it's the handles that detach or we see a hole in the bottom after a couple uses.  Don't know how many uses you're getting from them, but we did try to machine wash a couple of them (in cold water) that looked a little stained or stinky and that did them in.  These heftier bags are often also made in China or other countries, and they are badly sewn and falling apart so rapidly, and then must be thrown out.  From the looks of them, they will take a very long time to degrade naturally, especially in that PLASTIC is one of the materials used for these bags, such as the ones that are plastic over woven straw. 

WE THINK THE IMPACT IS ON WATERWAYS and THE OCEAN WILL EVENTUALLY BE POSITIVE, but banning plastic bags is not enough...  Also what should be banned is fast food drink containers and lids and straws because this isn't so much about the bags but the LITTER BUGS WHO DON'T THROW THINGS AWAY PROPERLY...   Maybe PLASTIC IN GENERAL SHOULD NO LONGER BE USED... (Can you image, no more plastic shower curtain?  Picnic table cloth? ) Really that SEA OF PLASTIC IN THE PACIFIC THAT'S THE SIZE OF TEXAS is VERY TELLING...  However, SINCE PLASTIC BAGS ARE NECESSARY TO THROW TRASH OUT IN and the bags themselves go to the LANDFILLS we are not sure really how the plastic shopping bag ban will improve the ecological impact ON LAND!

WE JUST THINK THE COST OF THE BAGS WENT TO THE CONSUMER INSTEAD OF THE STORE.

Another phenomena is that BRING YOUR OWN BAGS seems to mean BAG YOUR OWN BAGS!  That is also saving stores money they should be paying employees.

YOUR FARMER'S MARKET IS A GREAT PLACE TO GET HEALTHIER PRODUCE and SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS BUT CAN YOU AFFORD IT?

One of the ways that we support the American Farmer and the American Economy is by shopping at our local Farmer's Markets.  One of them is "Organic Only" and very pricey (we'll say double than our Ralph's on many items) though the very fresh eggs are comparable in price.  Another doesn't have the Organic requirement of it's sellers, though many of the stalls do feature produce that is without the use of pesticides.

We previously mentioned that we are often unable to shop at Ralph's or the like - Von's and Albertsons for instance - due to the price increases and, though we support Union workers by purchasing at businesses that have Unions (and livable wages and retirement plans)  and we want to buy American made food as well as our first choice, we have found ourselves shopping a local "Dollar" type stores as well. 

By being willing to explore a bit further out (we know GAS PRICES) to say about a five mile radius of our neighborhood, shopping in markets owned by and targeted to Americans of Hispanic, Asian, and Armenian origins,  some recent immigrants to the United States, we have found a place that has produce that is fresh enough to last a couple weeks in our fridge for not too much more than the "dead the next day" produce from the Dollar type stores.

We still run into our Ralph's to see what's on sale and also what might appear in the back where they have racks of beat up canned goods, day old bakery items, and items that maybe never made it to the shelves in the first place.