No more bags

[piccolopat]

Pocket. Sorry

Neither my purse nor my pockets are big enough to stuff any kind of reusable bag.

 

[rg35]

Anyone against or "inconvenienced" by initiatives to cut down on plastic use is selfish, plain and simple.

There are lots of plastic problems, bags being one of them, but things have to start somewhere.

Maybe next people will realize that humans managed to survive for about 200,000 years without drinking bottled water...

 

[karen4546]

We also don't need more oversized SUVs, wood burning fireplaces, outdoor grills or closets filled with more clothing or shoes than are needed. Everything we do has an impact on the environment. I would rather stores offer recycled paper bags for free versus selling the plastic reusable bags that don't last forever, will still have a negative impact on the environment and that I have to spend time and energy to keep clean and store.

Wait What = shoes and clothes ? I will pay for a reusable bag- heck I even remember sometimes to bring them to the grocery with me. But I will not give up my shoes or clothes-lol. Does it help that my daughters use my closet as their "mini boutique"? - they don't need a bag.

 

[piccolopat]

Anyone against or "inconvenienced" by initiatives to cut down on plastic use is selfish, plain and simple. There are lots of plastic problems, bags being one of them, but things have to start somewhere. Maybe next people will realize that humans managed to survive for about 200,000 years without drinking bottled water...

I think that you are being a bit harsh calling people selfish if they disagree with you on the use of plastics. You apparently are a DVC member since 2012. Unless you are driving a Prius to get there, some would argue that flying is not environmentally friendly and people survived without DVC for eons. Everyone can and should do what they can to protect the environment but everyone's contribution may be a bit different.

 

[MissCJ]

Like others have shown, there is a fallacy in logic with this whole issue that unfortunately, many consumers have bought into. The companies that make these plastic bags, as well as those that are selling them to their customers (WM, for instance) are making a fortune off of consumers' good intentions. Just because people don't reuse bags at the store, doesn't mean they aren't being reused somewhere. For example, we use plastic bags to clean up our dogs' waste and line our waste baskets at home (not that I would use any Disney bag for such a crude purpose! =D) as well as in the car when traveling for a variety of waste reasons (including as barf bags, etc.). If I won't be getting them from the store when buying something, then they are still readily available at public parks where people are encouraged to clean up after their dogs. Or people can still purchase them by the caseload off the shelf at stores. Plastic bags are abundantly available in a variety of ways and can be reused in a variety of ways, including for gardening & landscaping purposes (landscape plastic is used BECAUSE it doesn't decompose).
In the area where I live, we don't have this law, but this is an issue I've come across when traveling to a nearby state. And when I'm on a tight budget, I absolutely refuse to pay for something as silly as a plastic bag that should be a common courtesy of the store for me giving them my business. I've even been known to put all my stuff, one item at a time, back in my basket (which is often made of plastic, by the way) after paying for it, without the bags and take it out to my car (where I have a storage of bags I've forgotten about) or wanting to just use an empty box off the shelf. If "going green" were the intent, then why would using an empty box - that I also reuse and it IS biodegradable - be such a problem? And yes, I've been told I couldn't use empty boxes! Honestly, I'm starting to wonder what would happen if I were to take my plastic bags that I get free here and go to the next state over and give them away to people walking into the store without any bags? Would I be asked to leave or would I be allowed to continue helping them "go green"? My guess is that I'd be asked to stop or leave.
My point is that selling plastic bags to consumers when they buy something in an effort to "go green" isn't really the intent nor is it going to help much in the grand scheme of things. There will always be something, some issue, that companies will use to try and make a few extra dollars off unsuspecting consumers. If it isn't paper bags, then plastic bags. If not plastic bags, then something else will be the issue. Face it: our world devolves - that's just the way it is. This earth will never, ever, be Utopia on this side of heaven regardless of how many laws or good intentions we humans may have to try to make it perfect.
Just my two cents worth (which I could probably use to buy a plastic bag somewhere - LOL!).

 

[Woody412]

Maybe it’s the cynic in me l, but I see this as nothing more than a way to increase profits while making it more palatable for the consumer. Will this positively impact the environment? Maybe, but not in any meaningful way. I made this point in another thread. It’s the same thing as Poland Spring using thinner, cheaper plastic in their bottles and calling them “green.” These things are only green in the sense that green is the color of money.

 

[nkereina]

Maybe it’s the cynic in me l, but I see this as nothing more than a way to increase profits while making it more palatable for the consumer. Will this positively impact the environment? Maybe, but not in any meaningful way. I made this point in another thread. It’s the same thing as Poland Spring using thinner, cheaper plastic in their bottles and calling them “green.” These things are only green in the sense that green is the color of money.

This, exactly. Anyone who is blinded by this saying its a great effort to change the environment is the exact target market of these corporations. Their PR team has succeeded with you. Cost savings for them, but billing it as going green. And anyone who has the audacity to complain about it just looks like they don't care about the environment. A win-win for the corporations.

 

[FCDub]

We also don't need more oversized SUVs, wood burning fireplaces, outdoor grills or closets filled with more clothing or shoes than are needed. Everything we do has an impact on the environment. I would rather stores offer recycled paper bags for free versus selling the plastic reusable bags that don't last forever, will still have a negative impact on the environment and that I have to spend time and energy to keep clean and store.

How many "oversized SUVs" does the average American go through in a year? Now compare that to the amount of straws that same person uses in the same time period.

Not apples to apples. Sorry.

 

[cmwade77]

For those that think plastic bags are evil, consider this: Areas that have banned plastic bags have seen a sharp increase in litter and dog waste that isn't being picked up. These get rinsed down into storm drains that lead directly to the ocean in many areas.

People used to reuse plastic bags over and over until they we're disintegrsting in many cases. They would use them as liners for their smaller trash cans, trash bags for their cars, to clean up dog waste, etc.

This now all has to be replaced with something or you end up with increased litter and dog waste, which is what we are seeing in California.

So, while I understand the premise behind banning plastic bags, I think it is a false premise. We would have done better to encourage even more reuse. Additionally, the amount of resources needed to make the reusable bags doesn't iffset the lower amount of resources that are needed for the no reusable bag.

The only winners here are the stores who are now getting to charge $0.20+ per bag that costs under $0.05 to actually produce. So now instead of them having to cut into their profits to give us a bag, they are getting us to pay them to give us a bag and icnrease their profits. Is it any wonder why the prop banning plastic bags was backed by the grocery stores in California?

I am all for helping the environment, but let's actually be honest about what really helps and what really hurts the environment. The reality is very few people will carry around reusable let bags everywhere they go. When you are doing a planned trip, you might remember to bring them, but you will forget most of the time and then there are unplanned trips. Which brings up another side effect, on unplanned trips people have started to go to only getting as much as they can carry without a bag, this means more money in their pocket, but also means sales are down at stores that don't offer free bags. This was actually foreseen by the likes of Walmart and Target and they seemed to have opposed the ban on plastic bags in California for this reason. Markets are less prone to having people come in without at least some planning, which means it is less of an issue for them.

Another option would have been to have stores give $0.10 off for every reusable bag that someone used on a trip, this would have been able to be offset by tax cuts that would be possible due to reduced litter at the beaches, etc.

This is why I think the idea of eliminating plastic bags is a bad idea.

Ultimately though, this is going to cost the Disney stores sales in many areas, despite them feeding us the lies that it is all about going green, there are enough people that see through that and there are getting to be more and more.

Yes there are issues with plastic bags, but these issues are solvable, such as making them out of compostable plastics like corn/potato startch like some plastic/paper plates and utensils are. These are made from waste products like corn husks that are created when using these as ingredients, so it would also further reduce waste and by scaling up production it would reduce costs and make them affordable.

Carrying around reusable bags everywhere isn't feasible, especially for those who don't drive.

 

[cmwade77]

This, exactly. Anyone who is blinded by this saying its a great effort to change the environment is the exact target market of these corporations. Their PR team has succeeded with you. Cost savings for them, but billing it as going green. And anyone who has the audacity to complain about it just looks like they don't care about the environment. A win-win for the corporations.

Pretty much what I was saying, but you made it shorter.

 

[cmwade77]

I think that you are being a bit harsh calling people selfish if they disagree with you on the use of plastics. You apparently are a DVC member since 2012. Unless you are driving a Prius to get there, some would argue that flying is not environmentally friendly and people survived without DVC for eons. Everyone can and should do what they can to protect the environment but everyone's contribution may be a bit different.

Actually per mile, flying is generally more green than driving, especially when looking at coaster to coast.

Additionally, an all electric vehicle would be cleaner than even a Prius due to the amount of electricity required to make a single gallon of gasoline from start to finish (around 5 to 8 kWh) and then add into that the actual burning of the fossil fuels. That same amount of electricity alone can power an electric vehicle for up to 45 miles and many charging stations get their power from solar power whose solar panels were made in plants powered by solar panels. Yes, fossil fuels we're needed to make some of the first solar panels, but then they became what powers the plants to make solar panels.

The problem with banning plastic bags is reusable bags will never be able to reach that point because people don't always have the ability to carry them with them everywhere they go and they don't want to use a reusable bag to throw away trash or clean up dog waste.

 

[e mcduck]

keep up the good fight plastic warriors. its one straw, one bag, one take out container at a time.

 

[nkereina]

Pretty much what I was saying, but you made it shorter.

LOL just driving home the point!

 

[Chris Anglin]

Or I just walk home from Target with a bottle of wine in my hands and a smile on my face.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I support the concept of eliminating plastics where possible. I am also okay with passing along those costs to consumers. But no company that offers plastics at an increased price can pretend to be "green". Remove them or stop pretending that you care.

Stores should eliminate plastic bags. Restaurants should eliminate plastic straws. These changes are too simple to ignore. Not sure what we do about bottled liquids. That problem is far more complicated.

 

[middlechild]

A push to ban bags occurred in my home town here in IL. Traveling to the Town Council meeting to learn more I followed a trash collection truck. As plastic bags blew out of the open trash barrel left at curbside, blew out of the open bin on the truck front, blew out as the bin was emptied (high up and in the wind) into the back of the truck was my view on my trip. When arriving at the council meeting, I was told that I was irresponsible for using bags. I suggested we get a new trash collection company.

As a side note, I know of at least one store in Chicago that does not charge for bags, but eats the cost instead. So the bag ban has zero affect for patrons of that store. Perhaps there are others too that see it as the inconvenience it is?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

As a side note, I know of at least one store in Chicago that does not charge for bags, but eats the cost instead. So the bag ban has zero affect for patrons of that store. Perhaps there are others too that see it as the inconvenience it is?

A few stores in my area only offer paper bags - none charge for them. Lots of folks bring re-usable bags of various shapes and sizes to grocery stores in my area because they charge for paper bags. I get charging for paper bags as an incentive to get people to use fewer or to bring their own bags from home (or to re-use previous paper bags).

But the real damage being done in our land fills concerns the plastic garbage bags that the waste goes in before it is delivered to the landfill. If we really want to make a difference, we need to stop using plastic garbage bags.

Plastic garbage bags seal in the waste for years because they gasses and liquids cannot access the garbage. The bacteria simply cannot do the work of decomposing the waste. Add the fact that garbage trucks compact the waste before it gets to the landfill and you have things like a banana peel, which takes less than a month to totally decompose under normal conditions, years to decompose in a landfill.

 

[Farro]

This, exactly. Anyone who is blinded by this saying its a great effort to change the environment is the exact target market of these corporations. Their PR team has succeeded with you. Cost savings for them, but billing it as going green. And anyone who has the audacity to complain about it just looks like they don't care about the environment. A win-win for the corporations.

Or...I don't care about their intent and we don't care if we need to use reusable bags. Quite frankly we were already using them long before stores stopped giving out plastic bags for free. They are convenient, hold more stuff, sturdier and horror upon horrors, good for the environment!

And I didn't even need a PR team to make the decision for me!

And I just don't understand the argument that just because we can't solve everything at once, we should do nothing at all. Baloney (or Bologna if you are feeling Italian-ish). And as said above, I agree - get rid of the bags altogether and make everyone use reusable bags. Totally down with that. But if they did that, the outcry of the people who won't be told they need to buy a reusable bag would be deafening. So they still carry plastic bags, but charge for it in hopes of deterring most from buying them.

(I do detest, strongly, paper straws. They get wet and just gross. But I will accept this change with grace )

 

[nkereina]

Or...I don't care about their intent and we don't care if we need to use reusable bags. Quite frankly we were already using them long before stores stopped giving out plastic bags for free. They are convenient, hold more stuff, sturdier and horror upon horrors, good for the environment!

And I didn't even need a PR team to make the decision for me!

And I just don't understand the argument that just because we can't solve everything at once, we should do nothing at all. Baloney (or Bologna if you are feeling Italian-ish). And as said above, I agree - get rid of the bags altogether and make everyone use reusable bags. Totally down with that. But if they did that, the outcry of the people who won't be told they need to buy a reusable bag would be deafening. So they still carry plastic bags, but charge for it in hopes of deterring most from buying them.

(I do detest, strongly, paper straws. They get wet and just gross. But I will accept this change with grace )

That's fine. I don't care who uses reusable bags and who doesn't. Who likes them and who doesn't. My point is that corporations should not be given accolades for "going green" when they have ulterior motives in the form of cost savings. If it cost a corporation 10% more to eliminate plastic, do you think we'd be seeing this recent trend? Not a chance.

 

[Firebird060]

Wow this is a heated section of the DIS, all over plastic bags, I mean heck we all go to Disney or buy from Disney because it is something we enjoy. Everyone is entitled to there opinion but I for one am not going to get upset over having bags given to me or not. Yes Disney is a for profit company and yes any initiative to decrease cost and increase profit is going to go through as long as there is no serious draw back for the company. In saying all of that the one thing I will not allow bother me when I purchase things that are quite expensive is the fact that I didnt get a free bag. I already made the choice to buy whatever I am buying I have already parted with that money in my mind, the only thing I worry about next is weather I will or whoever I bought the item for will enjoy the purchase. Lifes to short and there are way more pressing things to worry about then plastic bags in my opinion.