Austin considering fast foods ban

[Ben Kenobi]

The vast majority of people here use reusable bags. I do it just because they don't ****ing break.

They are also unsanitary.

Most grocery stores here give you a $0.03/bag discount if you bring your own, or you can have it directed to charity.

Here nobody pays the bag tax (that I've seen), and the stores have mountains of unused reusable bags that will never sell. Nobody uses the bags, they just cart their groceries to their car.

[Sava]

yeah! damn socialists
they ban everything!

i don't need some nanny state telling me i can't have lead in my gas or paint

or mercury in my water

pfft

[molly bloom]

Reusable bags are completely unsanitary.

.

Yes, because we all clearly have no access to soap and water.

Use a plastic bag. Seriously. I have several years supply full of my dried semen.

Undoubtedly.

[Ben Kenobi]

If you have several years worth already you obviously need more every time you shop don't you.

When the ban came I loaded up but my supply won't last forever. It's a stupid ban that won't accomplish their goal of 'behavior modification'. The only thing the ban did was make groceries more expensive.

I'm surprised they don't underscore the behaviour modification aspect by handing out free ones to EBT users.

[MikeH]

Everything I buy from supermarkets is either in sealed packaging, or fruit and veg that's going to get washed before use anyway. Unsanitary, schmunsanitary.

[Ben Kenobi]

i don't need some nanny state telling me i can't have lead in my gas or paint

or mercury in my water

Ex landlord had a gf who was from California and threw out all my plastic bags when she came for a visit. Seriously. Plastic bags are not the equivalent of lead.

[MikeH]

Here nobody pays the bag tax (that I've seen), and the stores have mountains of unused reusable bags that will never sell. Nobody uses the bags, they just cart their groceries to their car.

So the behaviour has been modified.

[MikeH]

No bags is even better than reusable bags.

[Ben Kenobi]

Everything I buy from supermarkets is either in sealed packaging, or fruit and veg that's going to get washed before use anyway. Unsanitary, schmunsanitary.

And they never break or leak. Especially not meat. The problem isn't that the fruit and vegs get contaminated (although you can do that), the problem is that you bring your unsanitary conditions from home back to the supermarket carousel. That same carousel that countless other people put their food on.

If I ran a supermarket, I'd ban any and all reusable bags. Plastic single use or paper only. I don't want you bringing your crap back into my store.

[kentonio]

Everything I buy from supermarkets is either in sealed packaging, or fruit and veg that's going to get washed before use anyway. Unsanitary, schmunsanitary.

Yeah same here. It's hard to justify the free bag thing when you look at where many of those bags end up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_P..._garbage_patch

[Ben Kenobi]

So the behaviour has been modified.

People just buy their plastic bags elsewhere from what I've seen, and bag up in their car. Dollar store sells em. Me - I have my own system of slots and crates. Way faster.

[MikeH]

YOU DON'T BRING YOUR UNSANITARY CRATES INTO THE SHOP?! YOU BIO-TERRORIST!

[Ben Kenobi]

It's hard to justify the free bag thing when you look at where many of those bags end up.

Yeah, now there will be an equally large patch. But with reusable bags that couldn't be sold and end up in the landfill.

The bottom of a reusable bag is like sticking your toilet on the top of a carousel.

[MikeH]

Either way, doesn't matter, 1 off bags are completely wasteful when you've demonstrated how easy it is to get by without them. They are utterly pointless and wasteful.

[MikeH]

I've worked in a supermarket, if you are worried about the bottom of a reusable bag, never buy any food from a supermarket, ever.