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Uploaded: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 9:15 AM

Plastic bags shelved at supermarkets
City hopes to spread bag ban to other local businesses

by Gennady Sheyner
Palo Alto Weekly Staff

Posted by Shopper, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 9:26 am

I have noticed that the amount of paper Piazzas wraps around its meat is now double what it used to be. I once asked for a plastic bag to put around my leaking meat at the checkout and they gave me a huge paper bag instead even though I had my own disposable bags.

Safeway has produce size bags at the checkouts and ask you if you want your meat put in a small bag at the checkout.

The disposable bags do not contain anything that leaks and they do not survive well if you launder them. They tear, rip, and start smelling, so although they work very well, their life is not as long as I would expect.

I also notice that the trash bag section on the shelves are often poorly filled, a sign perhaps that we are buying more trash bags!

Posted by Lenore Delgado, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 10:14 am

While I applaud this decision as one that is environmentally sound, as a "user," it would be better for me, and I trust many others, if all large paper bags were to have handles. It is difficult to carry and balance a paper bag without a handle loaded with heavy content. How about enforcing a "handle rule" as well as banning plastic bags that were/are easier to transport because they are almost always designed with a handle.

Posted by Dean, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 10:39 am

I'm going to participate in California Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday morning - I'll be interested to see how many plastic bags we find in the creeks during this cleanup.

If you are interested in information on local cleanup sites, go here:

Web Link

Posted by Marvin, a resident of the Charleston Gardens neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 10:46 am

Check out Diana Diamond's column in today's Daily Post about how Save the Bay comes up with it's numbers for plastic bags found in the water.

While there may be a problem, it may not be as severe as the "green at all costs" people in our city make it out to be,

Posted by JRM, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 10:49 am

I applaude the use of cloth grocery bags and maybe paper bags will eventually be eliminated as well. When Safeway introduced their cloth grocery bags a while back, I bought 5 of them. The groceries fit nicely inside and I feel good helping our

environment. Oh! and the bonus, Safeway gives a 3 cent credit for each bag used.

Posted by annette, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 11:02 am

The City of San Jose is considering banning both paper and plastic on 9/22

Web Link

Posted by EH, a resident of Los Altos Hills, on Sep 17, 2009 at 11:05 am

Usually I remember to bring my cloth bags into the store. But whenever I ask the checker what then are we supposed to put our garbage in if we don't sometimes bring home paper bags, they can't answer. Which is worse, plastic grocery bags or plastic trash bags. We recycle, but there is still garbage. I'd like to know what other people do with their garbage.

Posted by Shopper, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 11:23 am

My high schooler is swimming today for pe. We usually take a plastic grocery bag to put his wet things in before putting them in the backpack. We did find a plastic bag hanging around his room, but it is going to be interesting to see how we fare when these sort of situations come up.

I do think we will be buying more trash bags.

Posted by jardins, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 12:20 pm

EH: just get two or so paper bags per week with your groceries in them. And some people line their garbages weekly with layers of newspaper, to save using any kind of bag.

Walgreen's sells biodegradable garbage bags, by the way.

Marvin: every little bit of plastic litter adds up. Have you heard of that "junk plastic continent" out in the middle of the Pacific?

Posted by been here, a resident of Menlo Park, on Sep 17, 2009 at 12:26 pm

What are cloth bags made out of? How much water goes into producing them?

Posted by Enough, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 2:44 pm

You people are control freaks where is the evidence on anything you claim.

If I want paper - good for me

If I want plastic - good for me

If I want a canvas bag - good for me

I do not need you to tell me how to live my life.

Get your hypocritical foot off my neck.

Posted by mutti, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 3:23 pm

I recently lived in Germany for a couple of years. You can get plastic bags in the grocery stores, but they cost about 75 cents each, so there is a real incentive to bring your own cloth bags, which sell for about the same price. I've now had my cloth bags for almost 5 years. I wash them occasionally and they've held up fine. The trick is, when the groceries are emptied, hang the bag on the doorknob where you go out to the car. Then you remember to put the bags in the car on your next trip out, and you always have bags with you.

Posted by Midtown Resident, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 4:46 pm

Enough (above posting) cares only for his/her self. This is clearly a situation where the greater good trumps the individual. I support the plastic bag ban, even if a bit inconvenient on rare occasion. As for all those people lamenting the loss of a free container for wet swim suits, garbage, etc. I say, purchase a few, and then re-use them (well, not for the garbage)!

Posted by Enough, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 17, 2009 at 5:15 pm

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by jack, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Sep 18, 2009 at 12:10 pm

I actually use the grocery plastic bags as trash can liners. Now I guess I need to buy trash bags.

Posted by been here, a resident of Menlo Park, on Sep 18, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Now we realize we should not have casually thrown these things away all those years. As early as 1970, we could quite easily have found out how damaging it would be to throw out plastic bags. The info was out there. Many, many people knew, and their knowing made little or no difference.

Who really thinks nobody will throw away these new lightbulbs? Isn't it wrong to launch this product, given what we know

about ourselves? What we learned from bags?

Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Helloooooooooooo Mountain View Safeway!!!! I don't mind using cloth etc bags, I DO mind being TOLD what to do. Often, a suggestion is enough. BTW to all the self righteous? Read about what paper bags can do to the environment too. And one poster above sure had a good point too, the paper bags you get at places like Safeway do not have handles and are barely tough enough to hold the groceries for the trip across the parking lot much less all the way home. Funny how so many perfect people just seem to have their bags at the ready all the time...some of us lug in our reusable bags and forget to bring them back out to the car. Then we make a quick stop for something we need and are S.O.L. Those plastic bags are good for dog crap too. Bags made specifically for dog waste are very expensive. Many of us reused our bags for many uses....then with the exception of dog poop, we recycled them. Thanks Palo Alto for taking another minute to tell me what I should and should not do. Without your superior wisdom and guidance, I would not be able to walk out of my own front door each morning.

Posted by Shopper, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:12 pm

I had to drop off something today which I had bought at Target, I dumped the stuff out and brought the bag home. A neighbor gave me some produce from her garden and I acquired another plastic bag. These things have value nowadays, very precious commodities.