Environment

When they did this in my state this was my first thought. Not only am I now using a bag that weighs 10 times as much, because I doubt many people remember to grab the bags before going to the store. But the thicker bags suck at at least being 2 use bags as a garbage liner in the bathrooms etc. So now I have to buy those.

The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime.

This part is so preposterous. They did it in Washington too. "Plastic is bad, so we're going to use even more plastic! Oh, but we're going to charge you for it too". Very few people reuse them. Now we're just wasting even more plastic and the consumer has been hit with yet another new fee. Fucking idiots.

I always try to carry these newer plastic bags with me when I go shopping, the pockets of a particular jacket work great (as long as it isn't summer), I can just store them in the jacket pockets for reuse. This worked great until I had to go to the courthouse. Going through security at the front door, I was questioned by one cop because I had a metal pen and checkbook in my shirt pocket which I didn't think to put through the scanner, a second cop harassed me because my jacket pockets bulged. Then the cop didn't like my response, which was emptying my pockets so he could see the empty plastic bags. I really have no idea how I'd ever carry cloth bags for reuse, those would make my pockets bulge even more.

Perhaps we need to give up on shopping bags entirely?

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