Guest essay by Eric Worrall
At least one green initiative is facing the chop, as states and retailers worried about Covid-19 re-embrace the hygiene of single use plastic shopping bags.
States Welcome Back Single-Use Plastic Bags to Avoid Contamination
DR. SUSAN BERRY 27 Mar 20201834:55
States that introduced “green” regulations that taxed single-use plastic grocery bags in an effort to eventually annihilate them are now welcoming them back as health officials caution of possible contamination with reusable bags.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said Thursday he was suspending the ten-cent tax on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail businesses as one of his actions “to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
“The latter move is to curb the use of personal bags that could bring the virus into a store,” reported the Journal Inquirer.
Neighboring Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) banned reusable bags in stores this week and lifted bans on plastic bags as well “as part of his administration’s latest steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus,” reported the Boston Business Journal.
“Baker announced Wednesday that stores cannot charge for either paper or plastic bags, which in some communities have previously cost 5 cents per bag,” noted the report.
…
Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/27/states-welcome-back-single-use-plastic-bags-to-avoid-contamination/
A lot of “reusable” shopping bags already end up in our trash. They make great trash bags (stronger than single use, convenient size), and frankly the thought of putting food into a bag which has already been used to carry meat or dairy is just scary.
Update (EW): h/t Dr. Willie Soon – Greenpeace has accused the plastics industry of exploiting fears about Covid-19 to overturn single use plastic bag initiatives.
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Here is my thought on the plastic bag:
Single use–not to people that realize they are getting a free bag they can reuse again. The plastic bags are only single use for those that are being taught they are only for single use. That’s pretty easy to change–don’t throw that away! Reuse it! Here, take this bag and go clean up your bedroom/bath/car..whathave you.
The problem with the term single use is that it’s being TAUGHT that way. What we are not teaching is the way to reuse the bag before tossing it into the recycle bin at the grocery store. That’s wrong IMO.
And here is my thought on re-usable bags–and no I don’t mean the ones you buy at the store so keep that in mind:
I made my own re-usable bags out of good cloth WITH a cleanable liner–great buy btw, an entire bolt of pvc liner they use in diaper bags. Why did I do this? Because I like to carry as few freaking bags as possible. That’s the only reason. And I know how to sew. My bags are based on a paper bag design that fits inside the plastic bag holder and stand up straight so the bagger (me or the checkout bagger) can stack the food in it properly without it rolling all over the back of my car while I turn out of the parking lot. Because I made them, they get cleaned out, wiped down and I have dedicated ones for meat and poultry (labeled as such and designed as such because most people do not read)–so they are separated. I have a total of 5 bags, each very cool and I am very proud of them. Each with a non-leak, non-cross contamination liner and each made to last a long time with proper care. I’ve been using the same bags for close to 5 years and they look brand new. They get tossed into the washer once a week and stored like my linens.
Now why did I make them? Because those ridiculous “cloth” bags they foisted on everyone around here were non-woven plastic that attracted every scrap of fur, fuzz, dust, mites and gawd only knows what else. You couldn’t wash them properly with hot water–they disintegrated. Yes I bought them for the same reason I made my own later….because I’m tired of bags breaking or not being able to put more than 3 items in them and have my groceries roll all over the back of the car and smash my eggs by simply turning a corner.
Do I still get plastic bags at the grocery store? You bet I do, I’m not going to turn down a free bag that I can re-use or donate to our local businesses that run out of bags all the time. I recycle. Why? Because I can. Because I do not live in a single use disposable viewpoint. Anything useful can be re-purposed or donated to give it more life to someone else. But more importantly, I am teaching my children to do the same. Recycling does not mean simply put it into the recycle bin after you are done using it.
Several years ago, here in the UK, when supermarkets were considering ceasing the use of single use carrier bags they started selling ‘Bags for Life’. We bought one, but inevitably it fell apart. I pointed out to the cashier I was still alive and wanted a replacement. After some ‘discussion’ with the management we were given another one. One advantage I have noticed from the ban on free single use bags is the lack of them shredded and flapping in the neighbourhood trees.
Personally I like my reusable shopping bags. They are made of nylon and have sturdy handles that won’t break on me no matter how much I load them up. The store people never have to even touch them because they have special hangers on them that clip to the sides of the shopping cart and hold them open – the bagger just has to put the packages inside. They also won’t come apart if they get a little damp on a rainy day, and if something inside does leak, it won’t soil the car seat. They are easy to clean and it only takes a few minutes to do it. People with cloth bags can just toss them in the wash with everything else.
I understand why people don’t want to be forced to use reusable bags, but they shouldn’t be prevented from using them either. Frankly the cashiers and baggers have already maximized their risk of cross contamination from touching the purchased items since they were all touched by the customer. The reusable bags don’t represent any additional risk at that point. People in retail should be washing their hands frequently and using hand sanitizer between every customer anyway.
This is just another symptom of the panic that is gripping the world right now. The media and the public “experts” need to sit down and seriously think about what kind of messages they want to communicate right now. A breakdown of the economy and civil society will ultimately cost a lot more lives than this virus, and will in fact make it harder to fight this virus. Don’t Panic! Wash your hands! Try to reduce how much you touch your face! Those three things will reduce the problem to a manageable level and will help protect you from other viruses like the Flu.
Most of the cross contamination comes from what you put into the bags the last time you used them.
“Greening Our Way to Infection: The ban on single-use plastic grocery bags is unsanitary—and it comes at the worst imaginable time.” by John Tierney on March 12, 2020
https://www.city-journal.org/banning-single-use-plastic-bags-covid-19
“… reusable tote bags can sustain the Covid-19 and flu viruses—and spread the viruses throughout the store. Researchers have been warning for years about the risks of these bags spreading deadly viral and bacterial diseases, but public officials have ignored their concerns, determined to eliminate single-use bags and other plastic products despite their obvious advantages in reducing the spread of pathogens. In New York State, a new law took effect this month banning single-use plastic bags in most retail businesses…”
“The Covid-19 virus is just one of many pathogens that shoppers can spread unless they wash the bags regularly, which few people bother to do. Viruses and bacteria can survive in the tote bags up to nine days … An earlier study of supermarkets in Arizona and California found large numbers of bacteria in almost all the reusable bags—and no contamination in any of the new single-use plastic bags. … The researchers also found that the vast majority of shoppers never followed the advice to wash their bags. One of the researchers … said that the findings “suggest a serious threat to public health,” particularly from fecal coliform bacteria, which was found in half the bags.”
“In a 2012 study, researchers analyzed the effects of San Francisco’s ban on single-use plastic grocery bags by comparing emergency-room admissions in the city against those of nearby counties without the bag ban. The researchers .. reported a 25 percent increase in bacteria-related illnesses and deaths in San Francisco relative to the other counties.”
“… New York Department of Health … advises grocery shoppers to segregate different foods in different bags; to package meat and fish and poultry in small disposable plastic bags inside their tote bags; to wash and dry their tote bags carefully; to store the tote bags in a cool, dry place; and never to reuse the grocery tote bags for anything but food. …Anyone who has studied consumer behavior knows that it’s hopelessly unrealistic to expect people to follow all those steps. If the Department of Health actually prioritized public health, it would acknowledge what food manufacturers and grocers have known for decades: disposable plastic is the cheapest, simplest, and safest way to prevent foodborne illnesses.”
Walter Sobchak
March 29, 2020 at 10:23 am
Thanks Walter…that article says it all!
Nobody touched my reusable bag but me in the supermarket. The risk from these having any impact on the epidemic is very small. https://www.postbulletin.com/news/state/states-and-stores-are-banning-reusable-bags-during-covid-/article_92b6c040-7108-11ea-b328-3b1e967ad670.html