Governor Cuomo signs Plastic Bag Bill...

It's all the rage up here, but then again, we get to stop in LL Bean's Outlet in Freeport and pick up their big canvas bags at 30-50% off, depending on the deal that day, and stuff a few in each car.

While getting on the GWB this morning I couldn’t believe the amount of bags I saw stuck in trees. It was a convenience, but one I can do without if it’s going to help our local waters.

I got no problem with it. Been dealing with it out here in Suffolk County for quite some time now. I keep some reusable bags in the car along with plastic bags that were laying around the house that we collected over the years. Have yet to pay a nickel for a new plastic bag👍
I definitely notice less bags blowing around in the wind

Will paper bags be available?

Suffolk will charge 5 cents for a paper bag. No charge for Nassau. But your question really won't get answered until next March.
As I am sure you recall, the law or regulations in Nassau and Suffolk are one thing, reality from these politicos is quite another.

Suffolk will charge 5 cents for a paper bag. No charge for Nassau. But your question really won't get answered until next March.
As I am sure you recall, the law or regulations in Nassau and Suffolk are one thing, reality from these politicos is quite another.

Its already in effect in Suffolk and working out just fine. Inconvenient? Yeah. Effective? Absolutely!!

The Wife has been using those grocery plastic bags for the kitchen garbage can as long as wev'e been together , every bag get's' recycled ' .. What now , will she have to start buying plastic trash bags or are they outlawed as well ?

Nope you can still go to a store and BUY those plastic bags. (Our kitchen pail is too large for the grocery bags anyway, I just have used the grocery bags in the pails in the other rooms as liners. I even use when weeding the garden. From my stock I figure I have a bout a three or four years supply if consolidate on garbage night lol. All in all, I wish they had done this years ago. I hate seeing them blow around on the beach in the middle of winter, stuck in my trees, etc.

Suffolk will charge 5 cents for a paper bag. No charge for Nassau. But your question really won't get answered until next March.
As I am sure you recall, the law or regulations in Nassau and Suffolk are one thing, reality from these politicos is quite another.

here's where I have a problem with Suffolk's law as it stands now (unless of course something has changed)..

1. paper bags biodegrade whether in the trash or the landscape so why the charge?
2. that nickel (as far as I can tell) doesn't go into some sort of clean up fund - it goes into the store's pocket

You're subsidizing the store's normal expenses. They don't pay anywhere near a nickel per bag - be it plastic or paper. No problem if they want to charge but they should not be keeping the money.

No argument there. I wonder if the adult who delivers my snoozeday is going to just rubber band them now and throw them in the puddle at the end of the driveway. that will be it for me and that commie rag.
As for paper bags that rip apart in a mist, we have plenty of those sturdy canvas bags and will use those. when you plant dune grass at the beach the last two years, they give you one (with the local politico's name on it of course.)

I always found paper bags to be better (hold a lot more) & sturdier then their plastic counterparts. You have to know how to pack 'em & hold 'em.

I always ask for paper bags in the supermarket - if they have them - they'll give them to you with a look of disdain on their faces (because they are harder to load then plastic) - to which I'll them "I'll pack them". You get about 4 plastic bag's worth of groceries into 1 paper bag.

I really don't have a lot of "storage" in this house (no basement or garage - limited closet space downstairs). So keeping canvas bags (I have 3 now & that's about all the room I have for bags) is really not an option for me.

I know. You're all thinkin' "but you live in Virginia so why are you even concerned?"

Because eventually this will make its way here..............

I wasn't thinking that at all, but you are probably correct, any state with enough "psuedo libs" will enact these feel good laws. I read somewhere that plastic grocery bags and straws are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to non-biodegradeable trash.
Basement and garage (two yaks, bikes, hunting and boating equipment preclude using it for a car, God forbid) so storing bags is easy. I used to stuff them into old CPU boxes for use as archery targets but two bum shoulders eliminated that recurring need. Thankfully I can still swim and paddle.

I wasn't thinking that at all, but you are probably correct, any state with enough "psuedo libs" will enact these feel good laws. I read somewhere that plastic grocery bags and straws are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to non-biodegradeable trash.
Basement and garage (two yaks, bikes, hunting and boating equipment preclude using it for a car, God forbid) so storing bags is easy. I used to stuff them into old CPU boxes for use as archery targets but two bum shoulders eliminated that recurring need. Thankfully I can still swim and paddle.

I don't really have a problem with idea - just how it's executed.

I don't think it will be that bad. One of the grocery stores here, Stop and Shop, loans you a scanner. You scan each item and put them in your own (canvas) bags and use the 6 items or less lane to checkout as though you only bought one thing. They actually trust people and only do occasional random audits. (A buddy messed up though, thinking he canceled and item and then substituted it correctly. Now they audit him regularly lol.) Since I retired I grocery shop with the missus and pack while she pays, because opening those canvas bags is as time consuming as paper. (We usually don't shop at Stop and Shop, lol.)

I don't think it will be that bad. One of the grocery stores here, Stop and Shop, loans you a scanner. You scan each item and put them in your own (canvas) bags and use the 6 items or less lane to checkout as though you only bought one thing. They actually trust people and only do occasional random audits. (A buddy messed up though, thinking he canceled and item and then substituted it correctly. Now they audit him regularly lol.) Since I retired I grocery shop with the missus and pack while she pays, because opening those canvas bags is as time consuming as paper. (We usually don't shop at Stop and Shop, lol.)

LoL I was shopping S&S in L I C a few weeks ago, their prices were higher than Whole Foods here in downtown nyc...a lot of stealing going on in WF... tons of peeps shopping...Whole Foods gives out paper bags like tissue... cellie...
.

I know. You're all thinkin' "but you live in Virginia so why are you even concerned?"

Because eventually this will make its way here..............

You heard me huh?

Stop and shoplift has been expensive since they took over all the Pathmarks and Waldbaums and whatever all else.

I'm calling B.S. on Suffolk's law. I had a cashier tell me in mid January that it's had a huge impact on the number of bags she sees as litter. The law was only in effect for a couple of weeks. It's impossible for it to have had a visible impact in that short a time. Second, I almost never see anybody bring bags. They all just pay the 35 or 45 cents and load up on plastic bags. Nobody give a $#it. And more importantly I want to know where the money is going. I've never gotten a straight answer, but if it's going to the gov't that's all I need to know.

And somebody claiming a paper bag, that can stand up fully open all by itself is harder to load than the formless amoeba that is a plastic bag needs to put a plastic bag over their head.

Interesting editorial today in Portland paper which clearly defines the carbon footprint for all bag options, along with the trade offs for going eliminating single use plastic. Many towns in Maine have banned the single use bags, and legislature is considering a state-wide ban.

Our View: Paper or plastic? The answer’s not as clear as you think.