Thought I'd add a bit of local flair to this forum. A rise in theft appears to be a side effect of that plastic bag ban Seattle and several surrounding cities pushed so hard for.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

Guess they'd better tune up their security a bit doesn't it?



Anyway that's what the bastards get for tearing down my favorite Seattle store the GreenWood Market.

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Still missing you everyday pal.

Plastic bags are a bigger problem.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

So if banning guns can save a life, you are for it, but if using plastic bags can save a life you are against it? Got it

What? What the fuck are you talking about?

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Mostly just screwing with you, but you have said that you want to ban guns and such to save lives, and according to the article posted above, more people are getting sick and some dying from food poisoning due to using reusable bags. Therefor, the conclusion that could easily be reached from this is that banning plastic bags has cost some lives.

Ok. I thought you were being absolutely serious. Sarcasm is so hard to understand on the web.

It seems common sense to me to wash your hands/food/bag after use or in preparation. I don't drop an apple into some drain cleaner, blow on it and expect it to be clean.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

It seems common sense to me to secure my guns and never point a weapon at someone unless I intend to use it.

Funny how this common sense applies to everything.

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That's weak sauce!

I'm not going to argue the difference between a plastic bag, a reusable bag and a gun.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I'm with you SH cause I have to admit I've never been able to hit the broadside of a barn with a plastic bag.

But give me my 7.62x25 Tokarov and the barn's in serious trouble.

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Still missing you everyday pal.

A plastic bag in every school!

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

How are plastic bags (which most people I know reuse as small garbage bags) a bigger problem than theft?

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

Businesses will learn to counter the theft issue. If you think theft exists because of a reusable bag then you're out of your mind.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

That didn't really answer the question. I don't think theft exists because of a reusable bag, but the linked article does provide evidence there could be a cause-effect relationship. And yes, businesses will have to learn to counter additional theft with more financial burden and extra tight security measures that might be preventable with the use of plastic bags instead.

Back to the question though: how is theft a lesser issue than using plastic bags? We reuse all ours as smaller trash bags, as do many other folks we know. This eliminates the need to buy extra plastic bags for our smaller garbage cans, which are not only the same material as those from the store, but thicker, and thus put more plastic put into the environment. This is recycling, and thus better for the environment, the argument I'm guessing you're making here.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

Man, I really don't care about this. I think it's a good idea to try to minimize our plastic usage. Theft occurs. If you don't want it to occur, you have to spend money. It's not a burden, it's a cost of business.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I agree it's a great idea to minimize our plastic usage. And yes, theft will always occur, no matter what the deterrence - see the myriad countries that punish theft by chopping off hands for an example.

The problem in this case is that we're seeing unintended negative side effects crop up. We can justify a lot of things as being "costs of business", but that doesn't necessarily make them the right solutions. One can't just write off negative side effects as worth the end result, because sometimes they are not worth it.

Solutions to this issue may be as simple as encouraging people to use and reuse them post grocery use, make it easier to recycle them, and discourage stores from double bagging every single small item, or asking if the consumer even needs a bag when purchasing just an item or two.

Also, there is evidence that suggests that reusable cloth bags do not get used enough times to equal the cost or the pollution levels of plastic bags. Many times they're forgotten at home or in the other car, forcing the consumer to buy even more of them to use. With loss, tears, and general material fatigue, they just don't have the longevity needed to make up for the cost and pollution of making them. This is counterproductive to the whole point of using them.

That said, we do use a lot of cloth bags when shopping. They have a place. I just don't agree with using them exclusively at the demise of all plastic, especially with this new information coming to light.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... c-bag-ban/

No surprise. People should wash the damn things regularly in a washing machine for the e. coli problem, but another thing to think of is that simply placing your stuff on the checkout counter could potentially pick up someone else's e. coli and infect you with it. Yuck.

Hurting small businesses due to increased theft, on the other hand, is a real problem. Washington state is already rather unfriendly to small businesses, and this just exacerbates the problem.

Someone (I don't recall who) recently questioned my stance of disliking the Seattle plastic bag ban in another thread when the subject came up, so I figured I'd post this and explain why I don't like it. I don't like it because I use the plastic bags I get from the store. A little trash can by my computer desk and the little one in the bathroom. I don't like not having a plastic bag in them, because if I don't, I'd have to clean them somewhat regularly due to the random crap that will accumulate on the bottom. Mucus from some Kleenex that I blew my nose into, or what have you; waste bins without bags don't stay clean over any sort of longer period of time, I don't care who you are. It is easier and safer in a household health sense to have trash go into disposable bags.

Paper bags can't be used for this because the slightest amount of moisture makes them just tear apart. Also, paper bags take up SIGNIFICANTLY more space in terms of shipping huge boxes of them to grocery stores, and they weigh a ton more than plastic bags. The extra pollution from shipping them is something I'm pretty confident that the environmental pros behind this either chose not to look at, or looked at it and ignored it.

Why don't we come up with waterproof bags that will work for the use I use them for, (and that countless millions of other Americans use them for, I'm sure) that can be disposed of and will degrade quickly? Maybe there is such a thing already, and it's simply too cost-prohibitive compared to plastic/paper bags that exist already? I don't know. What I do know is that being taxed 5 cents per paper bag in Seattle if I'm not using my organic, made-with-liberal-love linen bags at the grocery store is annoying as hell. Especially since they rip so damned easily. I normally don't shop in Seattle, but when I was at the Lake City Fred Meyer with a friend a while back, a checkout boy put FOUR 2-liters of soda in one paper bag. I laughed and asked him to take two out.

I use plastic bags regularly. Who the hell is the city of Seattle to prevent me from easily obtaining them? The same city that wanted to ban paper bags a few decades back for the same environmental reasons, I might add.

pretty much the same thing here

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=65988

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

this works perfect for me because I love e. coli and theft.

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Tanzania¹²

How the hell did I miss that thread? Man, it has been a long day. Merge it please, mods.