Why are NYers so spoiled?!

amother

Aqua

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 2:12 pm

So many places already have the plastic bag ban/charge and yet NY keeps fighting it tooth and nail. Why? why are they the only ones that 'cant be bothered'? I'm a NYer living in CA now, and I really dont see the big deal. Yes, its an inconvenience but you get used to it.

studying_torah

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 2:22 pm

Me too, and for more.
For kids who puke in the car, for catching drips when defrosting chicken or meat , for packing wet or dirty clothes while travelling, poopy diapers or clothes, for double wrapping food to stay fresher in the freezer, and on and on.
You can't use cloth bags for those .

Raisin

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 2:27 pm

studying_torah wrote:

I pay for my bags. (Much more then 5c!) So I have lots of reusable bags. Large food bags are good for most of those jobs and a lot easier to store.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 2:31 pm

chocolatecake wrote:

I need those bags. They are used for the bathroom and bedroom garbages and dirty diapers. If they start charging me 5 cents a bag I will pay the tax and take the bags.

You can buy a roll of 100 doggy poo bags for $1. I live in a bagless town and it's really no biggie. Sometimes I'll need a large plastic bag for something so I'll pay 10 cents (paper is 5 cents). But most of the time it's not a struggle.

octopus

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 2:54 pm

Is it really for the environment or is it another way for the city to line their pockets? Remember Ny has the bottle tax. It was to encourage people to bring their plastic bottles to the nearest recycling center, and you only get the 5 cents back if you recycle it. Yet, lo and behold, when they started collecting recycling from your doorstep, the bottle tax did not disappear. If the city was so concerned about the environment, I'm sure there are other things they could do to help the environment. My dh thinks this is the biggest scam of the century.

How about this one? They collect recyclables and a lot of it ends up in the trash anyway. https://weather.com/science/en.....trash
They could start with that first.

amother

Seashell

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:00 pm

Just becuse! Why do you care?! NYC is not like any other out of town place. We walk, use buses, train's, we hardly use cars. We end up going too the grocer at least once a day. For just a few iteams. So we use bags way more ofened then any oot place. Were they make huge orders that's being delivered in boxies. And no we cant make these huge bulk orders because we don't have the space to store them. So while were out doing some shopping we pop into the grocer for some towel paper.... Do I really have to shlep along some reusable bag becuse maybe I will pop into the grocer? We don't use cars were u can store all ur reusable bags you want.

Its just not gona work here.

sky

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:30 pm

I don't live in NY and I'd be really mad if I had a bag tax.

I reuse the bags - almost none goes into the garbage without being repurposed, I use them for packing, sick kids, line garbage cans, wrap smelly diapers, wrap broken glass, and a host of other household tasks.
Buying bags requires those bags to be made, packaged in small packaging and shipped as well. I don't see the huge savings to the environment and additional cost to the consumer.

And I've read that the non-disposable bags are no better for the environment. They have to be used 100s of times to be worth it (when you count how much energy goes into making them). Most are thrown out before they actually save the environment from anything. And they harbor lots of diseases. Its recommended to wrap poultry and other perishables in plastic anyways before placing in those bags and washing the bags often (uses even more energy).

I think sometimes green people put their energy in the wrong area and miss the big picture.

Last edited by sky on Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:36 pm; edited 1 time in total

SixOfWands

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:35 pm

amother wrote:

Over half of NYers take public transit to work, while only about 15% of people in LA do. Why are people in LA so spoiled? Why can't they be bothered? Don't they know what their cars do to the environment? I don't see the big deal. Yes, its less convenient, but you get used to it.

Which, by the way, is one major reason that a lot of NYers fight the idea of reusable bags. They're not driving their environment-destroying gas guzzlers everywhere, so they don't have bags in the trunk, or with them all the time.

amother

Periwinkle

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:43 pm

dear seashell (and others),

where I live I take busses, metrolines, no car. I shop and have no delivery (usually no storage room). I never had an issue carrying a bag with me. I have cotton reusable bags , one is usually always in my handbag. it is a habit, in case I walk near a market and spontanously decide to buy fresh produce, or I see a sale on something ... in case I need more space I buy an extra bag (hardly ever happens, maybe once a month).

when I actually plan to go grocery shopping we take a buggy- very convenient.

I really cant understand why what I describe sounds unimaginable and would cause sooo many problems in nyc.? it must be a cultural thing Smile

the place I live is definitely smaller than nyc but it is a large capital city a metropole. im sure residents would get used to it. and tourists dont mind to spend the extra few cents I believe.

oh and yes we do buy rolls of binbags (several sizes) - they are cheap here and usuall we choose recyclabe or degradable ones (for all the purposes mentioned before- dirty diapers, binbags, defrosting meat etc.)

sorry for my english

Raisin

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 5:26 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

we get free paper bags in clothing stores. But its a rainy climate here. You can imagine the potential disasters when I go shopping on a rainy day. LOL

mummiedearest

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 5:54 pm

amother wrote:

former new yorker here. I didn't drive when I lived there. I took public transportation and walked a lot. however, I did a grocery run once a week. I had it delivered by the store, and it was delivered in boxes. now that I live elsewhere, I got so sick of having that many plastic bags that I started having to throw them out. I bought a set of grocery cart bags and am only too happy to keep it in my car (can't get to the grocery store without a car here). the plastic bags have their uses, but you don't need as many as you bring home in a week. if you're going to pop into the grocery store unplanned, there are some reusable bags that roll up into tiny bundles, perfect to keep in your purse. if you're just buying paper towels, you're not shlepping thirty bags with you. it will work if you decide to make it work.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 6:02 pm

Raisin wrote:

we get free paper bags in clothing stores. But its a rainy climate here. You can imagine the potential disasters when I go shopping on a rainy day. LOL

Yea that's all solved by some good plastic coated bags that you can use over and over again. My favorite shopping bag made of recycled materials lasted me a bit over 10 years before it finally gave up the ghost. That was weekly shopping in all types of weather and weekly washing.

I got a new waterproof shopping bag this year for Hanukkah. It fits in a cylinder container that is 3 inches long by an inch. It's guaranteed waterproof and is 20"x24 when opened. I have two other bags made of some kind of light weight microfiber that are also waterproof. They both fold up into 4" squares that fit in my jacket pockets. Although I drive, my grocery store is close by and it's my preference to walk and it rains a great deal where I live.

Raisin

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 6:14 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

I carry shopping bags to the grocery store, not clothes shopping.

I have those types of bags that fold up pretty small but they keep getting lost.

But, I rarely drive and its not a big deal. If I make an unplanned stop, I buy a bag. Anyway I am often with my stroller so things fit in the basket.

I get groceries delivered every week. It comes in plastic crates and the delivery guy unpacks it for me. Smile

If he is rushing or I prefer he not unpack them he will leave the stuff in the crates and pick them up the next week.

MagentaYenta

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 6:24 pm

Raisin wrote:

If he is rushing or I prefer he not unpack them he will leave the stuff in the crates and pick them up the next week.

Ah to have grocery delivery, but how I would miss fondling the tomatoes Very Happy

I don't expect to change anyone's mind on a bag ban and certainly not the mind of a NYer. NY's failure on the bottle bill is an indicator that the residents are set in their ways.