Au Revoir, Le Plastique

Today is the first day of the rest of your shopping days and if you go, here is one sight you will not see.  Remember to bring your own bags or pay the dimes.

Comments

[hillsider]

I got stuck behind an old guy at Lunardi's today who could not comprehend the change. And then it took him 5 minutes to decide whether or not to pay the 10 cents for the bag or not. Nothing is as easy as the 5 elders think. And what happened to poor old Holyroller anyway. Did she get hit by the kid on Hillside.

[Joe]

I had a lengthy wait in the "Express" line today while several shoppers in a row fumed over leaving their bags in the cars, paying for paper bags and generally being confused. I hope this ends soon, but in the meantime maybe every store could put a sign out front reminding people On The Way In to bring their bags?

[Pete Garrison]

Unintended consequence:

Call Primrose needs folks to bring not only food for the poor, but also plastic and paper bags into which to put the alms; corner of Howard and Primrose- behind the Methodist Church...

[Joe]

OK, I just pulled a couple out of the recycling bin. Thanks for the heads up.

[Sarah Nexion]

Reusable Grocery Bags Contaminated With E. Coli, Other Bacteria

50 Deaths in Bay area so far.

Another idiot liberal idea.

[Joe]

We're a full service blog here at the Voice so I just want to remind everyone about a Safeway deal that I just remembered myself. Back around the Grand Opening, I signed up for the on-line "Just 4U" deal. Safeway used to send out a weekly email with deals for loyalty card holders who enrolled. For some reason the emails stopped so I forgot.

But I was thinking about it this week and went to their site, signed in and clicked on a few Just4U items. These are extra discounts below what is shown on the shelf as the card discount. Turns out I saved another 7% with J4U. Not bad.

[jennifer]

So, the Just 4U tracks what you purchase, right, just like the Safeway cards........wondering if they also sell your information to other companies....

[Joe]

Reviewing the posts for the year reminded me of this post which reminded me of a news item I saw this week on the subject. Here is the study results with a link to the full piece on the University of Arizona site at the end.

Reusable grocery bags can be a breeding ground for dangerous food-borne bacteria and pose a serious risk to public health, according to a joint food-safety research report issued today by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California.
The research study – which randomly tested reusable grocery bags carried by shoppers in Tucson, Los Angeles and San Francisco – also found consumers were almost completely unaware of the need to regularly wash their bags.
"Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from coliform bacteria including E. coli, which were detected in half of the bags sampled," said Charles Gerba, a UA professor of soil, water and environmental science and co-author of the study. "Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags on a weekly basis."

http://uanews.org/story/reusable-grocery-bags-contaminated-e-coli-other-bacteria

[jennifer]

If you stop to think about all the germs on that (often moist) conveyer belt, shuffling the items towards the cashier, I'd bet a fair amount amount of bacteria ends up on everything: foodstuff (before it even gets put in any bag), plastics, cloth, your receipt and the cash, of course. It all ends up in the bags, peoples pockets and purses, and also on whatever we purchase.

Getting compulsive about washing cloth bags is probably the last thing on my list. Don't forget that a lot of people reuse the plastic bags for doggie business, and these "piles" are left for ages, here and there on the sidewalk and in bushes when people don't want to carry them home. So since the plastic stays intact for so long, lots of bacteria blobs around that nobody wants to touch, and it is just festering in a tightly wound plastic bag.

Unless the use of those oil-based bags becomes more commonplace (and cheaper), I'm all for the cloth.

For the really concerned, I'd bet there is a lysol or 'green' counterpart spray that can do the trick for the interior of the canvas bags.

[Holyroller]

With Global Warming, Unemployment, O'Bama Care-if that ever happens, Mexican Undocumented workers,lets not forget the Removal and Replacement of the Burlingame Recreation Center, I do not know how much longer we can go on without it....
Happy New Year
Holyroller
PS
The single positive contribution The City of Burlingame has made, and continues to make, due to Jennifer is the planting of trees, and the maintenance of the Urban Forest.
Jennifer- Burlingame Citizen of the Year.
Thank you now, and thank you for all the future benefits those trees will provide our City, and the community that will be here.
You must work very hard.
Holy

[jennifer]

You are very kind to say that, thank you............:)j.

[Burlingame Betty]

I agree - Jennifer's hard work and positive perseverance has resulted in some wonderful additions to Burlingame - please don't ever move!

[fred]

Getting rid of plastic bags made a lot of sense. Charging for paper bags is just silly and dangerous considering there has been an increase of E.coli illnesses and deaths as a result.

[fred]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/plastic-bag-ban_n_2641430.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-green-bacteria-in-shopping-bags,0,4837500.story

[Joe]

Now, "Bonjour, Le Plastique"

In the latest sign of how dramatically the coronavirus pandemic is altering the social landscape, even the liberal San Francisco Bay Area this week banned reusable grocery bags as a sanitary measure, dismaying recycling advocates who say durable sacks should still be allowed at stores.

The Bay Area counties reduced the types of businesses and facilities that can stay open to the public and tightened requirements for those still operating, including grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants still open for takeout or delivery. Among the updated requirements in the order, which lasts through May 3: "Not permitting customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home."

https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/04/01/its-come-to-this-liberal-san-francisco-bay-area-bans-reusable-grocery-bags-1270319?fbclid=IwAR0mFF0C0xDz8QlamfG7w3ytL-PsQiIVRBnGAYWzSl-p9ed8uygewOz8QnY