While states like Hawaii and California have enacted bans on plastic bags, Michigan is going the exact opposite route, passing a law that bans local governments from banning plastic bags or putting fees on disposable containers. [More]
plastic bags
A Plastic Bag Could Soon Cost You Five Cents In New York City
By 5.5.16
If you forget your reusable bags at home it could soon cost you in New York City, as local lawmakers are poised to vote on a measure that would add a five cent fee to consumers’ bills if they opt for a plastic or paper bag at checkout. [More]
Minneapolis Council Votes To Ban Plastic Bags At Store Checkouts, Impose Paper Bag Fee
By 4.1.16
Better keep your pile of reusable shopping bags close at hand, Minneapolis residents: the city’s council just voted to ban all plastic bags from store checkouts and impose a fee on customers who opt to get a paper bag instead of bringing their own carriers. [More]
Hawaii Becomes First State To Ban Plastic Bags At Grocery Stores
By 7.2.15 — Updated: 12.30.16
While some cities in the U.S. have passed laws that ban plastic bags at grocery stores, Hawaii now stands alone as the first and only state that prohibits supermarkets from handing out the non-biodegradable carriers at the checkout. [More]
Remembering Reusable Grocery Bags Makes Us Buy More Junk Food
By 3.24.15
Reusable shopping bags: they’re environmentally friendly, earn you a discount, and let you express your loyalty to your favorite grocery store when there isn’t a Wegmans available within a two-hour drive. Yet here’s an interesting question: do they have an effect on our behavior? Are there any major differences between shoppers who bring their own bags and those who don’t? [More]
California’s Plastic Bag Ban Delayed, Must Now Face November 2016 Referendum Vote
By 2.24.15
With just five months until California’s statewide plastic bag ban was set to take effect, opponents of the law have successfully petitioned for a ballot referendum, delaying the law until voters have their say next year. [More]
1-Year-Old Suffocates During Home Remedy For Lice
By 2.5.15
Though its effectiveness is debatable, using mayonnaise to get rid of head lice is a well-known home remedy. But one family’s attempt to rid their child of the tiny insects has apparently resulted in a tragic death by suffocation. [More]
Plastic Bag Supporters Petition To Challenge Ban In California
By 12.30.14
It was only three months ago that California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law banning single-use plastic bags, and already it’s facing a challenge. [More]
California Governor Signs Statewide Ban Of Plastic Bags
By 9.30.14
How many of you, faithful readers, have a closet full of reusable bags that without fail you forget each time you venture to the grocery store? Well if you live in California you might want to put a sticky note on the door reminding you to grab your bags because the state officially became the first in the nation to outlaw single-use plastic bags. [More]
Chicago To Join Growing List Of “No Plastic Shopping Bag” Cities
By 4.30.14
Grocery shoppers of Chicago should start getting used to the notion of bringing their own, reusable bags to the supermarket and other stores; the city’s aldermen passed a resolution earlier today that will ban plastic shopping bags in many stores by Aug. 2015, and almost all stores one year after that. [More]
Compromise In California: Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags, Charge For Reusable Ones
By 1.24.14
Lawmakers in California have been arguing about the prospect of banning plastic bags for the last decade. This isn’t just a prime example of “your government at work,” but is also a key consumer issue. Now there’s a new bill before that state’s Assembly that aims to banish the plastic bag scourge from stores. [More]
Student Group Tells Santa Fe To Ban Plastic Bags To Help "Everybody In The Universe"
By 8.17.12
Santa Fe believes the children are its future, and as such, its leaders say they are listening very seriously to a group of students who are urging the city to ban plastic bags in grocery stores and other places that use them. The kids have solid reasoning — as one fifth-grader said, “Stop using plastic bags and help everybody in the universe including people who are going to be alive in the future.” [More]
L.A. Bans Plastic Supermarket Shopping Bags
By 5.23.12
The movement against plastic shopping bags gained a lot of momentum today after the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to phase out the use of plastic shopping bags at supermarkets. [More]
Portland (The One In Oregon) Jumps On The Plastic Bag Ban-Wagon
By 7.22.11
In recent years, a growing number of cities all over the country have been moving to put an end to — or at least curb — the use of plastic shopping bags. Last night, in a unanimous vote, the Portland, OR, City Council approved legislation that bans the use of these bags at larger grocery stores and big-box retailers. [More]
The Secret Life Of The Majestic Plastic Bag
By 8.17.10
Have you ever wished the plastic bag from American Beauty got its own spinoff? Your dream has come true. This is a mock nature documentary narrated by Jeremy Irons that follows “one of the most clever and illustrious creatures: the plastic bag” from its first birthing into the wild all the way to its ultimate home, the Pacific gyre. [More]
Walmart Testing Plastic Bag-Less Stores In California
By 6.15.10
When we posted the seemingly simple question last week to Consumerist readers of whether or not plastic shopping bags should be banned, we expected some heated discussion. But even we were surprised to see just how heated — 326 comments at last count! And while we we’ve been busy chatting about the pros and cons, Walmart has been quietly testing a no single-use bag policy at a handful of stores in California. [More]
You Must Waste A Shopping Bag At Bath & Body Works, Or Else
By 12.19.09
Some retailers, like CVS, reward their customers for using reusable shopping bags. Others, like Macy’s and Borders, sort of do the opposite. Reader Jennifer says that this happened to her. A local Bath & Body Works store wouldn’t sell her anything if she stubbornly insisted in putting her purchase inside one of the bags she already had. Wait, isn’t she saving the store money by not taking a bag? [More]
