plastic bags news stories on Newser

Paper or Cloth? Italy Bans Plastic Bags

Matt Cantor — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:55:05 CST

Italians use some 20 billion plastic bags yearly—or 300 per person. But that ends tomorrow: the country is banning the non-biodegradable bags in shops, the BBC reports. It’s “a key step forward in the fight against pollution and it makes us all more responsible in terms of recycling,” says...

LA County Bans Plastic Bags

Kevin Spak — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:55:10 CST

The LA County Board of Supervisors passed a ban on plastic grocery bags yesterday, and instituted a 10 cent surcharge for each paper bag used instead, in an effort to push customers toward more environmentally-friendly cloth and reusable plastic bags, the LA Times reports. The measure, which is even stricter...

Reusable Bags May Hurt Planet, Too

Matt Cantor — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:05:08 CST

Now that you’ve made the transition from plastic bags to reusable ones, it turns out they, too, may be an environmental threat, reports the New York Times . Studies show some such bags contain may contain unsafe amounts of lead, which could eventually seep into groundwater if they're disposed of. The...

Target Will Pay Shoppers to Bring Their Own Bags

Harry Kimball — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:31:13 CDT

Target and CVS will reward customers for using reusable shopping bags, and the efforts could take a billion plastic bags out of circulation. Though some retailers—notably Wal-Mart—have been slow to hop on the eco bandwagon, initiatives at smaller chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have met...

Not-So-Green Seattle Voters Reject Grocery Bag Tax

Jane Yager — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:10:00 CDT

The $1.4 million the plastics industry spent to defeat a grocery bag tax initiative paid off yesterday when Seattle voters defied their green reputation to reject the tax, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The measure would have charged shoppers 20 cents per plastic or paper bag as an incentive to...

Delhi Bans Plastic Bags

Wesley Oliver — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:16:02 CST

Officials in Delhi have banned the “use, storage, and sale” of plastic bags, the Guardian reports, after Indian environmentalists warned about the dangers of the non-biodegradable bags. Violators could be imprisoned for up to 5 years and fined over $2,000. Plastic bags have become a staple in Delhi amid...

Bloomberg Calls For Plastic Bag Fee in NYC

Katherine Thompson — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:37:50 CST

After an ad campaign urging New Yorkers to use greener alternatives to plastic shopping bags, Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to impose a 6¢-per-bag charge, the Times reports. While environmentalists approve, and the city’s coffers stand to gain, many think the measure will be unpopular with shoppers, and critics say the...

Reusable Bags: A Tricky Shade of Green

Ambreen Ali — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:54:26 CDT

Reusable shopping bags are this year's “it” giveaway, but they may not be as green as their feel-good slogans—like “Save the world” and "I used to be a plastic bag"—claim. The problem is that old habits die hard—many people simply forget to reuse them, the Wall Street...

Seattle Slaps 20¢ Fee on All Grocery Bags

Drew Nelles — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:20:01 CDT

Seattle has staked out its spot atop the greener-than-thou pecking order by approving a 20-cent-per-bag fee that applies to both paper and plastic, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The move is expected to cut disposable-bag use in half. "The best way to reduce waste is not to create it, and today,...