• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 29 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

What ban is a good ban? : 7/29/2010

All this measure does is interfere with flow of doing business and hinder a legitimate source of paper manufacturing.
The "support" for this item was misrepresented because Council went overtime to deliberate over the BevMo! controversy.. which is questionable whether those deliberations even had merit.
People don't typically have TIME to sit around endlessly to discuss something like this under public comment because decent people are too busy making things, earning money, meeting obligations and serving some other kind of duty.
Those who take precious time interfering with business apparently have no other priority than to do just that - interfere with flow of doing business.
The plastic bag phenomenon does not qualify charging for paper bags one way or another - nor is it clear what they will do with the additional charges acquired surrounding this item.
It seems that Santa Barbara has taken increasingly LIBERAL posture surrounding the issue making local region less desirable place to do business.

Shopper

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid : 7/29/2010

Maybe our State and Local Governments should start taking care of the waste and spending rather than pucking plastic bags! Maybe City Council should look at all the bums that are littering our local streets camping and crapping on our beaches and creeks. I am so sick of the P/C crowd that has infiltrated Santa Barbara... According to the slanted writings of "Nick Tonkin" all of us shoppers support the plastic bag ban- excuse me while I choke on my plastic bag.

Plastic bags are reused : 7/29/2010

Many people reuse these plastic bags. I for one use them for cat litter boxes. If I did not have thin plastic bags, I would have to buy heavier bags which would actually use more plastic. Ireland banned grocery store plastic bags and found that people were buying heavier plastic bags. The law of unintended consequences.
So maybe the politicians should stick to the more important business of the state. People that don't need the plastic bags should be educated to not use them. And those of us who need them should be allowed to get them.

Jon

Dee, I hope you don't depend on your brain for a living. : 7/29/2010

"Someone will find a way to get around the law"
What a dimwit.

: 7/29/2010

"Ireland banned grocery store plastic bags and found that people were buying heavier plastic bags."
In far smaller quantities and with greater reuse ... it's simple economics.

: 7/29/2010

"I am so sick of the P/C crowd that has infiltrated Santa Barbara."
PC simply means not being an ahole, ahole.

Smoke no fire : 7/29/2010

Now talk about skewing a report. The Trader Joe's patrons are not the typical supermarket shopper. They are shopping at that store for specialty items. The supposed plastic in the bags most use have been altered years ago to include a product from corn, making them far more bio-degradable then the original bags. They are very useful for seniors with grip problems in lining trash containers and taking out the trash.
If a MRF plant had been built in the late 1980's at the land fill this would not be a conversation worthy of the electrons or ink on paper. The supposed environmentalists stopped the plant from being built to save the inefficient recycling centers operated by the CEC at outrageous expense to the taxpayers (a little fact they don't want you to know is investigation showed secretaries being paid $35.00/hr.) It is the same faction that blocked the then experimental bio-mass plant from being added to the MRF plant that would have produced usable products from both green and certain products like "plastic" bags.
It is the same old junk all over again. It is another tax and spend issue of the left to detract from the outrageous spending going on in Sacramento. A smoke and mirrors item to take the heat off of the legislature for NOT producing a balanced budget.
Cannot wait for the next magic show to distract the voters....perhaps it will be bulbouts.

still tired

Ban the bags! : 7/29/2010

Quit whining about the little plastic poop bags.
You people act like they are taking away your children or something.
Get over your lazy selves. The re-usable bags work just fine.

NEXT!

plastic bags : 7/29/2010

I was just in Australia and they charge 30 cents a piece for plastic bags. That adds up!

Yeah!!! : 7/29/2010

Yeah!! Ban the plastic bag. A million birds and whales will thank you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEqotOUgBA8

swimmer

make plastic bags biodegradable : 7/29/2010

One reason "the crinkle of plastic is noticeably absent." at TJ's on Milpas is that they only very rarely give out plastic bags. In years of regularly shopping there, I've been given plastic maybe once.
I support a continued and emphasized voluntary effort and making all plastic bags biodegradable, rapidly biodegradable, in a matter of months or less, if they come in contact with water. Should be doable. ...Fwiw, I bring my own cloth bags (mostly - although I do use a plastic bag-paper bag for waste/trash but unlike Councilmember Williams I haven't stored up years worth of them.
Those of us who hate seeing plastic, including bags, at the beach should pick up each and everyone we see --even that little personal effort makes a difference. Especially helpful would be those who use plastic bags for dog poop, if they would then dispose of it properly and not just drop the plastic bag with poop....

CRE

I AGREE: PAPER BALLOTS ONLY : 7/29/2010

To "Smoke no fire" .. excellent points about plastic bags made of biodegradable corn!
This indeed is a diversion against the budget crises in Sacramento and their persistance in needling us with these frivolous agendas are definately a bit creepy.
Maybe Mayor Helen Schneider is the ultimate Liberal Fascist.
Why IS the Mayor indifferent to the electronic voting method, for example? She never seems to bring THAT up..
I agree with those around here that believe in Paper Ballots Only.

This is ridiculous!!!!!

P/C : 7/29/2010

Political correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred.

Which is worse? : 7/29/2010

I now use the super thin, recycled grocery bags as trash can liners. All the ban does is force people like me to purchase heavier duty trash bags for this purpose (no one markets their trash bags as thin). As usual with Utopian thinking, the law of unintended consequences will result in the opposite of the law's intent while the taxpaying citizens will bear the burden of yet another intrusion into our lives.

repurcussions : 7/29/2010

I simply will have to take a lot more dog chit bags from the public parks when this shopping bag ban passes.

Heal the Ocean

Which is Worse? : 7/29/2010

So instead of using the little poop bags as trash can liners you have to purchase trash bags. Trash bags are larger than the little poop bags, so you can put much more trash in them therefore reducing the number of bags going in the landfill.
There is legislation being created to make all plastic trash bags to be biodegradable.
Until that time this is the best solution. 47 million of the little poop bags are used annually here in SB alone
BTW - the poop bags in the park are already bio-degradable so your helping without even knowing it.

Change!

ACTUALLY PEOPLE DON'T SUPPORT THIS BAN : 7/29/2010

JUST B/C ONE DUMB GIRL SUPPORTS THIS DOES NOT MEANT IT'S REPRESENTATIVE OF SANTA BARBARA RESIDENTS OR PEOPLE IN THE STATE. THIS IS A RETARDED CONTROL OF OUR CHOICE. A LOT OF PEOPLE RECYCLE THE BAGS THEY USE FROM THE GROCERY STORE AS TRASH LINERS OR FOR DOG LITTER. ALL THIS WILL DO IS MAKE PEOPLE BUY BIGGER, HEAVIER BAGS THAT WILL TAKE UP MORE SPACE IN LANDFILLS, NOT LIKE IT MATTERS. WE HAVE A BUNCH OF DUMB DUMBS IN SANTA BARBARA. PLUS I DON'T CARE WHAT THE CITY COUNCIL THINKS OF THIS MEASURE. LET THE PEOPLE VOTE ON IT AND SHUT UP. STOP TRYING TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

THE PLASTIC BAG MONSTER

I support the ban! : 7/29/2010

Monster squaker - who made you the rep of SB?
You might as well get used to not having the little poop bags - the statewide ban is coming soon!!

Under the Tyranny of Ditsy : 7/29/2010

To that supports the ban:
I'm against the ban and this motha certainly represents me, hon.
And everyone I've talked to.
Why not put it to paper ballot measure only, then?
These bags apparently are made of corn and are biodegradable.
So, what's your point?

The MAJORITY is against the BAN

Under the cloud of pollution : 7/29/2010

Uh - the plastic bags from the stores are NOT biodegradable.
As the article state "But the majority opinion is still held by shoppers like Welch".
So what is your point?

hon

Support AB 1998: Keep Plastic Bags Out of Our Ocean : 7/29/2010

AB 1998 will go a long way towards cleaning up a major source of litter on Santa Barbara’s beaches, streets, creeks and in our storm drain system. Plastic bag pollution has significant environmental and economic impacts on both coastal and inland communities throughout the state. Californians use an estimated 19 billion single-use plastic bags every year. The state spends an estimated $25 million annually to clean up and landfill these littered bags, which does not include the over $300 million that local governments spend to clean littered streets and waterways.
The fee on paper bags is not a mandatory fee but avoidable if people bring reusable bags to the store. This is a simple step to help lighten our environmental burden and protect our oceans and beaches.

Penny, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

To hon: : 7/29/2010

Guess your point is kinda like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Plastic bags are biodegradable as result of manufacturing from corn. I've seen it myself.
You instead want to merely tax the little ones to wha, support nanny state agency union intersts, hon? You're not one of 'em freeloaders are you? Stand to directly benefit from this little, "fee" - ?
There are so many pending challenges and other issues that need to be addressed by the Council than to effectively filibuster the Agenda - by taking extreme measures like instituting other tax revenue streams like this one.
So far, we have a Council body that is serving to micromanage the Planning Commission's task work, endorsing excessive taxation referendums, attempting to circumvent business developoment and growth (such as Target and even, BevMo!) and in the entire process, evidently, impartial against the electronic voting method. Go figure.
If you dont get it, it will get you.

Under the Tyranny of Ditsy

: 7/29/2010

We have a very long way to go in public understanding if some people think the volume of the plastic of the plastic bags filling up the landfills is the issue of concern here.

Tajiguas

ralph's or vons ... : 7/29/2010

..had better give me bags with handles if they expect me to shop there. Not being a complete bitch, there's no way in hell i'm going to carry a reusable bag to the grocery store. This whole issue has pissed me off enough that I have stopped recycling altogether. If you want my bottles and cans, come to my house and pay me cash money for them. Otherise, screw off.

Tyrant : 7/30/2010

You are missing the point. It is about protecting the enviroment - get it?
If the bags were biodegradable there would not be an issue, don't belive paper idiot.
Do a little research, they CAN be biodegradable, but the bags being used today are NOT.
You can simply avoid the tax by using re-usable bags.
You can see by "ralphs or vons' that some people just want to cry about any sort of change.
It reminds me of telling a 3 year old not to play in the street - at first they cry like the world is ending.
But eventually they get over the little tissy fits and realize you are trying to help.

hon

: 7/30/2010

cameltoe

: 7/30/2010

Not this Shopper. What a joke

: 7/31/2010

Shoving the green agenda down our throats as all the dumb lemmings buy into it. As the politicians fly in there polluting jets laughing all the way to the bank

Santa Barbara Shopper's Seem to be Unnoppossed to it : 8/1/2010

This is the most reliable and scientific reporting I have ever seen out of the Independent, I mean Daily Sound. Amazing you guys aren't making any money. At least I can use this rag of a paper to clean up my dog feces.

Ban the Sound, it has no use at all