Plastic Bag Ban A Pain. No, Really.

April 16, 2008

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Down in Australia, the shop assistants’ union wants laws to protect checkout operators from injury when they are forced to lift environmentally-friendly, reusable bags, which can carry up to 40 percent more than plastic bags, Australia’s ABC News reports. The union claims that 11.3 percent of all checkout operators have been injured lifting the green bags.

Australia is expected to ban plastic bags next year.

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Reader Comments

I think the ban is a knee jerk reaction. While I have the
green bags from the two grocery stores in which I shop, I am physically unable to carry them when full. Which makes it a real inconvenience as I cannot get everything I need at one time, thereby using more gas than going to the store again to get what I missed the first time around. Ridiculous!

Glenda | April 17th, 2008

When I do have my own bags, it seems like a real incovenience to the “baggers” who are packing my groceries. I’m glad that more stores are offering green alternatives, but most bags don’t seem very durable.

Abby | April 17th, 2008

A silly problem, really. Why not fill the bags less full and use the grocery cart to carry them to the vehicle? This naysay issue is a non-starter unless one is teeing up a personal injury suit for this scenario. This problem is so simple to solve (as above) how could anyone NOT think of it? Ridiculous.

peter bowler | April 17th, 2008

I agree with Peter. It’s so obvious it’s stupid. If grocery bags are too heavy, put a little less in them. Why is it that some people find the smallest inconvenience intolerable? It’s ironic, that the trade-off is the ubiquitous contamination of groundwater and air, three legged frogs, autism, cancer (you name-it) that comes from the thousands of unregulated synthetic chemicals found in things like plastic bags. Evidently, those things are not at all inconvenient to people who can’t figure out they should load their grocery bags with less items…

Ken | April 21st, 2008

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