[flower box]

We don't need another taxed item. People will just opt for paper which is not better than plastic. Markets need to wise up and charge people for every bag they use, plastic or paper. I firmly believe those few nickels will nudge consumers towards using LESS bags and inevitably many will wisen up and start taking their own. 

[JerseyJen]

you have no idea the looks I get when I tell the checkout clerks that I have my own bags

but maybe it's just my accent and the way I say it 

the thing that's even funnier is that it's really not that hard to start making reusable cloth bags mainstream enough to eliminate funny looks of any kind. much of california (at least the california i hang out in) works like this, and it's not just just the tree-huggers and liberals... it's everyone - because it's normal and it's just what everybody does.

when i lived in dublin a similiar thing happened. the country passed a bag tax... 5 cent per bag used at a shop or grocery. pretty soon it became normal for everyone to carry around a little bag with them in case they stopped somewhere.

it's a shame because it would be totally possible to do this at the level of state or local policy and the large majority of the population would likely just switch their habits to accomodate. it would mean a lot in terms of saved waste and usage.

I was in Prague and Berlin a couple of months ago and was pretty stoked at how things were there.
In Prague if you spent 10 Euro, you got a bag. Otherwise you were expected to provide your own.
In Berlin both markets I visited  offered bags you could purchase separately but they didn't have any to give out.

My town, Red Bank, had a councilperson who was trying to get a bag ban passed but it was shot down
as something that would further impair things in this economy. I believe they've required every place that gives plastic bags to recycle them...small steps I guess, but ultimately disappointing.

One does get pleasant surprises though. We send our son to a mainstream, franchised day care and they've been very amenable to using our cloth diapers. 

[theusername]

many countries in europe are like that. either a small surcharge for bags or no bags provided at all. it's already happened in many places and when it does people just change their habits. no hassle or fuss. it's such a no-brainer and so easy to do that i get frustrated sometimes.

[Looseness]

We don't need another taxed item. People will just opt for paper which is not better than plastic. Markets need to wise up and charge people for every bag they use, plastic or paper. I firmly believe those few nickels will nudge consumers towards using LESS bags and inevitably many will wisen up and start taking their own.

The regular markets I go to don't have paper and I believe only places like Trader Joes and Wholefoods do, so if you don't have bag you get plastic. So for the most part it was a good idea. I do agree ALL bags should taxed or charged for. I think that each thimng is a seperate political issue though and as we have seen things get complicated REAL fast.

[elephant]

i was in denmark in 1998 and they were already charging for plastic bags there.  we (surfrider) were working towards the bag tax also.  basically you have to go to people's pockets to get them to change.  it is unfortunate, but true. 

congrats on being called a tree hugger.  i would have proud not pissed, say thank you.

[slikWilly]

So I'm in town the other day, talking to this guy who runs a local gym about possibly becoming a member. As these conversations usually go, you talk about yourself a bit and what type of exercise you've done in the past and are currently up to, so of course I talk about how my main outlet is surfing. This of course spurs conversations of water temps, surfing year round, wetsuits, yadayada, all the usual. He smirked a little and we went on, finally coming to a conclusion for a membership package that works for me and my family.

After all the papers were signed, he looks at me and says that he'll get me an envelope. Somewhat absentmindedly and I guess instinctively, I told him to save the envelope, it would just end up in the trash. He looked back at at me and said, "What, you're a Tree-Hugger, too?"

We spoke for a few minutes about it and I talked about how I try to not take plastic bags when I don't need to, the incredible amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean and on our beaches, and how I have a hard time walking the beach because I'm constantly picking stuff up - I can't seem to bring myself to walk past it knowing it's going to end up in the water with us or worse, in our food chain.

He smirked and shook his head, I took my papers and left. I knew he really didnt get it at all, the surfing thing, the passing on the envelope thing. I also couldn't help but think that my concern for the health of the ocean is just one more positive effect that surfing has had on my life. And I definitely left hoping he'd understand one day.

I never really thought about it until he said it, but I guess he's right. I'm a tree hugger. And so with that, the NYNJSurf.com "Green Room" is born.

Enjoy the room, post up and inspire yourself and others to do things to help our planet survive us. And maybe hug a tree once in a while.

 

Hey man, you know I applaud you for standing your ground. I am a conservative in belief (not politically stuck to a certain party), and to me, a true conservative is exactly that... you CONSERVE, you don't waste. You let people rule themselves with little gov't intervention. You don't stand in the way of others and you respect them. Now you can get into a long one with me over the politicking of Global Warming the the new scandal with the fudged documentation and those who are reaping millions at scaring the crap outta everyone... Enuff said there...
But I don't understand people like this dude you talked with... They have a "problem" or see you as a weirdo for caring about our environment, yet he will be the first person to complain why he can't go to the beach because of pollution has closed it. It to me is the same person who at my job, complains to me that the stain on the ceiling tile is certainly mold, and it is causing their allergy issues. But a 1/2 hour later you see them outside, puffing away on a ciggy... I am the same way, I hardly ever pass trash on the beach and not dispose of it. I guess I care for the seagull I saved one time when I was a kid when I found its wing rapped up in fishing line and was headed for certain death if I didn't free it with the help of my dad. I dunno... those people are what's truly hurting the environment.

[ez_ed]

"I am the king of the trees. The tree-meister. I count on them."

[nsurf]

thinking about this post when I had to go get a few groceries last week and thought I'll take my backpack in to carry out the groceries and save a bag.... the 10 gallons of gas that was wasted when the cops left their cars running wasn't something I anticipated.

Apparently, walking into a grocery store with a backpack causes a lot of suspicion and a visit from security. When they take you into the parking lot and ask which vehicle is yours, driving a white panel van with no windows doesn't help the situation. It gets worse. I have a PVC rack system in the van for carrying boards around and, at the time I made them, thought it would be 'funny' to put biohazard stickers on the ends. I have these larger end caps where I put my wax and assorted melted wax colors wasn't making any of this go any better. My wetsuit bucket has a harzardous material bucket - bright yellow with the neon red explosives warning label. It's just going down hill... that's when the handcuffs went on.

The cops don't want anything to do with anything inside after seeing the biohazard and explosion warning labels and I can't really blame them. This was the reason I did it. If someone broke into my van, they would see all that crap and hopefully, leave it alone and be afraid. Well, the cops were afraid and nobody wanted to look inside the bucket because "it could be rigged".. oh sh!t!

I have smoked for a long time and recently quit smoking and started using a vaporizer to quite smoking (works great btw). The ones I got all sucked because the batteries wouldn't last long enough, so I made one out of.. you guesses it, a 6 inch piece of pipe with a big button on it. It holds a huge 3.7v battery that.. anyway, it looks like a pipebomb and having it in my pocket did nothing to help my situation.

I might has well been speaking Farsi at that point, because nothing I was saying was helping.

Once they figured out the vaporizer wasn't a pipebomb, it was then determined I was "hoped up on dope" and crazy. A call was being made to get the bomb squad out and to evacuate the store. I'm now in the back of a police car hogtied, talking to one of the officers... I wasn't under arrest, so I didn't have the right to remain silent and so I didn't

"I was trying to save a plastic bag. Just a bag, one bag. Was it worth all this? Was one f*#kin plastic bag worth them blowing up my van in a parking lot? No, it's not! I'll have to walk to work. I don't want to take the bus. I don't want to take the bus. I hate the bus, it smells like vomit and piss. This is what I get for trying to 'help the environment'! I try to help, but instead, my van's going to be scrap, this parking lot is going to be filled with gas and antifreeze and it all drains back into the river. I try and save one bag and instead, I create an ecological disaster zone! A bag, can you believe it! The stickers are on the pipes because I don't want people stealing my stuff and after all those break-ins at the beach, I am doing what it takes to keep my stuff. The bucket came from when I worked at a warehouse and found a shipping container book. I'm not a terrorist, I'm not some greenpeace hippy, I'm just a guy who thought, 'maybe I can help in some small way'. Lot of good that did me. Please man, there's nothing flammable in the van other than the gas tank and it's full $73 worth of gas, I can't afford to loose that, much less the whole vehicle. Nothing is rigged, there's nothing dangerous in there. That smell is my wetsuit not fertilizer! I don't want to blow up anything, I just wanted some coffee for tomorrow morning. Sh1t!....

then I was quite for about 10 seconds...

I'm going to be on the news for this crap and you are too and when they figure out all that's in that van is neoprene, water and wax, we're all going to look stupid and when the press learns I have a surfrider plate on my van and that I am an officer of surfrider foundation and the person who wrote the motion to ban plastic on the beach... the brown trout is going to hit the fan. I hope it's not an election year, 'cause this one is going to be on CNN.

About an hour later, I was driving home.

I now use one of those green cloth shopping bags that says "shopping bag" i big letters and has a big recycle symbol on it (no doubt made from some toxic pain). Being called a tree hugger may not be a term of endearment, but being called a terrorist will scare the shot out of you.

[SeaCliff]

thinking about this post when I had to go get a few groceries last week and thought I'll take my backpack in to carry out the groceries and save a bag.... the 10 gallons of gas that was wasted when the cops left their cars running wasn't something I anticipated.

Apparently, walking into a grocery store with a backpack causes a lot of suspicion and a visit from security. When they take you into the parking lot and ask which vehicle is yours, driving a white panel van with no windows doesn't help the situation. It gets worse. I have a PVC rack system in the van for carrying boards around and, at the time I made them, thought it would be 'funny' to put biohazard stickers on the ends. I have these larger end caps where I put my wax and assorted melted wax colors wasn't making any of this go any better. My wetsuit bucket has a harzardous material bucket - bright yellow with the neon red explosives warning label. It's just going down hill... that's when the handcuffs went on.

The cops don't want anything to do with anything inside after seeing the biohazard and explosion warning labels and I can't really blame them. This was the reason I did it. If someone broke into my van, they would see all that crap and hopefully, leave it alone and be afraid. Well, the cops were afraid and nobody wanted to look inside the bucket because "it could be rigged".. oh sh!t!

I have smoked for a long time and recently quit smoking and started using a vaporizer to quite smoking (works great btw). The ones I got all sucked because the batteries wouldn't last long enough, so I made one out of.. you guesses it, a 6 inch piece of pipe with a big button on it. It holds a huge 3.7v battery that.. anyway, it looks like a pipebomb and having it in my pocket did nothing to help my situation.

I might has well been speaking Farsi at that point, because nothing I was saying was helping.

Once they figured out the vaporizer wasn't a pipebomb, it was then determined I was "hoped up on dope" and crazy. A call was being made to get the bomb squad out and to evacuate the store. I'm now in the back of a police car hogtied, talking to one of the officers... I wasn't under arrest, so I didn't have the right to remain silent and so I didn't

"I was trying to save a plastic bag. Just a bag, one bag. Was it worth all this? Was one f*#kin plastic bag worth them blowing up my van in a parking lot? No, it's not! I'll have to walk to work. I don't want to take the bus. I don't want to take the bus. I hate the bus, it smells like vomit and piss. This is what I get for trying to 'help the environment'! I try to help, but instead, my van's going to be scrap, this parking lot is going to be filled with gas and antifreeze and it all drains back into the river. I try and save one bag and instead, I create an ecological disaster zone! A bag, can you believe it! The stickers are on the pipes because I don't want people stealing my stuff and after all those break-ins at the beach, I am doing what it takes to keep my stuff. The bucket came from when I worked at a warehouse and found a shipping container book. I'm not a terrorist, I'm not some greenpeace hippy, I'm just a guy who thought, 'maybe I can help in some small way'. Lot of good that did me. Please man, there's nothing flammable in the van other than the gas tank and it's full $73 worth of gas, I can't afford to loose that, much less the whole vehicle. Nothing is rigged, there's nothing dangerous in there. That smell is my wetsuit not fertilizer! I don't want to blow up anything, I just wanted some coffee for tomorrow morning. Sh1t!....

then I was quite for about 10 seconds...

I'm going to be on the news for this crap and you are too and when they figure out all that's in that van is neoprene, water and wax, we're all going to look stupid and when the press learns I have a surfrider plate on my van and that I am an officer of surfrider foundation and the person who wrote the motion to ban plastic on the beach... the brown trout is going to hit the fan. I hope it's not an election year, 'cause this one is going to be on CNN.

About an hour later, I was driving home.

I now use one of those green cloth shopping bags that says "shopping bag" i big letters and has a big recycle symbol on it (no doubt made from some toxic pain). Being called a tree hugger may not be a term of endearment, but being called a terrorist will scare the shot out of you.

No friggin way! That's a helluva story...!

[nsurf]

 

there's a little bit of 'artistic license' in it...

and this is the vaporizer 'pipe bomb' thingy, in case anyone was wondering

[Mims]

thinking about this post when I had to go get a few groceries last week and thought I'll take my backpack in to carry out the groceries and save a bag.... the 10 gallons of gas that was wasted when the cops left their cars running wasn't something I anticipated.

Apparently, walking into a grocery store with a backpack causes a lot of suspicion and a visit from security. When they take you into the parking lot and ask which vehicle is yours, driving a white panel van with no windows doesn't help the situation. It gets worse. I have a PVC rack system in the van for carrying boards around and, at the time I made them, thought it would be 'funny' to put biohazard stickers on the ends. I have these larger end caps where I put my wax and assorted melted wax colors wasn't making any of this go any better. My wetsuit bucket has a harzardous material bucket - bright yellow with the neon red explosives warning label. It's just going down hill... that's when the handcuffs went on.

The cops don't want anything to do with anything inside after seeing the biohazard and explosion warning labels and I can't really blame them. This was the reason I did it. If someone broke into my van, they would see all that crap and hopefully, leave it alone and be afraid. Well, the cops were afraid and nobody wanted to look inside the bucket because "it could be rigged".. oh sh!t!

I have smoked for a long time and recently quit smoking and started using a vaporizer to quite smoking (works great btw). The ones I got all sucked because the batteries wouldn't last long enough, so I made one out of.. you guesses it, a 6 inch piece of pipe with a big button on it. It holds a huge 3.7v battery that.. anyway, it looks like a pipebomb and having it in my pocket did nothing to help my situation.

I might has well been speaking Farsi at that point, because nothing I was saying was helping.

Once they figured out the vaporizer wasn't a pipebomb, it was then determined I was "hoped up on dope" and crazy. A call was being made to get the bomb squad out and to evacuate the store. I'm now in the back of a police car hogtied, talking to one of the officers... I wasn't under arrest, so I didn't have the right to remain silent and so I didn't

"I was trying to save a plastic bag. Just a bag, one bag. Was it worth all this? Was one f*#kin plastic bag worth them blowing up my van in a parking lot? No, it's not! I'll have to walk to work. I don't want to take the bus. I don't want to take the bus. I hate the bus, it smells like vomit and piss. This is what I get for trying to 'help the environment'! I try to help, but instead, my van's going to be scrap, this parking lot is going to be filled with gas and antifreeze and it all drains back into the river. I try and save one bag and instead, I create an ecological disaster zone! A bag, can you believe it! The stickers are on the pipes because I don't want people stealing my stuff and after all those break-ins at the beach, I am doing what it takes to keep my stuff. The bucket came from when I worked at a warehouse and found a shipping container book. I'm not a terrorist, I'm not some greenpeace hippy, I'm just a guy who thought, 'maybe I can help in some small way'. Lot of good that did me. Please man, there's nothing flammable in the van other than the gas tank and it's full $73 worth of gas, I can't afford to loose that, much less the whole vehicle. Nothing is rigged, there's nothing dangerous in there. That smell is my wetsuit not fertilizer! I don't want to blow up anything, I just wanted some coffee for tomorrow morning. Sh1t!....

then I was quite for about 10 seconds...

I'm going to be on the news for this crap and you are too and when they figure out all that's in that van is neoprene, water and wax, we're all going to look stupid and when the press learns I have a surfrider plate on my van and that I am an officer of surfrider foundation and the person who wrote the motion to ban plastic on the beach... the brown trout is going to hit the fan. I hope it's not an election year, 'cause this one is going to be on CNN.

About an hour later, I was driving home.

I now use one of those green cloth shopping bags that says "shopping bag" i big letters and has a big recycle symbol on it (no doubt made from some toxic pain). Being called a tree hugger may not be a term of endearment, but being called a terrorist will scare the shot out of you.

I actually finally remembered to bring tote bags into the store with me the other day. I was super proud of myself. I guess I'll be sure to leave the backpack at home. 

[kamatia2]

interesting information!!! thank you!!!

[Dorado]

In my neighborhood it's more common to have your own bags then it is to use plastic . Be leery of some of the new " green " bags though As I have heard they also are made in China and the graphics on them have lead paint as well . I suppose the best bet are those macrame net bags that only te uber enviro Birkenstock wearing chicks used to shop with . Those women were way ahead of their time

[surfplusart]

thanks for the idea dorado. macrame is going to be my next crafts project!!