[coffeebean]

There was a greeter at Publix yesterday informing people that Publix will be phasing out plastic bags. I was told this new policy will be implemented in the next 2-3 months.

Re-usable bags are $.99 each. I received a re-usable bag key ring as a reminder to bring re-usable bags to Publix. It is cute!

[Nucky]

This is something that I consider to be environmental friendly and not helpful to me for shopping. This is one of the reasons I quit Sams. I like and don't mind paying for the extra mile that Publix goes to make shopping a pleasure. We find it to be much better than Kings or Wegman which we had in our previous life. I don't want to supply or pay for my own bags. Count me out. There are way too many other services available now a days to get food to the house. We LOVE PUBLIX, don't screw it up!

A side issue will be the amount of Dog Problem Threads will be increased if plastic bags are decreased.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Originally Posted by Nucky

This is something that I consider to be environmental friendly and not helpful to me for shopping. This is one of the reasons I quit Sams. I like and don't mind paying for the extra mile that Publix goes to make shopping a pleasure. We find it to be much better than Kings or Wegman which we had in our previous life. I don't want to supply or pay for my own bags. Count me out. There are way too many other services available now a days to get food to the house. We LOVE PUBLIX, don't screw it up!

A side issue will be the amount of Dog Problem Threads will be increased if plastic bags are decreased.

Most of the plastic bags that come from groceries have small slits in the bottom of them. Can you imagine the look on people's faces when the poop they pick up gets all over their fingers?

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

There was a greeter at Publix yesterday informing people that Publix will be phasing out plastic bags. I was told this new policy will be implemented in the next 2-3 months.

Re-usable bags are $.99 each. I received a re-usable bag key ring as a reminder to bring re-usable bags to Publix. It is cute!

About time.
Bring your own bags, Aldi have done it for years.
No one died, but the sea and enviroment were just a little bit cleaner and safer for wildlife.
I hope Walmart follow suit, along with all other retailers!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

When Connecticut phased out plastic grocery bags a lot of people were incensed. They felt they had some kind of "right" to free bags at the supermarket, and the clothing stores, and the take-out joints.

Except, most people had totally forgotten that the world did just fine before plastic grocery bags were invented. Now, we don't even need to cut trees down to make the paper bags - we can use re-useable cloth bags instead, toss them in the washing machine every month and they're good to go, bacteria-free and sturdier than paper or plastic. A single cloth bag can last a year, even if you wash it every week. They usually cost between a buck and two bucks to replace.

And for those who want a way to pick up the dog poop, well hey - you know you can BUY a whole roll of poop-bags at supermarkets and pet food stores.

For those who need to clean the litter box (and for those who use these bags to LINE their litter boxes) - you can buy a box of 1000 for under $30 on Amazon. That should last you a year or two.

It's not a big deal. It is one of those "changes" people oppose for no reason other than they don't want change. It's especially unforgiveable if you have a problem with the plastic bags and you don't even try to re-use them. If you're just throwing them away when you get your groceries home, then you can throw away your cloth bags instead. Or not use bags. Use boxes like the big box stores and Aldi's provide.

Or - you can just pay for the container of choice. You have to pay for everything else in life, why make a fuss about a plastic bag you're just going to throw away in 10 minutes anyway?

[tophcfa]

Dam, no plastic bags up north for the dog poop but until now they were available in the Villages. I guess now we will have to pay for dog poop bags.

[JoMar]

Have been using reusable bags for years including insulated for the cold stuff. Actually easier. Giant in PA had reusable bags plus you could ring up each item in your cart and put it directly into the bag. Sams has scan and go which speeds up the process. I know they can't do that in the grocery stores here, too many would try to steal. Closest is self check out which we use where ever available.

[Velvet]

Paper bags please. Loved them for many purposes.
I remember shopping in Europe and they offered no bags at all, so I only bought what fit in my hand.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Paper bags please. Loved them for many purposes.
I remember shopping in Europe and they offered no bags at all, so I only bought what fit in my hand.

At least paper bags rot away in the landfills .
Europe is way ahead of USA with the removal of plastic from the enviroment, but they still have a long way to go.
We bring our shopping bags from UK with us to save using the plastic bags here.
May not be much on the scale of the problem, but at least we are making our small contribution and effort.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Mao Tze Tung.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I should add: I'm a cat owner. I'll be buying bags from Amazon once they phase out the plastics. I don't like that at all, because I am one of those people who RE-USE the bags. They are never single-use bags for me. But I used to buy liners for the cat box before they invented clumping litter and that was a much greater expense, and huge waste of plastic.

[coffeebean]

In Florida, residential recycling does not allow grocery store bags. I found this out when I Googled if grocery bags are accepted as recycles in Florida after my brother-in-law told me plastic bags are not accepted in residential neighborhoods. I have always dropped off my plastic grocery bags in the bins in front of Publix or the bins at Winn Dixie. I thought those grocery bags were being recycled. Does anyone know what the grocery stores do with those plastic bags?

[Bjeanj]

Tell me if I’m incorrect, but I seem to recall the outcry years ago when paper bags were the norm. Then people started an outcry about all the trees being chopped down for these bags. Isn’t that when plastic bags were introduced?

I don’t mind bring in reusable bags. I just have to remember to bring them! And then, how many do I bring? If I’m shopping for a lot of things, I suppose eventually I’ll be able to gauge how many I’ll need to bring. Learning curve, don’t ya know.

[EdFNJ]

It's wonderful Publix will be phasing out plastic bags. It can only help the environment. Maybe it will only help a little but every little bit helps.

HOWEVER! With all the money they save on the bags will they reflect that in their pricing or donate it to environmental causes??? 100% NOT. So I question their altruism but support their decision.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Nucky

We find it [Publix] to be much better than Kings or Wegman which we had in our previous life. .

I'd give up my left pinky finger to get Wegman's down here!

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Nucky

This is something that I consider to be environmental friendly and not helpful to me for shopping. This is one of the reasons I quit Sams. I like and don't mind paying for the extra mile that Publix goes to make shopping a pleasure. We find it to be much better than Kings or Wegman which we had in our previous life. I don't want to supply or pay for my own bags. Count me out. There are way too many other services available now a days to get food to the house. We LOVE PUBLIX, don't screw it up!

A side issue will be the amount of Dog Problem Threads will be increased if plastic bags are decreased.

Nucky, one of the things we first noticed about using non-disposable grocery shopping bags was how much easier they are on the hands to carry out of the car into the house. And we store them in the trunk of the cars, so no storage issues in the house.

Give it a try! The hardest part was remembering to bring them out of the car into the store.