Italy to ban plastic bags in New Year

Italy to ban plastic bags in New Year

www.cnn.com

The environmental group Legambiente estimates each Italian consumes about 300 plastic bags a year, and that 180,000 tons of gasoline would be saved if everyone used just 10 bio-degradable bags a year for their shopping.

The tendency for shops and merchants to give out plastic bags for everything is a recent one. Paper bags -- or no bags at all -- were the norm just 30 or 40 years ago, when ladies would carry their own shopping carts or net sacks to the store.

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I am posting this because it is something I have on the news or radio before. Plastic bags will now be banned in Italy but I think we are going to be seeing more of this in the near future. As is shown about a correlation can be made to plastic bags and the amount of petroleum required to make them. That in itself can be enough for people, and sometimes a legislature to take notice. So like it or not, we may be seeing more of this.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

What are people going to do with the cat litter they scoop without plastic bags?

This probably isn't a bad idea, it will reduce the need for oil so costs should come down (LOL!)

The sad part is that unless they are banning paper bags also, they are making more of an impact on the environment.

Plastic bags are more reusable compared to paper.
Plastic can be stacked more compactly and weighs less then each paper bags. You must also consider energy used for shipping of each bag and plastic takes much less.
Unless the process has changed since I last researched, paper bags need bleaches used on them to be recycled. Its much easier to recycle plastic bags and the plastic has more uses when recycled.

These days, most plastic bags are made from a type of plastic called polyethylene. 80% of polyethylene is produced from natural gas – an abundant, yet non-renewable resource.

Plastic bags are also made of mostly natural gas, not petroleum that would be used for oil. You can actually burn plastic bags and its slightly better then coal for emissions to create energy like electricity.

Great article showing each side of the debate well.

blog.greenfeet.com...

I came to the same conclusion as the blog. We really just need to make it so people must use a reusable sack like was used early on in the 50's ( I think that's the correct time frame)

reply to post by againuntodust


Againuntodust
People will have to come up with a new solution to the kitty litter problem.
The petroleum that is being saved is what is driving this. That is why I think we are going to be seeing more of this.

I remember about 20-25 years ago when everybody was getting rid of paper bags and pushing the plastic ones as a way to save trees.

So much of this is about fads rather than real science. It's a shame when legislatures jump on fad bandwagons. We get "trendy" laws to opress us.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Its good to see .. Over here in asia people been taking up using reusable bags made from cloth for shopping and doing away with plastic bags.

reply to post by RedGolem


Most of its coming from natural gas not oil.

I reuse my plastic bags many times, very handy. Lunches too. Also plastic bags can be made from plant materials and all things can be made from hemp, including toilet paper.

So i wouldn't allow any government to ban anything unless they're replacing it with really good alternatives that the people approve of. Italians should speak up for better solutions.

Just burn them little bags if you got 50 even
100 of them one little light
the bag will get scared
light it on fire
watch them burn up in the air.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere


So much of this is about fads rather than real science. It's a shame when legislatures jump on fad bandwagons. We get "trendy" laws to opress us.

This guy
unfortunately I do think you may be right in your statement. I do hope any science behind this is correct.
thanks for posting.

Originally posted by Unity_99


So i wouldn't allow any government to ban anything unless they're replacing it with really good alternatives that the people approve of. Italians should speak up for better solutions.

unity
you made some very good points, thanks for your post.
I do hope some day hemp will come back into the field of textiles. I am aware it has many uses.

I'd love to see something like that happen over here. There so much plastic in the oceans it's becoming a problem for the animals living there. A whale washed up on somewhere on the northwest coast and they found some amazing plastic items in it's stomach including a pair of rubberized sweat pants. From what I understand there are three big patches of plastic floating in the oceans. It's good to see some one taking a stand.

reply to post by RedGolem


Good. It's about time we started minimizing the amount of ecological harm we cause by our consumption. It's a step in the right direction.

reply to post by DankNugs

Thanks for the comments.
Like I was saying like it or not, or for what ever your motives are I do think it will be happening sooner or later.

Originally posted by againuntodust
What are people going to do with the cat litter they scoop without plastic bags?

Maybe we'll see a comeback of the good old white dog poo scattered randomly every few steps if no-one picks it up.

Whatever happened to that?

CX.

More and more stores here in the US are going to the B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bag) deal. I say it has little to do with any thing but saving the store money. You bring your own bag or box or carry it out in your hands. I can see now people pushing their carts to the car and put their groceries in the car can by can. I have some plastic creates I keep in the truck for use on grocery day. As long as I can get the cart to the truck to transfer my load I really do not care about the bag thing. But a lot of people reuse the bags for all kinds of things and that will be the ones hurt the most.
The store reusable bags are junk. I will buy and use pillow cases before buying them things. And another thing I read a few weeks back about a lot of these store reusable bags having lead in them.

reply to post by whoshotJR


It's not so much paper versus plastic or what they are made of but a matter of people wanting more "easy" and not have to be bothered with being prepared.

For most Americans, actually taking some bags to the store to carry you groceries is far too much work. The want to waddle their fat a** into the store, pay ridiculous costs for food they do not even have to cook, have someone put it in a bag for them, and then waddle home to the sofa.

When I go to the store, I take canvas bags with me and utilize those to hold the groceries. They hold much more than plastic or paper.

Folks used to do this all the time back in the day. Somewhere it got lost.

reply to post by ABNARTY



How sweet, and I suppose when you take those recycle bags in you don't even waddle, after all you're ALL that and more.

Well, our plastic bags cost 5 cents and I reuse them alot. I know that they're not really a problem since this and all the other problems have already been solved many times over, so I hand the karma back to the ones who are controlling and mismanaging this world. The GateKeepers.

I also have those blue enviro bags, that usually get forgotten in the back seat of my car. So thankfully they're relatively new and unused cause they had this big study down on them that was published in our Canadian papers, that revealed a very high germ count was found in these bags. They're not very sanitary or safe. i thought that was even when you clean them, which I think you have to do a lot. Personally I think hemp plastic recycle bags and hemp paper bags would ROCK, oh and hemp toilet paper, kleenexes. Renwable crop probably save the world.

In the early part of the twentieth century, people had to take their own containers for whatever they bought. Never should have stopped doing this!

Hank Williams covered an old traditional song that went:

Well, my bucket's got a hole in it,
My bucket's got a hole in it,
My bucket's got a hole in it,
Can't buy no beer.

LOL!

Originally posted by Expat888
Its good to see .. Over here in asia people been taking up using reusable bags made from cloth for shopping and doing away with plastic bags.

Same here in Las Vegas... canvas/cotten bags starting to become popular and at the conventions that is what they give away. We use em all the time and they are great for mineral specimen collecting