Plastic bags at some stores could be a thing of the past in San Bruno if a ban the City Council is considering happens.
The council had a discussion at its last meeting about a countywide plastic ban that is being planned to encourage consumers to be more environmentally conscious and turn to using reusable bags. The ban wouldn't apply to restaurants—only to grocery stores, clothing stores and shops that sell household items. A fee of 10 cents would also be charged for paper bags as part of the ordinance. Eventually, the fee could go up to 25 cents.
In a , San Mateo County Environmental Health Director Dean Peterson said plastic bag bans are becoming more common in the area. Millbrae has . San Jose's ban went into effect earlier this year, and Peterson said the county's ban will model it.
The council isn't expected to vote on the ban until the fall, after the county approves its ordinance. But the effort to consider an ordinance prohibiting plastic bags is part of a larger push by the city to make San Bruno more green.
In 2010, the council , prohibiting restaurants from using polystyrene—No. 6 plastics and Styrofoam—because of its potential environmental and health-related problems.
How would you feel if plastic bags were banned at stores throughout the city?
I re-use and recycle these bags all of the time...all that banning them will do is force me to get them elsewhere and drive up the cost of my groceries for my family even more. I'm not going to stop using them, and I guarantee the vast majority of folks will not either, or will just go with paper. Think about his more folks...do some research...don't just blindly accept that banning these bags is the way to go and give up more freedom to our government overlords!
You are more than welcome to live as you see fit and accept government interference in your life. But what happens when the next government action is about something you don't agree with that you'll be forced to accept? Where does it end? Highly recommended reading: "1984" by George Orwell. In the United States of America, there is a Constitution that says that individual liberty and freedom is the most sacred of our rights. You might be happy to be forced by the government into whatever cause you feel is right, but you have no right to force your cause-du-jour on others. You may educate towards convincing others to be sure, but forcing is anathema to what this country has and should stand for. Folks, there is a much larger picture going on here than just the banning of plastic bags. Why is the answer to every perceived problem to just ban this or that? How simplistic is that? Should we not study every aspect of the situation before we jump to an overreaching conclusion? And the planet will be just fine, BTW...here is GREAT video by the late George Carlin on the subject...no conservative in his time to be sure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw No more government tyranny!
If I do so, I will deliberately use the bags to spite these rules more than anything else. Heck, I should try auctioning my stash on eBay if this ban passes :) . So sad that our viewpoints (along with those put forth by our Founding Fathers in the form of the Constitution) will most likely just be trampled on. I can only say that for those of you who do see the dangerous big picture here and if you value your freedoms...in the next election in November, think long and hard...elections have consequences...vote for someone different this time (i.e. don't blindly vote for the incumbents who keep pushing this nonsense on us all!)
Annie: I will not force you do anything you do not want to do, but I implore you to step back from your cocoon and see your comment in a new and perhaps more educated light.