Heads up! If you are in Austin, you will not be able to use plastic bags anymore at the grocery store!
On March 2, 2012, the Austin City Council unanimously approved a Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance, which will take effect in March 2013. The ordinance regulates of the types of bags that can be distributed by business establishments in Austin and encourages a shift to reusable bags. From Austin Gov site.
Here are a few reusable bags you can order:
- 10 Newly Assorted Strawberry Foldable Bags $14.99 + free shipping!
- Pack of 10 Reusable Grocery Bags $12.50 + free shipping
- Single Strawberry Foldable Bag $1.15 + free shipping
- ECOBAGS Set of 5 Cotton Market bags $32
- LARGE VOLUME ~ IKEA Tote Bags~ SET of (5)
for just $9.83
- Jokari Grocery Tote and Car Trunk Organizer, Black
for just $15.40
Get free shipping with Amazon Prime and Amazon Mom. Plus, see more great Amazon deals HERE.
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This is AWSOME! I was in Australia 8 years ago and if you used the plastic bags there, you had to pay .05 for everyone used! I can not wait till something like this comes to Arizona!
I disagree! They had a special on Dr. Oz with the reusable grocery bags. They become grossly contaminated with germs!!! EWWW!!!
I saw that as well. 🙁 This is entire thing is silly!
I was going to comment about the germs as well. Just be sure to wash your bags every few weeks and I think you are okay.
It makes me cringe to see all those plastic bags going out the door, expecially when they put just a couple things in each bag. Of course you have to remember to wash the bags, and it becomes habit after a while, but it feels so good to save that plastic!!!
Its a nice idea, but, I think it is wrong to force people to buy the reusable bags. Why not charge a small amount for plastic bags, like Kristen mentioned?
While it might be great to have less waste and Austin has always been a bit kooky, I cannot believe that “hands-off” Texans are willing to put in place more silly regulations! Is this a positive step? Maybe. Should it be regulated? Absolutely not!!!
I’ve used reusable bags fo years although I also admit I do have my fair share of plastic bags that I recycle. I wash my bags once a week and have had most of them for long time. I seen the same Dr Oz program and really didn’t understand why you wouldn’t wash the bags like you would anything else food comes in contact with. Remember to keep 1 or 2 bags specifically for meat and mark them as such. If they get a spill wash them by hand. I recycle an reuse when possible, it’s really important for our future 🙂
Plastic bags in Sweden were super thick and cost about 20 cents a piece. We would use two for a month and then throw those out and start again. Cut way down on waste, AND I never had one of the bags rip on me 🙂
This is ridiculous…who are they to tell any business what kinds of bags they can use? Or people for that matter? If you’re that concerned for the environment, that’s your right to be so…but that stops at others. No one should have the right to force this crap down other people’s throats. Enough with the regulation! I always thought Texas would be the place to be for small government folk but the more I hear about ridiculous laws like this, the happier I am to be in Kentucky.
Oh, and my previous comment is not in any way directed at this site or it’s owner, I LOVE this site – it’s awesome and helps me save my family tons of money and I’m incredibly thankful for it. Big government just drives me nuts.
LOL! I am right there with you Sara!! It is Austin. Weirdly they do not reflect the mentality of the entire state. Most of the time we all just shake our heads and wonder.
Lol! I agree! After moving around to different parts of Texas I learned rather quickly that Austin marches to its own beat. But this is where I live now, and, like it or not, it’s the way things are. It will take some getting used to, planning ahead, and hopefully some innovation (to target the whole germ thing) but overall I think we’ll come out in a good place. This annoys the heck out of my husband and countless others, but on the bright side, we do have options. Target is giving free paper bags, surrounding communities don’t have the bag ban (so we can shop there) or we can give in and buy reusable bags. I’m leaning towards the cotton ones. Wouldn’t they last longer than the non-woven ones? And are those non-woven bags recyclable?
Diane, I am not sure, I have had one of those nice cotton bags forever, but I tend to use it for the pool and forget to take it to the store!I love Austin for all it’s weirdness. It is a beautiful city!
What happened to paper bags? The are easier to recycle than the plastic bags.
How much money & resources were spent lobbying for this?
Remember we weren’t doing paper bags because we were trying to save the environment…. we can’t win!
This sounds like a great idea, I do this here in Houston, but sometimes I “forget” because I need some bags for my bathroom trash cans!