On March 20, Fuzzy blogged that the plastic bag bans could backfire during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic because the reusable totes harbor germs and bacteria.
San Francisco reversed its 13-year ban on plastic bags. Now the liberal city banned reusable grocery totes!
The San Francisco Department of Public Health issued a shelter in place order on March 31.
The order said facilities cannot allow “customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home.”
Recycling activists lost their minds:
“This fear of bringing reusable bags into the stores is misguided, but I certainly understand why store employees don’t want to handle somebody else’s things,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste. “I wouldn’t have any expectation that somebody is going to put my groceries into my bag that I brought from home.”Murray said he had been working with union representatives and the grocery industry to try to get Newsom to issue statewide guidelines. Murray said the concern thus far has been driven by workers.”CalRecycle is aware of that recommendation, and they haven’t been able to take action or get the administration to take action,” he said.CalRecycle did not respond to a request for comment.
California has been obsessed with the environment for a long time. Gov. Gavin Newsom banned “hotels from using small single-use plastic containers for shampoo and other toiletries.” State lawmakers hope they can ban all single-use plastic by 2030.
The Wuhan coronavirus has changed a lot of minds in San Francisco and California. The coronavirus has infected almost 9,900 people and killed 215 in the state.
People keep buying bottled water. Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee resorted to paper cups instead of filling a customer’s reusable mug.
I’m going to encourage you guys to keep reading Leslie’s wonderful work on diseases. She blogged in September 2017 that California’s plastic bag ban probably contributed to the Hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego.
Maybe California lawmakers will finally realize that people should have a choice.
I’m not getting my hopes up high.
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