Poll: Do you support Toronto's plastic bag ban?

I don't see them actually enforcing this, but if it leads to new innovations like recyclable cardboard containers, or biodegradable bags, then it could end up being really great.

Rough Ford seems to think that Toronto is open to a lawsuit from plastics associations or retailers. Who wants to bet that Deco Labels and Tags will get in on the crybaby parade too?

Costco seems to be doing just fine without plastic bags.

They make bags out of things other than plastic, dude!

Plastic bags have such a minuscule impact on the environment compared to everything else. People who like to talk about this and want action like banning it is just trying to distract from the actual problems we face, which is over-consumption. If you support this ban, I better not see you buying a new iPhone every couple years.

Let's ban cigarettes next. Why not?

While I have mixed feelings about this and maybe in the long run it is a good idea, but what people should be just as concerned about is this proposal was brought up out of nowhere without any consoltation at all. Shelly Carrol this morning as much as admitted that and she voted for it nothing thinking it would pass. Is this any way to run a city? I am all for progressive laws but an action like this is the same as what the Federal Cons are doing with Bill 38....just ram it through without looking at the details.

Don't be such a drama queen. You won't be "turned away" from retailers. You'll simply be responsible for bringing your own reusable bags to transport the goods you just purchased. Not exactly rocket science.

That won't happen here.

The Toronto council in their great wisdom banned “to prohibit all City of Toronto retail stores from providing customers with single-use plastic carryout (shopping) bags, including those advertised as compostable, biodegradable, photodegradable or similar.”

So biodegradable plastic bags like the one's you used in Italy are banned too.

I wish this council would ban dandelions.

It'll be almost as painful as shopping in Italy. And who would want to buy anything there?

"Costco seems to be doing just fine without plastic bags."

Yep. Just back your minivan up to the loading dock and heave your 80-pack of paper towels in the back. No bags needed.

That should be the new model?

I'm pretty sure tourists - and most people - are more concerned about what they're buying rather than what material the bag they get for free is made of.

If retailers will offer alternatives, such as biodegradable bags, at no cost or 5¢; then I support the ban.

Otherwise this ban just makes everything a bit less convenient, with dubious environmental benefits.

relax. you may learn slowly but you will learn. invest in a backpack. don't buy more than you need. and if you need to do a big shop; plan it.

ridiculous. your 'lets not solve one problem because there are also other problems' logic is astounding.

It sounds like there are many who are all for saving the planet as long as they never have to change or be inconvenienced in any way. Uh, good luck with that. This is a great step in the right direction and all the Chicken Little's should give their heads a shake. If you can't figure out how to get your groceries home using one of the many non-plastic bag options, I'm amazed you manage to get out of bed in the morning.

I already shop as if plastic bags don't exist anyway. Cloth bags, bags made of that sturdier vinyl type stuff, paper bags with handles, plastic bins, bags from the produce section, backpacks. We already have way more plastic bags floating around than we will ever be able to use.

Is it true biodegradable plastic bags being banned as well?

I do not now, nor have I ever owned a car. And I get things home from the store in a resuable bag that I got into the habit of carrying some time ago. Large grocery purchases are placed into many resuable bags that I took along to the PLANNED grocery trip, and then into a cart to push home. My boyfriend, who has 4 children, does the same. He and I both PLAN our large shopping trips (i.e. groceries). The small bag I carry in my purse is for impluse shopping (as in, oh! Those shoes are cute! Must have now!), not for buying a weeks worth of groceries. It's called PLANNING, that's what looking at the big picture is.

Go to No Frills. Bagless for the last decade. We know how to do this already. They give out free cardboard boxes.

Except that No Frills has always sold bags.

Again you make the misinformed assumption that what works for you should work for everyone based on an opinion....and how you divulge the idea that people just randomly buy stuff they don't need and that's why the bags are so full? You assume they are just consuming sloths who don't plan? You aren't more righteous than the person who DOES have a car so I am not sure how that makes you smarter too. I personally think in the long run this could be a good idea.....it's how it was applied with NO thought and consideration for other other factors that I disagree with and that is not how a city should be run when so many factors are in play. Consultation then action is usually the way to go but I guess opinion and ideology tend to blind those points in debate.

It's amazing how people don't full read comments or actually misunderstand them. If you read my earlier point you would see I don't actually disagree with the decision since I think it could be a big benefit but its how it came out. My big boy pants have been on a while when I plan my grocery shopping since I don't buy more than I need considering it costs, you know...money....but again, it's too much to ask you to read text in full without forming a complete opinion.

I don't see why this is just a big deal. I (and thousands of other people) stopped using plastic bags when the 5 cent fee came into effect. I always take plastic bins or reusable shopping bags with me when I go grocery shopping. I keep a couple of bags in my backpack and in the trunk of my car. They're cheap to buy and last a long time.

Somehow we managed to carry things around before plastic bags and I'm sure we'll all figure it out again.

I am just giving one perspective, many people don't own cars and my point was what works for one person may not work for quite a lot of other people depending on their circumstance. Why it is automatically taken as an insult by a reader is something I do not understand....I think people misunderstand or just plain to know what the word "context" means in debate.

Did I say you were poor or made that assumption? I don't know you and wouldn't take a guess based on comments you post. My original statement said nothing about planning actually and the fact you responded to it in the way you did shows you didnt even read it. What you state isnt't fact it's just an opinion, and maybe your way works for you perfectly, I am not debating that, but to get militant and think your way is the scientific solution is incredibly naive and small minded.

You stated originally that the plastic bag ban was going to be a huge inconvenice to people without cars who grocery shop for families. How do you think they're doing their grocery shopping now that remembering to bring bags as part of their planning makes things ever so much harder? Stop backpedaling and telling me to read, when clearly you cannot. All of us without cars manage to get a large quantity of groceries or other purchases home, regardless of $0.05 plastic bags or not. Your point was a no-point. You got called on it. Deal.

re: garbage bags

you can buy small(er) white "kitchen garbage" bags that are stronger and bigger than grocery store bags, but nowhere near as big as a classic garbage bag. There are lots of options.


And let's be honest here - most people use plastic bags to get from the checkout counter to the trunk of their car, then from the trunk of their car to the kitchen of their house. You can do that with a reusable bag or a plastic box just as easily.

there are different types of plastic. the plastic built to carry cartons cans and bottles arent necessary for dog poop or garbage. Garbage bags for garbage. rolls of those biodegradable poo bags for dog poo. If you live in a building where you can't put proper garbage bags down the shute you grab the white ones that are much lighter then your average loblaws or old navy bag.

Oh. My. Gods. Seriously? Really, seriously? That sound you hear is me letting my head hit my desk repeatedly. How is the way those of us without cars getting our groceries home 'opinion'? Really? I'm not the only one who does it that way. Explain exactly how it's an 'opinion'. That's what I'm frustrated over, that's what's really annoying me. How is this an opinion when this is how people are doing it?

My home country has also banned plastic bags and everyone's habits just changed a little bit to bringing or buying reusable bags/boxes/whatever. People complained - I remember my brother almost having a meltdown at a dining table over the issue of rubbish bin liners at one point (something I never knew he was so passionate about) - but have adjusted just fine and now have other minor things to whine about. This is not a big deal, I'm all for it.

The thing i don't get is the fact that we still use plastic bags to put our garbage in...before the 5 cent fee was imposed we used those store bags for things like compost(green bin) and cat litter ...the only difference now is that we buy the bags either with holes in them from the cashier, or pay a premium for packaged garbage specific bags which come in a cardboard box...so it's not unreasonable to assume that a considerable amount of plastic still ends up in dump sites...

I predict a rise in the sale of granny carts.

Because the world is already turning to s**t! Why not make the small but significant effort to save it as much as we can. One person DOES make a difference!

People will adapt. The 5 cent bag fee came in and was hated and people adapted by using less, which is a good thing. Alternatives will be found and life will go on.

Ford is hilarious. He was on Oakley's show today and blamed the citizens of Toronto for not being active and rallying at City Hall and being vocal. Did this dipshit forget all the people who did just that to protest the proposed cuts, the occupy movement, etc...? He dismisses them out of hand but when it's something he agrees with he wants an uprising. This clown is an incompetent buffoon. Just a whiny little bitch who has no business running a city. And he said that the vote was from the NDP'ers and far left. His own ally introduced it and it received votes from the right, from centrists and the left. Watch though, his ignorant followers will use this as an excuse to whine about the 'loony left'.

Yep -- here they go:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LetFordBe

Agreed, it's an over reaction without being informed of some facts and I think that responsibility falls on the media and sites like this one. It's nice to take a poll on the topic but help your readers become informed also...it's not the end of the world and it's not the end of plastic bags in this city like it's being portrayed.

I don't disagree with what you said there and I think over a period of time people will have bags on the side to use or even reuse what they have already. I just did not like how it was brought down. Misinformation can lead to over reaction by the public.

Does this affect Subway sandwiches? A serious question, how will I carry my sub home?

Ask Mr Sub to borrow some of their paper bags...should solve the problem

I love everything about this. I especially love how Rob Ford tried to meddle, and it backfired on him.

Actually, this bylaw was already in the works when a previous councilor tried to pass it. So while I agree with you that it seems like a last minute thing, they actually already have all the work done and just couldn't pass it before. Plus people have been debating about the plastic bag thing for a while, and Ford made a big deal about ending the 5 cent fee, so I imagine that alone got councilors enough feedback from their constituents before this vote for them to decide what the people wanted.

To all the people that reuse these bags currently for garbage (myself included) this will help us move to biodegradable bags. This is just one small step toward reducing our overall garbage output. The next ones will be changing how products are packaged, for sure. But that would be a country wide thing.

You are bright. 'There are people that just don't use re-usable bags'? Congratulations you win the stupidest post on the thread award. Some people don't use computers. some people don't recycle. The point is effecting change if these people wanna juggle their groceries thats cool but lots cut down on the waist and allow idiots to learn or suffer.

It all depends on what you think you will achieve.

Stop plastic bags from blowing down the street in the wind – this is a win.

Ban plastic and have people replace with reusable bags: not sure how much energy it takes to make one reusable bag but given that they weight something like ~100x what a plastic bag weights it’s a safe assumption that they take ~100x more energy/chemicals/CO2 emissions/etc. If not 100x then pick your number. Ergo you would have to use the reusable bag 100x before losing, falling apart, etc for this to be “progress.”

In our house we use plastic bags to line garbage cans, put dirty shoes into when in the kids’ backpacks to school, etc – we reuse the plastic bags. If we end up with too many at home, we take reusable bags to the stores until we need to replenish the plastic stash. If I no longer received plastic bags at the grocery store, I’d need to replace the banned bags with plastic garbage bags anyway. Zero progress.

In the time since the $0.05 charge came in, we have grown from having a few reusable bags to zillions in our house. Zillions take lots of energy to make. Sometimes we forget to take reusable, etc and we end up at a store (ie., Ikea) with no plastic bags. Just means we buy more reusable which, as I said above, take a crapload more energy to build. Negative.

Paper bags. Paper bags are heavy, heavy, heavy. And they are basically single use. As a plus, they are easily recycled and also break down quickly if they blow into the lake/street/etc. But, heavy means energy. The amount of energy (also = CO2 produced) required to ship 100 paper bags from the factory to the store is a lot more than the required energy to ship 100 plastic bags. Not to mention trees chopped, chemicals used, etc in production.

I’m not sure this is progress. While it will mean less plastic blowing in the street, it will mean that I have to buy just as many plastic bags for the garbage anyway and I’ll end up with another dozen or so reusables and we’ll blow a crapload of extra energy producing and shipping paper bags.

It doesn't bother you that this legislation was essentially introduced to spite the Mayor?

Regardless of whether or not this is a good idea (Personally, I don't mind it), this once again illustrates the antagonistic nature between the council and Mayor and vice versa.

Now, you have Ford blaming citizens of the city for this because they weren't active enough in contacting their councilors. That's lunacy and he looks even more petulant than he normally does.

Seriously, people. Grow up. The Mayor and city council of the largest city in the country operate like a high school student council.

This crap needs to stop.

Reusables definitely last 100x or more, I've used three Mandarin takeout bags for all my grocery shopping for a year now, and only one of them has a tiny hole in it that has not affected it's carrying ability at all. Just don't overpack them please. As a cashier it was always very frustrating to have shoppers hand me one or two bags for what was clearly too many groceries, and then complain to me about the weight, or about how their re-usable bags kept breaking and that my grocery store needed to make stronger re-usable bags.

I find it's easiest to just keep a few bags inside each other, and then just carry the one containing them with me. Remember, it is no big deal if you have too many bags for your groceries, you can just leave the unused bags in with your groceries.

THE WORLD WILL END

I'm of two minds about this.
On one hand, I see the environmental benefits, although that could be deceiving if I end up buying loads of reusable bags to have around at all times.
I will miss the plastic bags though. I never minded the fee -- I just kept paying it. 5 cents in nothing to me. And I found the bags had that perfect lifespan... long enough to get multiple uses but not long enough that I had to clean them when meat juices or soap leaked into them. So convenient at the store, useful at home.
I will miss those little guys.

well look at you living all close to the edge of the city. retailers will not suffer. Another win for the taxpayers!! thanks mr shiner and council!

Just the way I worded it. He most definitely did the same in trying to eliminate the tax in the first place. One's no better than the other.

Yes/No. As much as I can work around it, I’m still not sure we’re advancing here when all is considered.

Real life example: Kid takes his sandwich to school wrapped in plastic wrap. School invokes a ‘no waste’ lunch policy (all parents have been through this recently). Henceforth kid takes sandwich to school in a Tupperware container. Most days kid brings Tupperware home and the world is a better place as it gets cleaned and reused next day. But kid being a kid loses Tupperware at school once out of every 20 days (I base this on real life experience with my 3 kids). I have no exact measure of plastic wrap vs Tupperware but by mass the Tupperware is probably about 150x more than one sandwich's worth of plastic wrap. So for this to be a winning (energy use) equation kid would need to lose the Tupperware less than once every 150 days. As no kid is ever going to manage to keep the Tupperware for 150 days, this is a well intended decision with a worse outcome than the status quo.

Not sure we have not just done the same thing.

"cut down on the waist and allow idiots to learn or suffer."

I think you just trumped my stupidest comment of the thread by being a smartass and illiterate at the same time. Fail.

"Yep -- here they go:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LetFordBe";

good example when brothers and sisters marry, the people on that page are a good example oh what happens and the impact on society.

yeah, cause, you know, plastic bags equal LIBERTY! Seriously?

I'm all for getting rid of plastic bags because of the environmental damage and wildlife effects.
But I would prefer that they charge for plastic bags and then instead of giving the money to the retailers, it goes towards planting trees or conservation or clean up, etc.

I usually have a reusable bag with me but sometimes, if I am getting a meal to go, it gets messy to use a reusable bag and a paper bag doesn't cut it with leaks.

Overall, it will lessen the usage of plastic bags but an outright ban seems kind of out there.

Maybe, as per the commenter above, just switch to biodegradable bags.

Those people are examples of Ford's base. Ignorant, angry people who hate the downtown gentry and feel like the whole world is out to fuck them over, especially the leftards. They love simple phrases and platitudes and will happily believe whatever lies they are told as long as it supports their narrow worldview. They still insist that the 'weenie reporter from the Toronto Tzar" was literally in Ford's backyard taking pictures of his children. As for the bags they are convinced this is an example of the extreme left-wing councillors in action despite the fact it was voted on by the centrists, the left and the right and was introduced in council by a Ford ally. Watch them ignore this.

Ford couldn't get council to pass GO at this point -- every stupid idea he insists on bringing before them blows up in his face -- burying an LRT, adding a ferris wheel, killing the bag "tax". Serves him right for being the worst mayor in city history.

Personally, I thought the bag fee was working great and would have happily left it alone without a full ban. A couple years ago I stood waiting for my brother outside a grocery store on Bayview south of Eglinton, and marveled at how everyone coming out the store used a reusable bag, or no bag. People were really responding to the fee. Compare that to New York, where I live, where everything is double bagged in plastic without asking and the bags end up blowing around empty lots, in the sewers, in the trees.

I tend to like having a chance to think about a change council is thinking of implementing that affects my daily life before they propose it.

Surprise votes hurt consituents more than anyone.

Ford just earned a vote from a staunch detractor and won a vote away from a council member I would have voted for over this. Its not so much the issue as the way it was handled. There is an ideological war going on in council but its not split on partisan lines, its all special interest related with loyalties all over the place (both in council and amongst the public). This is just the fight getting nastier and hurting Torontonians along the way.

The worst part is that I have to vote for Ford to make my point, sad day.

If you have to vote for Ford to make your point you are a fucking idiot

AMEN

@Ratpick.
Really? So, you have this endless supply of toilet paper in your bathroom? Show me how to do this, because in MY world, I actually have to go buy it first. Then it sits in my linen closet. And when I need some in the bathroom, I load er up.

What will I put my dirty cat litter in now???????????? *scratches head*

"Unless you're one of those people walking around naked. Even then, I'm pretty sure you'd still have options for storing a bag."

Wow -- that is actually one of the best come-backs I've ever read. Thanks for the laugh!

The I hate the War on Rob Ford facebook page is claiming this now:

Fair warning, we are going to remove this post shortly. We have confirmed with two councillors, including Denzil, that Reporter Peat's roll call was for a different vote, and does not represent their stand on plastic bags. Denzil Minan-Wong indeed voted against the motion to ban plastic bags in Toronto.

Seriously? You are honestly going to vote for Ford and/or a Ford friendly candidate who runs in your riding, just to spite your current councillor over a bloody plastic bag? A plastic bag? When there are so many other, vastly more important things to consider, you're letting a plastic bag change the way you vote in the 2014 Municipal elections? That's.....that's just plain petty dude. It's a plastic bag, get over it.

Those were my thoughts exactly when I heard Ford on the Radio, telling people to get engaged with city hall. If you disagree with me your the crazy minority but if you agree with me your right, what a hypocrite.

really happy to see this.. lets hope that in the future we can continue making the move away from plastic products!
horah

I haven't used plastic bags since the 5 cent charge came in and the only impact to me has been that I no longer have a pile of plastic bags under my kitchen sink.

As someone living downtown and without a car, I can see this causing me problems.

I don't begrudge the 5c cost of plastic bag (i'd even be happy to pay 10 or 15c) even though I often use reusable ones. I don't want to always carry a bag with me on the off chance I decide to buy grocery on the walk home from work or make a 'spur of the moment' purchase.

I actually use all my grocery bags as garbage bags.

I'm surprised by how many people have the attitude of, "I don't have a problem with this, so no one else should either."

Every guy arguing about plastic bags here has no idea how to please a woman.

Guys, I really, really think everyone will get used to it a lot quicker than you think, so just chill. Remember how up in arms everyone in Toronto got when they introduced 10 digit dialing in the GTA a decade ago? We got used to it!

And remember when they banned smoking in restaurants (and then bars) and people freaked out and claimed the bars would lose tons of business and it's infringing on our rights and what the hell? Doesn't it seem like ancient history when you could smoke inside now?

Just carry around a teeny fold-up bag with you in your pocket or purse all the time, and if you absolutely forget, retailers will have paper bags, boxes or reusable bags. Chill...

I use garbage bags to dispose of my garbage. It's not that hard and the 'extra cost' is negliable.

Umm, when you use your own bags you are your own master, no longer beholden to the plastic-bag tyrants.

(Am I doing it right?)

Can't help but totally and completely disagree with you in this particular instance. In something else, where the issue is far more important than a silly plastic bag, I'd see your point. But when you apply it to ten cents worth of plastic? No. I will continue to cast my vote based on far more important issues, like transit, public health, community services, etc. Not bloody plastic bags. Voting in a Ford ally just because you're pissed off over the ban on plastic bags will NOT do you and your Ward any favours at all.

I really don't care either way about the ban, I've been using my own shopping bags forever. I just think it's frickin' hilarious that Mayor Numbnutz was the one who wouldn't shut up about getting rid of the bag fee, then he puts it on council's agenda and they vote to get rid of the bags completely. Be careful what you wish for, dude! He's like Daffy Duck constantly getting his beak shot off in the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Never gets old.

Plastic bags are a personal freedom....who knew? In all honesty, if you're going to take that stance, why don't you take it with something that matters far more than a dime's worth of plastic?

The only one's insulting our intelligence and getting away with it have been Ford and his allies, see cancelling transit city for a start. See Gravy Train. See causing rift between suburbs and core. See SUBWAYS SUBWAYS SUBWAYS. And honestly, I don't see these unintended consequences, Toronto is hardly the first place to ban the precious plastic bag. It's as much about perspective as it is principled. Pick and chose the battles appropriately. Don't go throwing snit fits and using extreme rhetoric over a plastic bag.

This isn't going to be a big deal for me personally. I have a couple fabric bags in my purse at all times. I use Glad compostable bags in the garbage cans at home, and we use biodegradable bags for the dogs.

Unrelated but I agree on "Ban smoking". They will happily take away my right to choose if I can use a plastic bag or not. People get to choose if they want to increase their risk of illness and associated medical costs that are shouldered by all tax payers. But I never get my right to choose to breathe air that isn't contaminated with second hand smoke.

Mini-rant aside, this discussion is just about differentiating fear of change from skepticism. Fear will keep things from evolving for the better. A healthy dose of skepticism can keep things from evolving for the worse. Changing from one poor alternative to another seems like a waste of time and money.

For all of those who are capable of carrying reusable bags everywhere they go on the off chance they will need them, but never need more than the amount they're carrying, and have the appropriate amount of bags available every time: Since you will never need to use either a plastic nor a paper bag to carry your groceries, I don't see how this ban concerns or involves you. We can't all be such excellent samaritans, some of us are just human.

OHH SNAPP!

Went to the market, bought meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit, pastry and bread. No plastic was needed.
Yesterday bought 100 bags for $4.99. Lined my garbage pails with them.
What is the big problem folks?

Not sure what your point is.
Mine was eliminating shopping bags is not a life altering experience. I was indicating I can do my shopping without them. I buy the plastic bags to line my garbage pails, it takes me months to go through that quantity.
Single use shopping bags also come in boxes and need to transported and distributed, no advantage either way. Not having them at check out will lower the use of plastic bags, not eliminate the use of them.
Nice to say biodegrade bags are good, unfortunately they are undesirable to recycling programs, see the city of Toronto web site about recycling for details why.
The most important thing to think about is plastic bags are made from non-renewable petroleum sources. Look about your home and place of work and see how many thing are petroleum based products, that would be life altering if we did not have the resources to produce them. Better to use petroleum for those items then something as frivolous as a plastic bags.
Paper is made from recycled renewable sources, often the waste product of forestry. A better use of resources.

@steve my main points were that "one time use" plastic bags are easier to reuse therefore reduce the amount of plastic use and effect on the enviroment. And also that a person should first reduce their impact on the enviroment. Buying a hundred plastic bags that for all intense and purpose will not do this.

It is a myth that paper bags are less harmful to the enviroment. They are just has harmful if not more. http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-ess-p2-recycling-PaperPlasticSummary_2.pdf http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/paper-plastic1.htm

Banning plastic bags will encourage the use of re-usable bags and the development of a new eco-friendly bag industry. I doubt that plastic uses less energy than paper (you need some scientific reference to support your claim), and even if it did, you have to take into account the whole life cycle of a product into account and not just its production.

To all the people talking all "how will we ever scoop our kitty litter again?!":

Do you buy loaves of bread, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, boxes of cereal, bags of chips, containers or bags of kitty litter, bags of cat food, spinach in those plastic containers, ice cream, or anything else that might come in bags or containers?

These things can be used to dump your litter in! Scoop the clumps out of the box and dump 'em right in! You can even tie up the bags or keep the lids on the containers and keep them in a sealed bin and use the same bag/container until it's totally full.

I can usually get about a week of daily scooping before a single bread bag is full, and by that time, the next bag's almost empty, just ready and waiting to go.

you doubt? well look it up then before you make up your mind. This is what's wrong with you people - you make an emotional decision, based on zero facts at all. I bet this is all that goes on through the 2/3s of the peoples heads. "Oh well they give out paper bags at whole foods so it must be good for the environment".

You people are hypocrites. You think you are such a huge fn environmentalist, protecting the world from oil consumption? I bet you typed that on your paper keyboard, use a paper cup instead of your iPhone 4s or whatever the latest model is, and smugly drink starbux with a plastic stirrer that weighs half as much as a plastic bag.

Face the facts, plastic bags contain 5g of plastic, ppl put more crap into the air when they accelerate to cut the guy on the 401, a 1L water bottle weighs 40g. Is anyone banning those? Would you be so smug if cars were banned? Get real.

Ppl, please do yourselves and your community a favor - do some research. Plastic bags are recyclable, why not just force stores to accept them back for recycling like they do in NYC? And paper bags have huge drawbacks too.

Lastly, it is a matter of freedom. If you want to be environmentally conscious, and remember to bring your cloth bag, do so, I do it too. But I want to have the option of stopping by at a grocery store on the way from work if I forgot to get something on the weekend without having to carry it in my shirt front. Just saying.

I have been trying to figure out what you point is. I see no difference buying 100 one time use bags at $.05 at a discount store then buying 100 one time use bags at $.05 at a grocery store. Both can be reused when deemed possible. Both are used for the same purpose, both have the same impact on the environment. Buying my own bags allows me to control the use and not worry about tossing bags because they got damaged from the one time use of carrying home products.

I figure your argument is a need for an endless supply of free bags. Your defense is to build a strawman.

You guys are eff'd in the head if you think this is a good thing.... you should get on your unicorn and fly the F to space. This is a goddamn plastic bag, it should be FREE at every shopping location - it can be recycled and reused -the people in Toronto really have nothing better to btich and complain about, makes me f'n sick that Toronto has come to this.

Although this is a very small and petty thing, when will this garabe end? I seriously think some people in Toronto want the city to put diapers on them and breast feed them - whine, complain whine and complain, and everyone feels the effect of what some old disgruntled, hippie man or woman who is obviously detached from the outside world thinks should be the way in the city. Utterly Disgusting. Enjoy your Toronto.

Unfortunately, people aren't thinking that far ahead. So it looks like it's back to the "good ol' days" of paper bags where one, in many instances, was left with a mess on the ground since many a bag couldn't hold the weight of a full bag of groceries. And if there was any moisture in the bag (from beverages, frozen foods, etc.), you probably wouldn't even get as far as your car before the groceries fell through. Also, with no handles to hold, it would only make carrying them that much more difficult.

Eyes are very important to everyone. When you are walking in a hot day, you need a sunglass. when you are driving, you need a sunglass. When you will have travle with your friend, you need a sunglass. So, have a sunglass becomes very important.

Cartier Sunglass
Chanel Sunglass
Chrome Hearts Sunglass
Gucci Sunglass
Oakley Sunglass
Louis Vuitton Sunglass

I comment when I appreciate a article on a site or if I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion.

It's triggered by the fire displayed in the post I browsed. And on this post Poll: Do you support Toronto's plastic bag ban?
. I was excited enough to drop a thought ;-) I actually do have a couple of questions for you if it's okay. Could it be only me or do a few of these remarks appear like they are coming from brain dead people? :-P And, if you are posting at additional places, I would like to follow you. Could you make a list every one of your public sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?