State Preemption

[tragabigzanda]

We have stopped using our cloth grocery bags because A) plastic bags get re-used in our bathroom trash bins, and B) paper bags get re-used for either recycling of other paper products, or for our cat to play with.

A doesn't really matter because those plastic bags you reuse still eventually end up in the trash.

but it's better than purchasing news mini trash bags, or even using no bags but then having to use water and detergent to clean out scummy garbage receptacles.

[Norris]

We have stopped using our cloth grocery bags because A) plastic bags get re-used in our bathroom trash bins, and B) paper bags get re-used for either recycling of other paper products, or for our cat to play with.

A doesn't really matter because those plastic bags you reuse still eventually end up in the trash.

but it's better than purchasing news mini trash bags, or even using no bags but then having to use water and detergent to clean out scummy garbage receptacles.

What if you used a biodegradable bag of some sort? A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

I haven't completely weened myself off of plastic grocery bags either, but saying they're ok if you reuse them is really dumb.

[tragabigzanda]

We have stopped using our cloth grocery bags because A) plastic bags get re-used in our bathroom trash bins, and B) paper bags get re-used for either recycling of other paper products, or for our cat to play with.

A doesn't really matter because those plastic bags you reuse still eventually end up in the trash.

but it's better than purchasing news mini trash bags, or even using no bags but then having to use water and detergent to clean out scummy garbage receptacles.

What if you used a biodegradable bag of some sort? A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

I haven't completely weened myself off of plastic grocery bags either, but saying they're ok if you reuse them is really dumb.

I feel like the jury is still out on biodegradable disposables. This book makes a compelling case that due to the lack of oxygen in landfills, most biodegradable items don't break down for many years longer than if they were in a compost bin:



He tells an anecdote about some food -- a piece of cake maybe? -- that was discovered deep in a landfill. By comparing it with adjacent refuse (receipts and magazines and whatnot), they could date the cake to being some years old, yet it looked like a brand new slice...

Meanwhile, composting is illegal here in Big Sky, due to the bears. So there's no great way for me to feel good about using biodegradable stuff that's headed for a landfill. Nevertheless, nearly all of our disposable products for the ice cream co are biodegradable, but it's more of a marketing/image thing. Customers don't want to hear my Garbology diatribe while they're enjoying an ice cream cone, you know?

[Norris]

plastic grocery bags are still awful

[tragabigzanda]

Now you're just being irrational.

[E.H. Ruddock]

I tried one of those in-the-ground composting things for dog shit once, but it is so hot and humid here that it didn't work very well and just made you automatically throw up if you came within 10 feet of it due to the smell. So plastic bags it remains for picking up dog shit.

[Simple Torture]

He tells an anecdote about some food -- a piece of cake maybe? -- that was discovered deep in a landfill. By comparing it with adjacent refuse (receipts and magazines and whatnot), they could date the cake to being some years old, yet it looked like a brand new slice...

[tragabigzanda]

Hehe, I was thinking the same thing

[B]

I used store plastic bags and stuff like that for dog poop, but I had a neighbor who trained his dog to shit on command in specific corner of their yard. Then he'd scoop it into a paper grocery bag. When that was full he tossed it. The dog never shit when he was going for walk.

No way I could be committed enough to train my dog to shit on command.

[bart]

A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

wtf

[Norris]

A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

wtf

Shut up I was just digging in.

[tragabigzanda]

A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

wtf

Shut up I was just digging in.

Bart, I had you all wrong. You are a good man after all.

[bart]

A paper grocery bag fits just fine in a bathroom trash bin.

wtf

Shut up I was just digging in.

Bart, I had you all wrong. You are a good man after all.

No, I actually am an arrogant dickhead.

[Green Habit]

SB 827 goes down in flames.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/17/ ... e-hearing/

Although I strongly support the goals behind the bill, I strongly opposed this as being the wrong way to do it. Had California legitimized state preemption in favor of density, I guarantee you that other states would see an opening to do the same in favor of sprawl. Work harder on getting better local officials.

[Bi_3]

plastic grocery bags are still awful

We have a $0.05 fee for those here in the People's Republic, but instituting that had little effect. It wasn't until local businesses started giving away reusable bags with brand names on them and the bags became a type of social signalling that there was a shift.

[Noangel]

We have stopped using our cloth grocery bags because A) plastic bags get re-used in our bathroom trash bins, and B) paper bags get re-used for either recycling of other paper products, or for our cat to play with.

A doesn't really matter because those plastic bags you reuse still eventually end up in the trash.

Plastic is close to 30% fossil fuels (think oil, exxon) and a large portion of that ends up in the oceans.

[simple schoolboy]

plastic grocery bags are still awful

We have a $0.05 fee for those here in the People's Republic, but instituting that had little effect. It wasn't until local businesses started giving away reusable bags with brand names on them and the bags became a type of social signalling that there was a shift.

I was at my local market, and they were selling paper grocery bags by the 10 pack or whatever in the storage container/ bag aisle. Why not just go with paper?

The free, thin plastic bags have been replaced by the thicker 2.5 mil (I assume they mean thousandths of an inch) thick HDPE. They are theoretically reusable, but how may people do so?

The difference in mass between the old style plastic, and the newer ones makes me question whether anything has been improved. I'd wager no, but at least the new bags won't be featured in American Beauty II as they are not quite as easy propelled by the wind.

[Noangel]

Idaho is taking a stand against 'sanctuary cities'.


I guess no Canadians?

[Green Habit]

State preemption is evil, a continuing series.

[blueviper]

OMFG! Do I need to list all the bullshit by my state General Assembly again?

- Invalidated town design committees.
- Handed Asheville's water purification to the county.
- Redistricted Wake County's (Raleigh) school district.
- Redistricted Guilford County (Greensboro) county commissioners.
- Invalidated town restrictions on guns in parks, churches, and/or bars.
- Eliminated town minimum wages.
- Invalidated Durham's pollution controls over their reservoir.
- Invalidated all town/county anti-discrimination ordinances.
- Limited town/county tax initiatives to every other year.
- Invalidated a previous sale of land from the state to the city of Raleigh.

Maybe there are others I'm forgetting.

Idaho also invalidated local minimum wage hikes after McCall, a resort town that's close to my heart, put such a measure on the ballot. They also forbade gun bans on university campuses, which resulted in this hilarious article.

They also forbade cities from enacting plastic bag bans, even though absolutely no one was even coming close to considering it.

Tangent: we lived in Boise 1st thru 6th grade and we’d go to McCall for the ice sculpture festival /winter festival (?) and it was awesome.