My local Raley's is pretty good about bagging, though of late I have been doing the self-service checkout whenever possible and thus doing my own bagging. In the great last-minute search for matzoh I bought a few things at a Safeway one town over and got everything individually bagged in plastic bags. I hadn't seen that since coming to California.

I think there's already a law on the books banning plastic bags in Los Angeles (or possibly all of California, but at least in Los Angeles). This makes me happy from a green perspective, but we do use those plastic bags as trash liners (we have really small trash cans) and as kitty poop disposal containers.

It will be annoying when we have to change our habits in those areas.

This makes me happy from a green perspective, but we do use those plastic bags as trash liners (we have really small trash cans) and as kitty poop disposal containers.

Exactly. I guess we'll be buying small trash bags to use for litter box cleaning, which puts the same amount of plastic back into play, right? We usually bring a couple of our own bags and get a couple of plastic to use for the cats.

Big chain stores are banned from using plastic bags in SF. I'm fine with that after looking at the 1 billion pound swirl of plastic trash spinning around in the middle of the ocean.

JZ's good about taking our bags to the store. I tend to just get paper bags because I need something to take the recycling down in.

Exactly. I guess we'll be buying small trash bags to use for litter box cleaning, which puts the same amount of plastic back into play, right?

Well, for you maybe, but what about all the people who don't recycle? Overall, I'd rather have them out of circulation.

When I do get plastic bags, I generally use them for lining my shredder. (This shredder, for some reason, is really not designed to take liners -- in order for it to work, the top part has to sit right on the bottom part. I I did figure out how to get it to work, but it's clearly not meant to be set up this way.)

Has anyone every tried those biodegradable plastic bags? They're supposed to work like regular plastic bags when you use them (I'm seen them in garbage can size and dog-poop size), but then they disintegrate in the landfill. I'm not sure I totally trust them -- the package says to keep them away from moisture.

Exactly. I guess we'll be buying small trash bags to use for litter box cleaning, which puts the same amount of plastic back into play, right?

Well, for you maybe, but what about all the people who don't recycle? Overall, I'd rather have them out of circulation.

This. I use all the plastic bags I get, mostly for the dog but also for garbage, so it'll be an inconvenience. But one I can certainly live with. (Mostly it'll be annoying I think because it's hard to find trashbags you can hang over a door knob and I might have to get an actual trash can.) But on the dog issue, it's not like changing over isn't something I should be doing already, in advance of any plastic bag restrictions.

FYI, I found the biodegradable dog bags the other day at Cost Plus World Market for a lot less than the PetSmart type stores have them.

ION, Jesse L. Martin is adorable. [link] (This is the problem with YouTube. No matter where I start, I keep clicking on "Related Videos" and somehow always end up at Rent.)

Has anyone every tried those biodegradable plastic bags? They're supposed to work like regular plastic bags when you use them (I'm seen them in garbage can size and dog-poop size), but then they disintegrate in the landfill. I'm not sure I totally trust them -- the package says to keep them away from moisture.

Hmmm.... I like the idea of biodegradable bags, but I wonder if they're like biodegradable styrofoam peanuts. Those are made from corn (we're already discovering there's some problems with turning food into other stuff), and if, as they say, you need to keep them away from moisture, doesn't that limit their utility as trash bags.

These are the biodegradable bags I've seen. [link] . Pretty pricey -- I can get a box of about 50 Hefty plastic bags for the price of that box of 12 BioBags. Probably about 100 no-name plastic bags. There are plenty of green things I'm willing to pay more for, but I'm not sure if this is one of them.