MF YYC Politics - there, I mega did it

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Who in this thread is throwing a fit?

Being charged 15 cents for a bag at the grocery store is the system we had three months ago. Now those bags have been removed. Try to keep up.

We’re actually talking about bags at drive-thrus which you now need to pay 15 cents for. Try to keep up.

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I recall with you leading with something about how we're children for thinking this is a stupid bylaw? Then you said it made you think twice about a bag. I said that what was contributed doesn't answer the question of how the bylaw actually solves a real problem when usable bags -- what the bylaw is trying to push people toward -- are still the worst answer environmentally when you look at the energy and environmental impact of their lifecycle relative to compostable paper.

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Now you can either reduce (not use a bag) or reuse (use one of the reusable bags in your car).

The less energy that goes into producing and disposing of single use paper bags, the better.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

The less energy that goes into producing and disposing of single use paper bags, the better.

Except for that inconvenient part where reusable bags are orders of magnitude worse for the environment in their lifecycle than compostable materials. Just in their production alone.

[Wormius]

There are more worthwhile things to use trees for than making a bag that gets tossed (hopefully in the right bin, but judging by overflowing garbage cans at food courts and around town, a lot of people aren’t) immediately after use?

Maybe if it reduces the recycling pickup schedule, those people who drive the trucks can do something more productive.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Except for that inconvenient part where reusable bags are orders of magnitude worse for the environment in their lifecycle than compostable materials. Just in their production alone.

So just get a few and stop forgetting them in your car?

[fotze2]

Can you guys go easy with your epileptic fits? Jeezus. Cliff is bordering on a psychotic episode over these bags.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Can you guys go easy with your epileptic fits? Jeezus. Cliff is bordering on a psychotic episode over these bags.

Don’t people know, if they really want to be cheap-asses, is go to the produce section (like where the bananas are) and get a compostable produce bag for free? Heck, literally go bananas! Maybe double bag them and put that sour cream in there too!

[Cappy]

We bought foldable baskets for grocery trips using the car (we mostly walk to the nearest grocery store) similar to these https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/cleverm...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

And they are great. Leave them in the car. Leave them by the door on the way out in the morning so we don't forget.

The amount of vitriol this bylaw is getting from people who most likely drive to the grocery store and have a 30 yard walk from car-store-home is pretty crazy

[Sliver]

Smartest thing I ever did was buy a lot of 1000 plastic bags from Future Shop when they went tits up and were selling everything in their stores. They've been liners for bathroom garbages for years, the bags I put stuff in for my customers at work and now, I guess, will be what I put my fast food in.

But the bylaw is so fkn stupid. Give me a GD paper bag at McDonald's. Handing a bunch of sht one at a time from the drive through window does not work. It's totally ridiculous.

This council is the worst and they have the worst ideas.

[Fuzz]

Hrmm, I wonder if a cafeteria tray would fit nicely under a car seat?

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Hrmm, I wonder if a cafeteria tray would fit nicely under a car seat?

Attach it to the window like old school A&W. Or we just open our maw and they stuff the "food" like home in hell.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Smartest thing I ever did was buy a lot of 1000 plastic bags from Future Shop when they went tits up and were selling everything in their stores. They've been liners for bathroom garbages for years, the bags I put stuff in for my customers at work and now, I guess, will be what I put my fast food in.

But the bylaw is so fkn stupid. Give me a GD paper bag at McDonald's. Handing a bunch of sht one at a time from the drive through window does not work. It's totally ridiculous.

This council is the worst and they have the worst ideas.

Was that ever happening to anyone, besides the one wonky councillor trying to make a point?

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Cappy

We bought foldable baskets for grocery trips using the car (we mostly walk to the nearest grocery store) similar to these https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/cleverm...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

And they are great. Leave them in the car. Leave them by the door on the way out in the morning so we don't forget.

The amount of vitriol this bylaw is getting from people who most likely drive to the grocery store and have a 30 yard walk from car-store-home is pretty crazy

Similarly, I like these things:

https://www.realcanadiansuperstore.c.../p/20415657_EA

They fold flat, can hold a tonne of stuff, etc. I keep one in each car for the quick running into the store, and I have a couple more inside the house that I take for bigger shops and grocery pickups. So much easier than using bags. And I even use it as my basket while walking through the store if I need to.

We even use them when we go to my father-in-law's house on Sundays. Throw some things in there for the dinner we are going to cook him, the Nintendo for the kid, containers with dog food for the dogs, etc. Just a very handy, universal box/bin/tote that doesn't take up much space.

[Slava]

You know, I've rethought this and I think that the city should take some more steps here. One of the biggest issues we face is over consumption, so to ease that burden in our landfills we should outlaw stores providing shopping carts. If you want a cart, you can bring one. It's just that the store can't provide them anymore.

Sure, it sounds dumb and irritating, but we're facing a crisis. People buy too much stuff, and a bunch of that ends up in the landfill. This would make people think twice about loading that cart up with a bunch of food that they're probably letting go to waste anyway. And don't even get me started on the wasteful spending at places like Walmart, Costco or Canadian Tire.

[Ozy_Flame]

That's some strong ketamine you got going there.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Was that ever happening to anyone, besides the one wonky councillor trying to make a point?

I'm not a fast food junkie, but I went to McDonald's on the day of the new bylaw (I hadn't really heard/thought about it) and, yeah, my food was all in a plastic tub that they handed out the window. I reached in and grabbed my fries (a good dozen had already fallen into the tub so I left them), my Big Mac and my drink all individually. I haven't been for fast food since, but I assumed that's still how they did that? I certainly wasn't trying to make a point...I was just pulling up to get my food and that's how they handed it to me. Is there some other way they do it now?

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I'm not a fast food junkie, but I went to McDonald's on the day of the new bylaw (I hadn't really heard/thought about it) and, yeah, my food was all in a plastic tub that they handed out the window. I reached in and grabbed my fries (a good dozen had already fallen into the tub so I left them), my Big Mac and my drink all individually. I haven't been for fast food since, but I assumed that's still how they did that? I certainly wasn't trying to make a point...I was just pulling up to get my food and that's how they handed it to me. Is there some other way they do it now?

No more bonus fry!

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

If this was such a smart idea and good decision then businesses, stores and restaurants would have implemented it already across all their locations and would be happy to make the extra revenue while promoting the reduction in bags in their annual ESG reports.

Socially responsible behaviour is rarely 'good for business' for a number of reasons (I'd suggest a big reason is that the customers who are most conscious of these things tend to consume less).

Legislation is a good way to level the playing field with regulated standards. A lot of businesses would save a lot of money by dumping their waste in a field two blocks away or in a river or whatever. They could also save money by paying poverty wages...perhaps facilitating that even further by importing foregin workers and housing them in abhorrent conditions.

What do you mean my new building has to be designed to meet accessibility standards? Those people will never spend enough money to offset those costs!

I can't sell beer to minors?!?! Teenagers seem really eager to buy it though!

Yet we've legislated against each of these activities along the way. Single use items may feel a bit different than these extreme examples, but they are actually on the same conceptual plane. Perhaps some of the nit-picky elements of food-safety standards or OSHA would be more apt.

Which isn't to say the bylaw is perfect by any means...but the concept is sound.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Except for that inconvenient part where reusable bags are orders of magnitude worse for the environment in their lifecycle than compostable materials. Just in their production alone.

Except I already have a reusable bag so the equation isn’t all the compostable bags I might use vs one reusable bag, it’s all the compostable bags I might use vs nothing.

I feel like nothing is better for the environment.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Except for that inconvenient part where reusable bags are orders of magnitude worse for the environment in their lifecycle than compostable materials. Just in their production alone.

Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette. And re-usable bags appeared long before any of this legislation. Perhaps they were in response to legislation in some jurisdiction like California or something, but they took off everywhere. Because they are actually a good product that is far superior to holding 3-4 (6-8 because of the inevitable double bagging) full grocery bags in each hand.


Yes, most of us ended up with way more than we'll ever want or need. Not terribly different than a lot of other possessions in our homes that we don't use. This is more of a 'swag' problem than anything else...I probably bought 3-4 bags when they first came out and haven't purchased one since.

I've repurposed at least a half dozen bags for storage in the garage. The alternative would've been boxes or rubbermaid bins, but there's actually some handy uses for these bags since they can be hung from hooks.

And compostable materials have not been practically available for a lot of uses until the last few years.

[undercoverbrother]

who doesn't have re-usable bags in their vehicle?

We always have a couple