Plastic Bags Banned From 1St Jan

[Girino]

I've been referring to this country as "Argenuela" for a long time.
Will produce stores and produce departments of (not so super) markets have clear plastic bags? How will they sell cherry tomatoes? nuts? rice sold in bulk?
I'd love to see people go to different stores and attempt to buy 15 items, without bringing a bag to pack the items. When the store says that they don't have bags to give or sell, the customer leaves everything and walks out. Imagine this happening often? I'd volunteer to go to 5 stores a day.
Am I correct in thinking that stores can sell plastic garbage bags ( 6 payments without interest ?) but not bags to carry groceries, that can later be used (recycled) for garbage ?
There was a Russian comedian in the U.S.,years ago, who would tell stories like this and then say "What a country !"

The article says this won't affect small shops.

 

[Ries]

Makes sense to me.
You do the little things you can do easily, and you work on the big problems more slowly.

Me, I been refusing plastic bags for years, both in North and South America. I carry a mochilla, and put my groceries in that.
The law will not affect a 1/4 kilo of cherries or 100 grams of salt peanuts. Its about the standard shopping bag.

I find that the regular shopping bags make really shitty garbage bags- my garbage cans are bigger, and they are flimsy and tear easily.
I buy a roll of bags every couple of months, and dont leave a trail of wet smelly drops on my floor when I take out the garbage.

Most likely, stores will soon "sell" you a bag- thats how it works in cities in the USA where free bags are banned- if you really want one, you can buy one for a nickel or a dime.
My local Chino started charging for plastic bags in January of last year.

 

[RandomS]

This environmental policy has been in use in Rosario for quite a while. Big supermarkets like Coto, La Gallega, Carrefour cannot sell plastic bags in the checkout. You can buy eco friendly bags for 12 to 25 pesos. After coming from BsAs, it took me some time to get used to it. In the first few weeks, I often realized only during checkout that I'd need to buy another bag or two for 25 pesos each.

Small shops benefit from this because they are exempted from the rule. If I am on my way home in the evening and need to buy a few things on the spot, I avoid La Gallega and go to a smaller shop instead. They give plastic bags for free. Sometimes I also need those bags to collect and throw away garbage.

I don't know how much it will help environment, but surely it is a (little) bad news for Coto, Carrefour, Disco, Jumbo in BsAs.

 

[John Doe]

I kindda remember, a few years ago, I was told in a San Francisco store that no bags were ever provided in any stores. I asked how would a woman carry a wedding gown home from a store? no reply.

This past November, I bought some things at Trader Joe's in San Francisco and was given a paper shopping bag. Actually,2 paper bags, because 1 wouldn't be strong enough. Gee, how are paper bags made?

"Woodman, spare that tree, touch not a single bough".................

Also, imagine using a paper bag for wet garbage OMG !

 

[ben]

I've been referring to this country as "Argenuela" for a long time.
Will produce stores and produce departments of (not so super) markets have clear plastic bags? How will they sell cherry tomatoes? nuts? rice sold in bulk?

Bags that come into direct contact with produce (like in the vegetable section) are specifically excluded from the rule.

 

[cbphoto]

Amazing to see the complaining about what an inconvenience it will be bringing a reusable bag rather than using flimsy, environmentally harmful plastic bags! I have been using a very thin, strong, re-usable large bag that folds flat and can even fit in your pocket for years.

 

[Girino]

Definitely plastic bags are not the most pressing issues on Macri's agenda, but it is definitely one of the easiest one to address. While street crime can't be addressed with just a new law or hoping a change of heart from the criminals, a plastic bag bans can help Argentinian finally step back to a first world country, at least as far as civic sense and manners.
I am appalled by the amount of litter on the streets! Elders, children, policemen,... literally ANYbody simply let anything drop dead of the floor once they are done with them, and even if they are steps away from a trash bin. Where I live, every night the streets are cleaned to perfection, and I found this out after one year living here. I went out one morning at 4 AM to catch a plane and the place was completely clean. By 10 AM it is again a growing landfill.

I am appalled that people wearing flip-flops and sandals most of the year aren't disgusted by walking in trash. Try make a comment to one of the littering culprits and they will simply ignore you or yell at you to mind your own business.

And these believe they are the Europeans of South America? Ahahah!

 

[Noesdeayer]

Serafina.
Gotta love your post above!
in 1978 ( 39 years ago ) I was visiting BA right before the World Cup held here. People were writing the BA Herald.Letters to the Editor section about local situations that they found embarrasing to show to foreign visitors coming for that event.Many wrote about the abuntant litter,dog droppings etc.It was below Argentines to walk over to a trash bin.although,then there weren`t even any of those.One woman wrote that while the aforementioned were disagreeable what was truly disgusting were the public restrooms either for men or for womenThis situation has changed very litttle in 39 years.
Do you want to see a really clean Latin American country in this regard ? Visit Colombia. The difference is unbelievable..

 

[TomAtAlki]

Serafina.
Gotta love your post above!
in 1978 ( 39 years ago ) I was visiting BA right before the World Cup held here. People were writing the BA Herald.Letters to the Editor section about local situations that they found embarrasing to show to foreign visitors coming for that event.Many wrote about the abuntant litter,dog droppings etc.It was below Argentines to walk over to a trash bin.although,then there weren`t even any of those.One woman wrote that while the aforementioned were disagreeable what was truly disgusting were the public restrooms either for men or for womenThis situation has changed very litttle in 39 years.
Do you want to see a really clean Latin American country in this regard ? Visit Colombia. The difference is unbelievable..

Noesdeayer, I respectfully totally disagree with you.

Dog droppings are almost always picked up, at least in my neighborhood (Palermo) and the neighborhoods I walk to and in (5 miles radius). Unbelievable change in the last few years.

I believe the restrooms in Argentina are some of the cleanest in the world. It is very rare to find a dirty restroom.

I'll be in Columbia later this year but can't imagine much of an improvement.

Serafina: What you say used to be but certainly not anymore (see where I hang out above).

T/

 

[RandomS]

I believe the restrooms in Argentina are some of the cleanest in the world. It is very rare to find a dirty restroom.

This is so not true! You must be joking, or have made a new year resolution of never saying anything negative about Argentina.

The restrooms in Retiro Mitre are among the worst I have seen in a long-distance train station of a capital.