HERE & THERE COLUMN

     Getting Bagged Is Challenging

  Now don't get the wrong idea .... when I'm writing about getting bagged my main focus here is about shopping at retail stores today and how we get bagged at the check-out counter.
  Remember when everything you bought got put into a paper bag.
  Now it looks like a new trend for trekking our groceries and other retail items home is how we get bagged?
  Some states have approved legislation where plastic bags will be phased out of many stores.
  Basically stating this legislation is meant to encourage consumers to bring their own bags while reducing litter and grocers will also be able to charge customers for a paper bag.
  The argument here is that banning plastic bags is environmentally safer while others say this is a fallacy because litter from plastic bags is less than one percent of what goes into landfills.
  Then there is also the topic of paper bags which some say is more harmful to the environment because they use more energy and require cutting down trees.
  Additional studies warn that reusable grocery bags could also spread germs if they are used to handle meat and are not cleaned properly between uses.
  Many cities throughout our country  have passed ordinances restricting the use of plastic bags.
  Retail Associations have all spoken out against the plastic bag ordinance's and restrictions but supporters of the ordinances say plastic bags harm the environment and there is a need to ban he very thing that hangs on fence lines and trees and that's killing our wildlife and fish and is clogging up sewer systems.
  There are some grocery stores that don't bag what you have purchased and so do not charge for bags and  have customers being in their own bags if they want to bag their own groceries.
  Whatever happens I think my wife is far ahead of the trend as she has between five to 10 cloth bags with various logo's on them that she carts into the store (some stores give a discount for your own bags) .
  Of course we could go way back in years where consumers might consider getting their hands on some burlap bags which certainly should create interesting remarks from store clerks.