Remember to bring your re-usable shopping bags with you if you live in or visit Austin!
Beginning March 1st, both residents and visitors in Austin, Texas will be subject to Ordinance No. 20120301-78. The new mandate prohibits business establishments from providing single-use, carryout bags to customers.
There are 3 reasons I don’t like the new ordinance:
1. Austin is a destination city. We have many visitors, some of whom may shop at a grocery store while visiting our city. If they don’t think to pack re-usable grocery bags in their carry-on luggage, they will be subject to an “emergency” surcharge of $1 in order to carry out their groceries.
2. Most of the people who walk their dogs in our neighborhood are responsible pet owners who clean up their dog’s waste. What do they use? Plastic grocery bags. I’m concerned that the new inconvenience will result in an increase in the amount of pet waste I’ll have to clean up in my front yard to keep my little boy from picking it up to play with it, or worse…
3. We use both the paper and plastic bags more than once Around My Home. We use the plastic bags as lunch bags, diaper-changing bags on the go, and trash bags. We use paper bags for yard clippings, composting, weed control under mulch, instant coloring pages for my toddler, and bringing meals to friends.
I like many of the services that the City of Austin provides, such as residential recycling service, and I do my part to participate in such programs and be responsible.
I know that there are many people who support this new ordinance. I’m just not one of them.
Around My Home 
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