TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Parliament discusses plastic ban

Hope it goes further than discussing it.

Was on Anguilla last week, and no plastic is working well over there. Reusable bags and paper bags are available for a small fee. Paper straws are used, most places.

Can't imagine that ever happening here in USA country wide.

They’ve instituted no plastic bags in the grocery stores here in CT and it’s working out quite well. I keep my reusable bags in the backseat of my car and as long as I remember to bring them into the store with me I have no issues with the law. However, I have managed to amass a supply of 14 reusable bags to date but I am getting better at bringing them in. Finally......😊😊

I've been using reusable grocery bags for years, as well as a reusable Total Wine bag, LOL. It didn't take long for using reusable bags to become habit, and I have two bags which travel to and from the Caribbean with me. The ban is not statewide yet (expected to be this year), but a number of cities and towns have local ordinances. One town has gone so far as to ban the sale of bottled water in single-serving plastic bottles.

The bags do collect "stuff", so a wash every now and again is a good thing. My canvas bags go in the washing machine. The others, I hand wash and air dry.

All good as long as you get reusable bags that are washable. Someone in our state tested some bags and found them to have high bacterial count.

We use the ones that don't have fabric covered cardboard bottoms and fabric instead of the bags made of recycled plastics woven. Our cooler bags are from Trader Joe made of canvas outside. We also have cooler bags from World Wildlife Federation but those are the woven kind. Just got them and haven't tried to wash yet so don't now if they'll hold up/

I think it's just a matter of time. Plastic straws are out here. If you want a paper bag from a store, it now costs 5 cents so people are learning to take in their own reusable bags, which I have been doing for a few years now. I found some really nice retractable / telescoping rainbow-colored metal straws from Amazon which I carry everywhere. They look nice and work great.

Amazon Link