CA Peas, No More Plastic Bags 2026

I don’t like those thick useable bags. If I have to get one, I recycle it and don’t even reuse then. So it doesn’t bother me if they ban them. I don’t mind the paper bags, and will even pay for one. We still have a bunch saved from earlier times. Our Stater Bros doesn’t offer pick up service, so they don’t even have the paper bags in the store. There is a local grocery store that has paper bags, and then of course, Trader Joe’s.

As for meats, the stores have plastic bags in the meat department so I just put the meat in them in case of leakage. But at Stater’s, I buy meat from the butcher counter, so those are wrapped in plastic and then paper. 

They are completely banned in CT and while everyone thought the sky was falling it seems to me that most people have adjusted really well. I don't ever hear anyone complain about bringing their own bags.

We have been no plastic bags (paper or bring your own only) since we went to no one use bags and I have not had a problem with meats.

 Our state still allows small plastic for produce or to put your meat in, so those are typically available.  I mostly use the cubes now and have one that I use for meat that is wipeable, but I also still have some of the heavy thick plastic type bags that you can buy at store for around 1.00.  I use a couple of those exclusively for meat as 99% of the time there is no issue of leakage, but if there is I don’t have any issue getting rid of it if it is bad enough.

Thank you for clarifying. To me those were barely any different.
I just took a huge bag of bags to the recycling shed at my grocery. My dh always claims no one else does it but every time I do the shed is stuffed full.

It's hard to tell by pictures but the thicker bags are actually very thick and quite bulky if you try to store them.

I believe it was because we were using so many and it was thought it would be better if fewer trees were used for bags.

Small stores here can still use plastic, but everyone else is reusable or paper for ten cents

The thicker plastic bags were brought in by some stores when single use plastic bags were banned a few years ago. It was silly as my DH might be the only person in the state who reuses them. Most people just treat them as single use.

I have a good collection of reusable bags and produce bags in my car and rarely go in a store without one or 4. If I forget (usually going into Target) or deliberately never bring them in (Costco), I just have everything loaded in the cart and bag at the car. 

I'm just fine with completely eliminating plastic bags. 

Oh yay, I can't wait to hear everyone in my town bitch about this constantly. The move to ban the thin plastic bags and bring in the thicker "reusable" plastic bags was idiotic from the get go. Any time I forget my own bag and need a bag I ask for paper if it's available. I don't understand why we ever went away from paper bags. They're biodegradable and can be used for crafts, kids school projects, etc.

And thicker bags came with the claim that they can be reused 50 times, or something like that.

Some stores are still allowed to use the thin single use plastic bags, like restaurants and some stores like Home Depot still have the thin ones for free. I was just at some other store and they asked if I wanted a bag, for free. I can’t remember what store it was.

I like the old thin plastic bags for litter box duty.

The thicker ones get folded into triangles and dumped into an old peanut butter pretzel container from Costco that lives in my classroom. We often end up needing bags at school so I’ve got them.

My favorite reusable bags are the ones that have a pouch they fold into. I have a large textbook publisher zipper bag that lives in my trunk- I shove all my fabric bags into it and zip it shut. DH has one in his car too.

I am 100% ok with the plastic bags going completely away. If I forget my bags I just pile it back into the cart and either bag it in my trunk or load everything randomly into my trunk. I’d love to have organized boxes but DH hates trunk “clutter” and bitches about my trunk if he takes my car. 😂