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Monday, March 16, 2020

Using tote bags instead of plastic could help spread the coronavirus

The COVID-19 outbreak is giving new meaning to those “sustainable” shopping bags that politicians and environmentalists have been so eager to impose on the public. These reusable tote bags can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses — and spread the viruses throughout the store.

Researchers have been warning for years about the risks of these bags spreading deadly viral and bacterial diseases, but public officials have ignored their concerns, determined to eliminate single-use bags and other plastic products despite their obvious advantages in reducing the spread of pathogens. In New York state, a new law took effect this month banning single-use plastic bags in most retail businesses, and this week Democratic state legislators advanced a bill that would force coffee shops to accept consumers’ reusable cups — a practice that Starbucks and other chains have wisely suspended to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus.

John Flanagan, the Republican leader of the New York state Senate, has criticized the new legislation and called for a suspension of the law banning plastic bags. “Senate Democrats’ desperate need to be green is unclean during the coronavirus outbreak,” he said Tuesday, but so far he’s been a lonely voice among public officials.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been trying to tell my wife this for years. Those tote bags never get washed and the dirt and germs just build up and fester and breed and stink and smell and infect.

Anonymous said...

March 16, 2020 at 7:27 PM
Then quit being a cheap jerk and buy some real cloth bags and wash them.
You really need someone on the internet to tell you that?
If you are so worried, solve the problem.

Anonymous said...

7:27 and 9:31 are you two the spouses arguing about the bags?

TheRealRay said...

I never see shopping carts being cleaned either sooo...

Anonymous said...

Northwest Woodsman: There must be some sort of genetic deficiencies that prevent Pedomarxist democrats from evaluating the unintended consequences of their decisions and faulty policies.