While a bag ban in SF might make sense, in MV there is almost no bag pollution and this policy adds little value here while making life a real hassle for many.

And guaranteed there is much higher chance of getting food poisoning from reusable bags than with limited use plastic bags. When someone gets seriously ill or dies from that, what will you say about this so-called environmental policy...

Plastic bags are a scourge! We got along just fine without them for MANY years. If you're worried about your health(yeah, right) buy a paper bag!

The shopping bag ban is a huge pain - to businesses and consumers. I am an avid recycler and reuse paper and plastic bags, always. I never throw them away without using them for either loose paper recycling (in the case of paper bags) or garbage can liners (plastic bags). I also use plastic bags to carry my lunch. I am very concerned about the unsanitary nature of canvas bags, which are brought into the stores, filthy, full of raw chicken juice, broken egg remnants, etc., and then dragged over counters and handled by clerks who then handle other people's food. Mtn View City Council, do you even think this far ahead to realize how unsanitary this is? This also makes it much easier to shoplift, thereby driving prices up for the rest of us. You paper/plastic bag haters are a bunch of fools.

usedtolivethere, how about you buy the bags for us since you are so eager for us to spend our money? I guarantee that you will never be able to save money since you are so eager to spend it - 10 cents here, 10 cents there. Take a math class (oh, you failed it, that's right). It adds up. I bet you don't have more than $1K in your bank account because money just slips through your arrogant, mindless little fingers, doesn't it? Many of us use those plastic bags to carry out lunches and line our trash cans because we are not so eager to spend money to buy them. The are reused and appreciated. We should not be punished for the likes of you who just throw them away. You need to learn how to recycle. The real scourge on this planet is you and people like you.

Those "free bags" are not free. The stores markup prices for everybody. Buy a dozen reusable canvas bags and just wash them regularly like you do clothes. This is not a big deal folks and will help the environment, save non renewable resources, reduce carbon footprint and more...

Why don't you buy us the bags, so eager to spend our money, are you? Most of those "free" bags will fall apart in the laundry. Besides this, many of us need and use plastic bags as trash liners or lunch sacks, and now we have to buy them. It's a huge pain in the ass. It's like Europe without culture or pretty churches or good transportation - but rather, just the things that suck about Europe. Lovely.