Letter: Personal shopping bags should not be allowed in grocery stores

Editor: 

 About a year ago, before the mandated use of personal shopping bags in Oregon, a Walmart grocery clerk was complaining to me about the “dirty” bags that people were placing on her counter.  

 Fast forward to today’s problems and think about the millions of people in California, Washington and Oregon who now bring these reused, possibly dirty bags into food stores. 

 Out of curiosity, I asked a very hygienic Oregon friend of mine if she washed her bags each week. The answer was no.  

 Maybe some people launder their bags regularly, but I shudder to think how many people don’t.

 What started out as a way to help the landfills may conceivably be causing a bigger problem.  

 Instead of using sterile, new plastic bags, these potentially germ-covered personal bags are being placed on the food counters.  Even in the best of times, this isn’t an ideal situation.

 I applaud Bi-Mart for not currently allowing these bags in their store. Ridleys allows the bags but the grocery clerks can’t touch them.  Maybe Ridleys should follow Bi-Mart’s lead. Better safe than sorry.

Dorothy Evans

Weiser