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The article discusses considerations with regard to the use of paper or plastic bags by the retail industry in light of the decision of New York's government to ban single-use plastic bags, with topics including plastic litter, carbon emissions from paper and environmental impact of reusable bags.

The article discusses the ban on plastic shopping bags in California since 2007. It notes the proposed bill of the state senator Alex Padilla that would ban plastic bags at supermarkets, liquor stores and other locations where they have long been standbys. It mentions the availability of paper bags which are biodegradable and easier to recycle and reusable plastic bags for 10 cents with the aim of forcing shoppers to remember their canvas bags.

JADE LAI, who owns Creatures of Comfort in NoLIta, stumbled upon the German label Hui-Hui during a shopping outing in Paris. The line, created by the sisters Katharina and Johanna Trudzinski and their friend Anne Schwatzler, is known for blurring their fine art and textile backgrounds with crafty fashion. Their playful summer collection, called Die Gerade und die Krumme, which, according to Johanna Trudzinski, ''translates to something like 'the straight and the bend,' '' includes quirky fabric paper bags that can be folded over to make a clutch; silk scarves digitally printed with images from Katharina's sculptural installations; and necklaces, like this one, that are handmade from cut wood, then honed and painted. Hui-Hui painted wood medallions on a sterling silver chain, $200 at Creatures of Comfort, 205 Mulberry Street; (212) 925-1005; creaturesofcomfort.us/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CONCEPTUALLY, the lunch tote is nothing new: reusable versions of the brown paper bag have been around for several years, often insulated and made with spill-resistant material for easy cleanup. But the lunch tote is evolving, and a few have emerged recently that seem to cater to a more discriminating sense of taste, eschewing the sometimes flimsy (and often garish) tote in favor of a more stylish, legitimate fashion accessory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Los Angeles County supervisors approved a measure on Tuesday that bars stores in the unincorporated parts of the county from handing out single-use plastic bags. An estimated 1.1. million people live in those areas. The ordinance, which does not include Los Angeles and other cities in the county, also requires stores to charge 10 cents for each paper bag given to customers. It goes into effect next year. The California cities of Fairfax, Malibu, Palo Alto and San Francisco have also enacted such bans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, toasted, with ketchup and mayo. The cash register clangs. Western cheese on a hero, hot sauce and ketchup. A lump of sugar tossed into a coffee to go. The rustling of a brown paper bag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

They brought their hand-me-downs in paper bags and shopping carts, in backpacks and even the bottom rack of a wheelchair, dropping them off in hampers at a greenmarket stand on their way to the jams and fresh vegetables. The success of the recent weekend clothing collection at the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, spoke of warmer weather, spring cleaning and stamina. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are few perks left in travel. But fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies may be one. DoubleTree Hotels got into the cookie business in the early 1980s. Its explanation is printed on the brown paper bag the cookie comes in. ''Why a cookie?'' the headline asks. ''Cookies are warm, personal and inviting, much like our hotels and the staff here that serves you.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

They stood and took pictures. They clapped and roared and clenched their fists. They left their paper bags and sardonic signs at home. After 37 days and 18 games of record-setting humiliation, Nets fans finally, gratefully, celebrated a victory Friday night. The Nets, winless no more, seemed pretty happy about the moment, too. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A proposed 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags at many retail stores in this city was headed for defeat in a voter referendum here late Tuesday. The proposal, which was intended to reduce pollution by encouraging reusable bags, was rejected as the debate over shopping bags has become prominent in several cities and states. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Those who remember Argie Bucot from his days in the meatpacking district, when he sold chunky ceramics at a store called Bahay, might have trouble recognizing his new work. Mr. Bucot, who closed his shop and moved to Tokyo in 2002, is back and working out of an East Village studio, producing delicate pieces made of porcelain sheets. ''I get some nice surprises,'' Mr. Bucot said, explaining that the pieces take on a life of their own in the kiln. ''Some of them look like dancing paper bags because of the way they crumple and fold in on themselves.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although I try hard to be careful about personal papers -- I recycle generic papers but chuck the parts with my name on them into the trash -- someone opened a J. C. Penney account in my name not long ago, charging over $300. So the other day I took home a weapon: a nifty-looking, 9 1/4-inch handheld number called the Ziszor ($39.95 at www.ziszor.com). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE FACTS Like a bandage for a cut or a crutch for a broken leg, the brown paper bag is a symbol for hyperventilation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Come next Tuesday, in a move flagrantly timed to coincide with Earth Day, the Whole Foods supermarket chain will no longer offer its customers the plastic bag option. Seeing that ''it can take more than 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down in a landfill'' and that ''in the U.S. alone, about 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year,'' the company said it could not in good conscience contribute to the crisis. Bravo. Now tell me this: What am I supposed to line my garbage cans with? I always use plastic supermarket bags, and the Whole Foods ones were by far my favorites -- roomy and springy enough to hold a lot of sodden waste without fear of breakage, always a plus when one is disposing of, say, fish skins or cat litter. So if I have to buy plastic bags by the box, that's better for the environment how? Forget about paper bags for this purpose. When we were growing up in the Bronx, my older brother recently reminded me, we lined our garbage can with newspapers, a solution satisfactory to none but the roaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The cashier's chorus has long fallen on deaf ears among the sustainability set here. Paper or plastic? ''Neither'' is of course the greenest answer. Soon, however, ''neither'' may be the cheapest answer, too. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on the city of San Francisco, California banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by supermarkets, drug stores and retail stores. according to Environmental Protection Agency, the production of paper bags creates more air and water pollution as compared to plastic bags. It was also found that fewer plastic bags have been recycled in comparison with paper bags. It is estimated that annual global usage of plastic bags ranges from about 100 billion to 1 trillion.

Presents answers to questions about various topics related to New York State. Information on the banker named Preserved Fish, listed on the perimeter wall of the New York Marble Cemetery; Explanation for the names stamped on the bottom of paper bags; Location of a manned lighthouse still in operation.

Reports that in Afghanistan, the week beginning May 4, 1997 the Taliban religious police who imposed a ban on paper bags in two-thirds of the country have reiterated the ban. Types of bags people in the country can use.

Reports that Taliban religious police re-emphasized their ban on the use of paper bags in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban religious army's imposition of its strict version of Islamic law; Comments from a Taliban official; Futher information on the rules of the Taliban.