Don't worry. All you have to do is line your recyclable bag with a plastic bag. Problem solved.

Here comes that unintended consequences stuff again.

No need to feel denied or pushed around anymore. Here is something from Amazon to help you Portlanders --

http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirt-Carryout-Bags-1000-ct/dp/B0025W9ALG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336664304&sr=8-2

T-Shirt Carryout Bags - 1000 ct.
$27.68

An Amazon Customer Review:
If you live in some stupid hippie town which has banned plastic bags, don't bend over for the government. Bring your own bags! For less than three pennies each, you can avoid the bacteria-infested re-usable canvas bags which wear out anyway.

If you want to save the environment, reuse these disposable bags as mini garbage bags (instead of buying and tossing out full-size "garbage bags"). If you don't want to save the environment, these are cheap enough to throw into garbage cans for no good reason every time you want to express contempt for recycling and the environment. Either way, you're golden.

I don't know that I'd trust the local TV news when it comes to such things. This is one of those "Product X could be killing you. Tune in at 6 PM to find out what it is!" stories.

Throw it in with the towels in the wash and you're fine. With so many messed up policies in this town, complaining about not having the "luxury" of plastic bags seems a touch obscene.

Chuck, I agree. The reality is that this virus could have spread from plastic, canvas, hemp, paper, goatskin, or technetium mesh bags, too. Chalk one up to the versatility of viruses in general, and a tip of the hat to ones that can infect humans in particular. (Me, what gets me is watching the number of people who panic if they're expected to touch a shopping cart without wiping down their hands with Purell. Just get yourself a "Bubble Boy" spacesuit to protect yourself from bacteria and viruses, because that's the only thing that's going to work. You hope.)

Re: "...germ-killing chemicals, which then go into the sewer system."

...where those substances will compete for space with so many others:

"A new federal study found more than 100 toxic substances from everyday life are making their way through wastewater treatment plants into the Columbia River.

The U.S. Geological Survey study released today looked at post-treatment effluent from plants in Portland and eight other cities large and small up and down the river.

USGS hydrologist Jennifer Morace says everyday life is the source of the pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, pesticides, personal care products and cleaning materials, and the treatment plants are just the pathway."
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/05/toxics_from_everday_life_getti.html

Another reason to refrain from Columbia River sturgeon?

Just don't put them on the bathroom floor and flush the toilet with the seat up and you won't have much of a problem.

Tradeoffs? What are those?

Another option:
Shop in Beaverton, Parkrose, Clackamas or Vancouver.

Added benefit: sends a message to Portland stores that they had the power to stop this crap and didn't.

Thanks
JK

Chuck and Texas: You're looking at a straw man, there.

The fact is, no matter how hearty those viruses are, the chance of coming into contact with one through a disposable plastic bag are much, much slimmer. It's not the type of material that matters, but the fact that the bags come into contact with food and are then reused.

"Single use" bags aren't used that way and are therefore safer when it comes to bacteria and viruses.

TacoDave, I didn't intend this to be a straw man argument, honest. If anything, I don't have any problems with plastic bags other than their flimsiness. (I live close enough to work that I commute by bike, and standard plastic bags won't cut it if I stop by the doughnut shop on the way to work to pick up a dozen kolaches for co-workers.) Guilt-tripping people into choosing one or another doesn't work, and I quite like the attitude here at home: if you bring your own bags, cool, but we'll supply them for you if you don't have them. Everybody wins.