The only "awareness" this is going to create is an "awareness" of the closest grocery stores outside of city limits, which are going to see a sudden surge in business... I wonder why...

Grocery shopping for a family is a hassle all in itself. With plastic bags I can carry maybe 4-6 bags per hand going from the car to the kitchen. With paper bags I'd be lucky to carry two at the same time.

Reusable bags? How do those work when you spend $400+ on groceries consisting of over a dozen bags? Do people really carry dozens of reusable bags around with them like that? What a joke.

a ban on single-use plastic bags at checkout counters as well as a 10-cent fee on paper bags.

Well hey there is absolutely no need for any of these stores to quit using plastic bags now. everyone i know reuses these bags whether to hold trash, carry wet clothes, pick up after the dog, empty the litter box or any of a thousand other uses. And now they want you to pay for paper bags also. WHY???So they can collect another form of revenue stealing peoples hard earned money increasing the cost of food so we can have less for our families while they STEAL more money to waste .

I say we need to tell these politicians and city councils that people are getting really tired of all the politically correct environmental bulls***. .YOU CAN TAKE YOUR PC BULLS** AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR @SS.

@bluthunder

Yes. Those plastic bags are the perfect size for the four small garbage cans in my house. Not much difference between using them and plastic garbage bags, except that those grocery bags are cheaper and get used twice before they're sent to the dump. Everyone I know as well resuses grocery bags for something. These kinds of laws just force people to spend extra money for other plastic bags that will also go the the landfill. Maybe instead of banning grocery bags, they should have worked to encourage more people to reuse them.

Many are getting tired of having less for their family while the "government" steals more from hard working people, giving it to those who don't work, and then waste as much as they can, stealing the rest putting it into their bank accounts and spend it living "well" on the backs of taxpayers. All the while finding more wways to try and gain more control over those working and their money!!!

F-in ridiculous! Fortunately we do not live in the cesspool of LA, but are in a too close beach city (until we move out of this pathetic state this fall) with just as many tree hugging progressive libbies who have nothing better to do than worry about a few plastic bags while they throw their kids used diapers into landfills.

I remember when plastic bags became all the rage. I have always requested paper as they are better to transport groceries to and from and are actually more reusable for what I use bags for. I used to get those glaring eyes when requesting paper as plastic was the "right" bag. Paper was trees and all. Now it's plastic that is the bad guy, and the pathetic City of LA as found just another idiotic reason to hate the City.

Reusable bags become bacteria ridden little cesspools themselves. Carrying around raw meats, poultry, fish and mixing it up with your fresh produce. Are you kidding?! I would never use reusable bags for my groceries. And washing them? Give me a break! Now you are using more resources than you are saving. Hence my comment about all the little progressive libbies and their kids dirty diapers.

Why all the complaints? I have used the same reusable bags for years and will keep using them for years to come. I can carry lot more in each reusable bag vs. plastic bags. I have several of them in my car and will never run out. Don't you people who are complaining want to do the right thing and maybe help the environment? I guess it is too much to ask for.

Well, I think this is cool and I cant wait for if/when San Antonio adopts a similar policy. I always take my reusable shopping bags with me to HEB, but granted, Im only grocery shopping for two adults and typically dont spend more than $60, but it can totally be done for those who shop on a larger scale if you just have the heart and dedication for it. And a good habit to develop is to always keep your bags in the car, as soon as you're done unloading groceries in the house, put your reusable bags back in the car! It really works! And you can start a cute collection of bags, everyone sells them nowadays.

They should make the bags out of tissue, just so you can use them at home. Recycling complete.

Hopeful American,

Plastic bags take thousands of years to degrade. Reusable bags are so much better, and not that big of a hassle to wash. You do wash some clothes once in a while, right? Just throw the bags in with the regular laundry. My mother always used cotton diapers on us, and washed them. What is wrong with that method, other than people being too lazy to bother. By including the items with the regular laundry it would be significantly LESS of a burden on the environment. Oh, sorry, you don't really care about the environment - only about your own convenience.

Hatsumomo i think you would be happier in Austin, Here in San Antonio WE DO NOT need more government intrusion. And if you are putting your "reusable" bags back in your car as soon as you unload the groceries you will be the next one i hear of in the hospital from poisoning because of the bacteria from not washing them in HOT water after every use. Where many of us "REUSE PLASTIC BAGS" and dont have to waste water and soap washing a cloth bag you help decrease the water supply if you actually wash them as you should, and you should be worrie about the water more then the bag as san antonio is under drought restrictions right now!

Plastic bags take thousands of years to degrade

Singbiker...... Ever try picking up a plastic bag that has been in the sun for a week or two??? They do not take thousands of years, unless thats like it takes hundreds or thousands of years to get rid of radiation( Hiroshima and Nagasaki are both barren wastelands still today right?). And what about all the resources you are wasting to make those "reusable bags" you think it does not require more cotton plants to be grown, as well as the "oil based fibers" used in many of them. Using chemicals and OIL to run the machines to grow them, the transportation of them, or the manufacturing of them? You instead want to promote increased risk of illness from cross contamination of the "reuseable bags" when plastic is SAFER and most people do reuse them. I am sure when there is a rash of illnesses and more and more people die from food borne illnesses many of you will be crying about why this was not prevented.

bluthunder.

I don't care if you reuse your plastic bags.In the end, they don't last forever and they still pollute the ground and do not biodegrade. The chances of you getting sick from using reusable bags is so slim that it should not even be an issue. Washing reusable bags will not use any more water than regular clothes washing. That is an ignorant excuse. Unless you are a total pig, you would not have to worry about using reusable bags.

camch maybe YOU should look up the studies on what percent of the bags tested have been found to have things like e coli and salmonella and the fact that you are supposed to make sure you DO NOT use the bags for different items, they must always be used for the same items. meat bag for meats(including using PLASTIC TO WRAP THE MEAT), vegetable bag for veggies and fruits etc..... and when 50% of the bags they have tested in studies contain these and other bacteria as well as yeast and mold keep thinking there is such a slim chance of getting sick,. Especially when some of these studies have found levels of bacteria that is 40% HIGHER then what is considered safe for drinking water.

plastic bags should be banned. they don't degrade and pollute the ground for almost forever.

here's the problem i have... why punish the use of paper bags? they don't pollute and are easily biodegradable and can be made from fully recycled materials. and they are cheap.

furthermore... grocery stores pay almost nothing for the paper bags... (the same paper bags that were given away for free for ever before plastic bags hit the markets).

that said... what's the problem with paper? and why should we be forced to pay .10 cents for the same fully biodegradable paper bag, which harms nothing in the long term... that was always given out for free for a gazillion years before plastic bags were offered?

i just don't get it.

tonyg

A good canvas bag will hold 3 times what a plastic bag will hold. about 15 lbs of what ever. I have been using several for more than 4 years.

They get washed every week or as needed

you can tie dye them too

Welcome to the land of fruits and nuts...good grief!

I suppose Pampers will be next!? Go figure...??

Really folks, is it really that hard to bring your own bags to the grocery store? Some of you sound like you got to give up your first born. We're only talking about grocery bags here. Besides, you can fit many more grocery items into a reusable bag than a plastic. For every three plastic bags you have to carry, you only have to carry one reusable. Besides, I for one am sick of seeing those plastic bags strewn along in parking lots along roadways and in the water.

Carolyn...

So, you want Pampers to go bye bye as well? What's the difference? Actually, Pampers are worse...they get rolled up and discarded with a big pile of human excrement...

Just give Cali time...hell, they'll ban damn near everything and then charge you for the things they believe are acceptable...wait!...they're doing that right now!!! F'ing kooks!

Notice the only folks whining and bitching here are the teabagging fools, to damn lazy to do anything for the environment, to give their kids and their kids kids a livable planet. Drill baby drill 'till there ain't no more. Fill the oceans with trash, anything so I can be a lazy fat pig. Y'all go cry yourselves to sleep, boo- hoo.

I'm as liberal as you can be and I appreciate the sentiment behind the idea - but, what the heck am I gonna use to change the cat litter now? I'm sure not gonna use re-useable bags! (Yes, I admit, I live in L.A.)

Dogs love 'em.

I disagree about bags not biodegrading. I had a couple in the back of my car in case I needed them. Within 6 months, they were powder.

Gotnorice totally gets it... it makes TOTAL sense to spend ten bucks more in gas to drive farther away just so you can get plastic grocery bags instead of making a couple extra trips bringing in groceries. It's intelligent thinking like that, shows me we are going to make it as a country. lol... fool! Go ahead, drive to the next city to get plastic bags just so you can whine about how much gas is costing you.

I live in Alabama but I hope the ban will be put in place here too...but I'm not holding my breath. My girlfriend and I have been using fabric, reusable bags for some time. She is much better at it than I am but I'm getting the hang of it and use them most of the time. I plan on buying more as well.

Currently we have about a dozen and about half a dozen small bags for veggies. We wash the bags and res-use them no problem. I may even talk to my mom who is a great seamstress and see if she would like to design a bag that is very strong, light and washable. Maybe she can make a buck or two.

As for the complainers that are ranting about government intrusion, you sound like the laziest bunch of teabagger, so called 'patriot', losers ever. Do something for the future of this country and the world by shutting up, using the damn reusable bags and did I say shut the f up! I've never heard such a bunch of cry babies and whiners. It's pathetic!

To all of you lazy a$$es who want to keep your plastic bags, because you might get sick from a cloth one: I and most of my friends have been using reusable bags for many years, and guess what? NOT A SINGLE ONE HAS EVER GOTTEN SICK FROM IT! You're probably the same ones using anti-bacterial soap 12 times a day, cause someone told you that you would get sick if you didn't. What a bunch of complete morons. To the lady who will drive out of town for her groceries now-You are full of cr*p, your lazy butt won't go one foot further than you absolutely have to, and then you would be on another blog complaining about gas prices. And the clown who thinks the "government" steals more from hard working people". Really?, the government is stealing by making you use reusable bags? Those bastards killed Kenny too! I think you should go out and organize a giant protest (Occupy WalMart?), and tell these big, bad, mean government types how you feel! You could march down the street with plastic bags over your heads! And for those complaining about having to actually wash their bags, I suggest you try this new-fangled machine, that actually washes your clothes (and reusable bags) AUTOMATICALLY! It's almost like magic.

I think Dogma Bites said it perfectly in his last paragraph.

a good move...even better if LA bans all things plastic, including implants.

I hope this ban comes to all of Texas... for good reasons.

1.) The most common piece of litter i see is those plastic bags

2.) Washing is better than using.... water is a renewable resource.

3.) Extra revenue from lazy people that don't care about the planet we are leaving our children.

Eric...

teabagging fools? Yea, Oregon suites you...just an extension of the land of fruits and nuts

Mire - Water is NOT a renewable resource. We cannot create water. And I NEVER see plastic bags as litter.

Well, they're not concerned with the local/national jobs lost or economies or costs to local consumers. The good news is it will be great for the Chinese economy. I'm sure at least 95% of the reusable bags will be manufactured in china. And I suspect more than 60% of these "reusable bags" too will end up in the trash bins or as litter within of 9 months of their purchase (and will take much longer to degrade, no less). You Californian's crack me up with your goofy "leaders" that you repeatedly elect who think they are "saving the world". All they are good at is selling Uhaul rentals to Californians desperate to leave the state and all of it's bull @!$%# and higher costs and taxes.

I wish I could leave but unfortunately I can not 8( for now...It used to be a great place but instead it has turned into a 3rd world @!$%# hole and only getting worse.

and will take much longer to degrade, no less

Errr... no. Sorry. I take it you're not a chemist, or am I wrong?

Canvas can be biodegradable. Plastic bags simply aren't. And this comes from a man who's never purchased a reusable bag in his life. But I have this little pet peeve of mine where I just don't like people saying things they have absolutely zero idea about.

Isn't it GREAT how they just decided to do this RIGHT AFTER a report was released saying that reusable grocery bags carry life threatening super-bacteria???

WHOOOHOOOO!!!! GOOOOOO DEMS!!!

Does this mean the marijuana smugglers will have to wrap their bales in tar paper?

I grew up watching Mom take her own bags to the grocery store and I don't remember anyone ever getting sick because of them. I also remember picking up trash in my neighborhood back in Oklahoma and how much of that rubbish was plastic bags, many of them clogging streams and hung up in trees. I despised them. They're right up there with disposable cups, which for some reason become unbearably heavy once they're empty.

I was a cashier, and I did not like it when people hand me bag their reusable bags. At my Kroger-owned store, cashiers also bag the merchandise. Bring-your-own bags were often limp, difficult to put stuff in (sometimes the mouth had shrunken), and covered with animal hair or some other filth, and sometimes smelled. Some bags can be washed in the washing machine, but some of the fancier ones cannot. Cashiers are also timed on how many items per hour they scan; hours and shift times are assigned to the faster cashiers, not the best bagger, the most efficient scanner, or the friendliest clerk, which is why the idiot who put the watermelon on top of your double-rung bread is still working there at the store every time you visit.

Big Al-369306

This will hurt the economy that's already taking a dump and now more jobs will be lost way to go LA

What jobs will be lost? Those cheap ass plastic bags are made in China, like 90% of the junk we buy. Hurt the economy? Pandering lobbyists that whines on behalf of US Corporations that make nothing in the US.

Actually most "t-shirt plastic" bags are made in the US with US produced raw materials. Furthermore, many of the "reusable bags" I've seen for purchase are anything but 100% canvas and 100% bio-degradable. They are a man-made material made to look like canvas. If only a "canvas" bag makes you happy, then I'm thrilled about it but I'm sorry you live a life consumed with worry about "is it canvas or man-made?" I'll thank you to keep your milk and rotten fruit and veggie moistened bags off the checkout belt.

Isn't it GREAT how they just decided to do this RIGHT AFTER a report was released saying that reusable grocery bags carry life threatening super-bacteria???

I think you are referring to a recent case in which a sports team became sick. One girl was quite ill and was vomiting in the hotel bathroom. For some reason, the group was storing a bunch of food in the bathroom (yuck!). Someone grabbed the bag of food out of the bathroom and shared the snacks with the team and some of the girls got sick. However, they could have just as easily gotten sick by using other items that had been near the vomiting girl. Had they borrowed her hair brush that had been on the bathroom counter, they could have gotten sick, too. Does that make you not want to use hairbrushes?

... what LA (and its leaders) is really good at is locking people up...

then selling them 'snack food' at triple the conveinence store price...

check it out ... they really own the concession....

what is the punishment for plastic bags going to be?

Big Al...

Agree totally...just hang in there, pal. You'll find a way to "exit stage left" and hopefully find a place to spend the rest of your life without the burden of the liberal BS Cali has to offer...

I don't normally say this, but come on over to Idaho...we welcome folks like you!

Cal-Chi.... If I was talking about a sports team storing food in their bathroom I would say "HEY, LIKE THE SPORTS TEAM THAT STORED FOOD IN THEIR BATHROOM???"

But I didn't say that... did I???

NOPE... I said a report on a scientific study that was a front page MSNBC story about reuseable bags that showed they carry super-bacteria.

YOU SEEEEEE...... REPORT ON SCIENTIFIC STUDY...... SPORTS TEAM THAT STORES FOOD IN TOILETS..... TWO DIFFERENT THINGS...

....are you following or am I getting too complicated for you???

With all this lost jobs talk here's the question: There are thousands of self employed "entrepreneurs" in the LA area that the local government does everything it can to put them out of business. They're called criminals. Should the government protect their jobs? A couple hundred minimum wage workers help machines crank out Billions of plastic bags that clog landfills, rivers and oceans, what's the difference?

I was thinking the same thing. I get banning plastic bags, but why would they even consider banning paper? Paper bags are easily recycled and the ones without glued on handles are compost safe. I live in Ventura county right near the LA city border and I do the same thing... newspapers, junk mail, weekly ads and old magazines all go into a paper bag before they go into the recycling bin. Granted, I'm not sure if that is a rule here, but it's just what I have always done. My mother in-law is a stickler about recycling everything...so much so it has become a family joke... and she re-uses her paper bags for her trash so that she doesn't add even more plastic garbage bags into the environment. Guess she'll have to switch to plastic since at 10 cents a pop it's cheaper to use plastic garbage bags. The truth is, I am one of those people who actually brings my own bags when I shop--I always have them in the car. But with that said, even I think this is a bit over the top. Charging per bag for plastic is one thing, but outright banning seems a bit Draconian.

If you have ever lived near a paper factory you would understand why some want them banned.

@Michelle --- No, but I lived in Kalifornia for 18 years and fully understand why the State should be banned from the Union and/or given to Mexico. Kalifornians have no clue about the real problem facing their State such fiscal irresponsibility. Don't believe plastic bags rate very on the State's "real problems".

Charging for paper bags is the store's way of sticking it to the customer. The Kroger store I worked at told us to use plastic, as (management said) it cost the store only a penny for a certain number of plastic bags, but five cents per paper bag. If a customer brought in a paper bag or a reusable cloth bag or a cardboard box, we were to give them a five cent refund for each, as an incentive to continue.

Charging ten cents a paper bag? Kroger would make a profit off of each bag sold.

NC vet, I have been stuck in the hellhole of the South and cannot wait to get back to California and rid myself of these backwood, ignorant, hate spewing rednecks. Wanna trade? I'd even settle for Compton to get out of here.

elk meadow .... No they wont profit the "STATE" is going to want that 10 cents to line their bank account with and to promote more programs to further control what you can or cannot do in your daily life. the store will still beo ut the cost of the bags.

Or useful idiots for those filthy politicians. Why shouldn't businesses charge for paper bags? If you don't like it, bring your own. Remember the good old right wing credo: personal responsibility and nobody owes you anything.

There have been plastic bag collection points at the supermarket entrances of Los Angeles for years. You might want to be more current before pontificating.

I like the ban. My canvas bags are stronger, hold more, and the handles hurt my hands less. The insulated bags are great for keeping frozen items frozen on the trip home. Plastic bags have been getting progressively thinner over the years, and double-bagging has become de rigueur because they tear so easily.

Uh, CA does have plastic bag collection points at the grocery store... that isn't the problem. Getting people to actually use those recycling bins is...

You might want to be more current before pontificating.

Sorry, I don't make regular trips to CA to check their recycling status.

Getting people to actually use those recycling bins is...

Sounds like CA needs to do an education campaign for plastic bags just like they do with other recyclables and litter rather than getting rid of something that most people use every day. I'm happy that you're happy with your lovely canvas bag. Some of us prefer the plastic ones for reasons that I've already described. Not to mention the hygiene issues with using the same bag repeatedly. Yuck!

Yeah, because it's just so difficult to run them through the washer and dryer once in a while. *eye roll*

Not all reusable bags are machine washable. Some of the more rigid (and colorful and more expensive to buy, complete with strong chemical odor) are not machine washable.

So.... That makes those reusable canvas bags more environmentally unfriendly because you will end up using more resources and energy for it than it would have for the amount of resources/energy to create plastic bags. Having to use a washer and drier means wasting more water, electricity and natural gas. Never mind that in California we have a shortage of water to drought and have to import water from other states.

Compact reusable bags will take up very little space in your washing machine -- when scrunched up, they are about the same size as a sock. Do you have space in your load of laundry for five more socks? OK, then you can easily wash five reusable shopping bags.

Chico Bags are one example of compact reusable bags and they get very positive reviews on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Shopping-Tote-Grocery-ChicoBag/dp/B006WA9LRA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337826015&sr=8-1

And if you wash & dry them, you are using electricity, soap & water - all of which hurts the environment too.

wryview-DUH, like was stated in the previous post, "If you put them in with a load of wash (that you are already doing-so you ARE NOT wasting any extra energy or soap and water), they are clean and there is no added cost. Oh.......maybe you don't wash your clothes...never mind.

And if you are using the "more rigid (and colorful and more expensive to buy, complete with strong chemical odor) are not machine washable", then I have another DUH moment for you-don't buy those kind of bags.

Hugh - there is no SAFE load of wash you can put them in. You can't put them in with your clothes because of the bacteria - the same with your kitchen towels, your bath towels, your bed linens. To safely wash them, you have to wash them separately.

Congratulations, You are the FIRST Bible thumping, Jewish space zombie preaching, soap box hypocrite I have found commenting on this article. Your first place prize is a 100% assurance that your are just as big an idiot as the REST of Bible thumping, Jewish space zombie preaching, soap box hypocrites of the world. Good job!!!

Do you want to know the real science or hide your head in the sand? Do you know that approx. 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States each year? That 8% of the world's oil is used for plastic production? Ever been to California beaches and experienced the plastic trash everywhere? Did you know that 267 species around the world are harmed by plastic? The ocean species are particularly affected; 44% seabirds, 43% of ocean mammals, and 86% of turtles can inject or become entangled in sea plastic and over 1 million die each year. There is now so much plastic in the ocean there are huge islands of plastic twice the size of Texas and growing. Know what nurdles are? Do you understand food chains and that we humans are at the top? Do you understand human health risks? Do you know the latest count of plastic is 46,000 pieces per square mile in the ocean? What happens to the majestic baleen whales that sift plankton and plastic together? And this is just the tip of the iceberg of reality. The truth is, we have not gone far enough in banning the non bio-degradable plastics in our oceans or elsewhere. We humans created this mess and only we can change it. And I believe our efforts would please the God who gave us dominion over this earth, but with a great responsibility to treat it with utmost respect, reverence and protection for this great gift.

Good post, thank you for all the additional information on the dangers of plastic. Gee what did all these people do before we had those horrible plastic bags.

Are you so stupid that you think that plastic bags don't have a negative effect on the vast complex environment that a "big head in the sky" created? Don't you realize that he/she/it alone has no powers other than the ones in your head? The Los Angeles plastic bag ban is just the greatest thing that the people could do, even if the religious whackos fight it tooth and nail.

Love to see where you got your statistics. You are so full of crap.

California should just get out of the USA. Less trouble for the rest of us.

Have you tried staying off Fox News for a couple of weeks?

As someone who just moved from LA to Maryland, it ain't that much better out here... besides traffic.

Also, your stats are bad and you should feel bad.

James-Do you just make up figures as you type? Or do you dream them up before you go to the keyboard? You are obviously both racist and ignorant, what a combo.

Putting the bread in a store bag shows that you've actually bought the bread and not just walking out with it. I saw a guy shoplift a case of beer by going through an empty checkstand, tear off a store bag, stuff it in the bag, and walk out of the store without breaking stride. Couldn't do a thing to stop him, and supervisors could only shrug when I reported it.

Sparrow,

I agree completely. I lived in Tennessee before I moved to Egypt - and now Costa Rica - and it amazed me that whenever I went to a convenience store and bought a six or twelve pack of beer the clerks would insist on putting it in a plastic bag. Never could figure that out, but they simply would NOT allow me to carry it out of the store using the built in handle that is included with every retail package of beer.

@ElkMeadow I just show a receipt. I know... weird.

I use reusable bags, but every once in a while I make a quick stop and don't have a bag in the car, usually just to grab a few items.

It amazes me how often cashiers give me strange looks when I insist I don't need a bag for a handful of things. When they ask (again) if I'm sure I don't need one, I reply "Yes, I walked around the whole store carrying this stuff, I *think* I can make it to my car with it" That usually shuts them up ;)

The problem is not with the plastic bags that ARE recycled, its with the millions that are not.

A paper bag will break down very quickly if discarded carelessly. Plastic will not.

Then that's your problem isn't it?

California won't kill any more trees with this ban on plastic. They simply import trees from India. That is the liberal way. Pollute and destroy the environment as long as it is out of mind and out of sight. Remember how hard Ted Kennedy fought against windmills off the shore of his oceanfront house?

Good point Road warrior, also Al Gore telling everyone to live in condos in urban areas while he owns several mansions. The hypocrisy of the left has no bounds.

Or they will switch to reusable cloth bags or plastic bags made from plants that are biodegradable.

Also paper would not be such a problem if the jackasses that cut down the trees to make them also replanted new trees. Imo loggers should be required by federal law to plant a tree for each one they cut down.

Geowil,

Don't look now, but the large paper companies have BEEN planting as many trees as they harvest for at least the past twenty years. I used to get day work planting some of those trees back before they developed new methods where they simple drop them from aircraft now.

Sing I know many do but not all of them, hence my comment that a federal law requiring everyone to do so should be drafted.

These are only being passed because of widespread public support.

Michelle,

They didn't ask the residents or retailers of LA, these bans are draconian acts by city councils.

At ten cents a paper bag, Kroger is going to make a profit. (I was told by store management that paper bags cost Kroger five cents each.)

Do you have as much of a problem with the Government telling you who you can marry, what drugs you can put into your body, wearing a helmet when you ride a motorcycle or a seat belt when you drive? Of course you don't. The government tells you what you can and can't do everyday, but you only seem to have a problem with plastic bags. Way to rage against the machine.