Many Cities Declare Ban on Plastic Bags
Is this really going to work? Environmentalists have a fair
share to say against plastic, but it is in just about everything we use on a
day to day basis. I do agree that in some places, where plastic
bags get thrown away on the street, it would be better to see them
disappear. However, plastic bags are convenient, and when recycled, have many
different uses than just holding a box of cold medicine bought from the
drugstore.
If the alternative,
as it is in several states where plastic
shopping bags have been banned, is to choose paper bags
isn’t that just as bad? I thought we were trying to save the trees! So herein
lies the predicament. Of course there is the other alternative, which is to use
those reusable bags, but this is definitely not the choice most convenient. You
have to remember to bring them from home, bag the items you buy yourself, and in
times of high traffic, deal with a line of impatient customers behind you. Well
I’ve tried all of the above solutions in doing my part to deplete the use of
plastic, which I understand is an important issue for the environment.
But my best solution is to recycle the plastic bags. There
are ways to cut back without giving up the convenience of using plastic bags at
the store. In fact, many stores now have in-house collecting bins, where you
can bring your used bags back and deposit them in the allocated areas. The
recycled plastic bags will be turned into structural products, lumber and other
bags, which is a $2-billion market! If you buy only one or two small things at
the store, you can just say, “Thanks, but I don’t need a bag.” And just carry
them! The bags you do take home, don’t just throw them away, reuse them! I
already reuse retail plastic
bags for carrying lunch, picking up after my dog, and lining small
garbage cans. Those printed
plastic bags you get at tradeshows and other events are actually
kind of cool and decorative. So we have all come to rely on plastic in our
everyday lives. Banning plastic is a bit drastic, I think. Some areas are
enforcing a tax, up to 20 cents on using plastic bags. How is that fair? If
more people were educated and encouraged to recycle plastic bags, the environment
would be a lot cleaner, and definitely more efficient.
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Date: 22 May 2008, Thursday
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