Monday, August 13, 2007
Paper, Plastic, or Neither?
Hello, I wanted to start a blog to discuss issuses related to preserving the environment and ending global warming. I live in Los Angeles and every day I am reminded about how many concrete actions we as a society could take to protect the environment. Yesterday my family and I drove through a beautiful canyon to spend a day at Malibu beach. As we drove along, I coudn't help but notice tons of plastic bags and other garbage littering the sides of the road. This trash frequently makes its way to the oceans and harms marine life. Moreover, the process of producing and transporting the plastic bags creates carbon thereby exacerbating global warming. We should ban the production and distribution of plastic bags. Instead, people should be encouraged to use a reusable bag. My personal favorite is called the Chico bag; it is cute and so practical. We lived without plastic bags for years before the eighties; I believe that we can live without them again. Our reward will be a cleaner and more beautiful landscape, so for me giving up plastic bags is not a sacrifice but a means to the great reward of improved quality of life. Q: Paper or plastic? A:Neither, I have my own resusable bag.
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Hi greeneyez,
You know how every one of those plastic bags has a warning that says you should keep them away from babies to avoid suffocation.
That's a great idea!
Let's also avoid suffocating the young planet we call Earth? Thank you for avoiding that infanticide.
March on, you plastic bag suffragette!
-slybrarian
Lloyd Levine's legislation to mandate businesses to sell resusable bags and to educate their customers about returning the bags back to them is a step in the right direction, but not enough. An outright immediate ban is what's needed. I have gladly kicked my plastic bag addiction and am happy to do so if it helps our environment.
I agree, we need to ban plastic bags. I remember when the baggers at the grocery store would ask me if I wanted paper or plastic. Now it seems that the majority of them assume that I want plastic or they ask "is plastic ok?'. Actually, NO, plastic is not ok. It will be around long after we are gone. I bring my own canvis bags when I do my shopping these days but I notice that the majority of shoppers do not. I cringe when I see how things are bagged these days. Laundry soap has a handle and yet they bag it. Bottled water has a handle, it's bagged. Can't people use the handle provided to carry these items? Cards go into a tiny bag, then a large bag. Wine gets a wine bag, then goes into a large bag. People ask for double bags. Some ask for paper bags inside of plastic bags. Oh my, do we need this? NO we do not. People need to realize that the bags they are using are hurting the planet. I hope that one day I will hear the majority of the grocery store baggers ask "did you bring your own?" instead of "is plastic ok?". Maybe it's a good time to put up BYOB signs on store windows. Bring your own bags.
It is such a sad commentary on the human race that some people consider having to carry a bag from the bottom too inconvenient and think they need a plastic bag just for the handles. You're right,the overbagging of everything is a real problem. Kitchenwitch, I will get you one of those Chico bags I was talking about. It squishes up into it's own tiny sack so that it fits in your purse,so you always have a reusable bag with you. I've been using this same bag every where from Rite Aid to Sally Beauty Supply to Trader Joe's. Sometimes the cashier puts my items into a plastic bag so fast that I have to apologize and take everything out of the bag and give it back! It is interesting to see the different reactions from different cashiers and customers in line looking at me with confusion and curiosity. By the way, I love your BYOB slogan!
Right on greeneyez !!
I heard on NPR that the government of an African
nation proposed banning plastic bags. Merchants were interviewed and couldn't figure out how to wrap spices and flour without plastic. The gov. recommended banana leaves and they couldn't see how that could work. Nobody asked them what they did before plastic bags. Almost certainly they managed with banana leaves.
What did we do ? How did we bag our bin stuff from the health food store or are bins post plastic bags?
Actually progress is being made. Whenever I refuse a plastic bag I almost always get a positive response. Keep up the good fight !
Hi there moozishan, thanks for joining the discussion. Yesterday I was talking with a librarian that I know, not slybrarian, but a different person, and we were discussing how now in Los Angeles you can put plastic bags in the blue recycling can. I think this is a step in the right direction, however, I don't think this is the answer. In fact, I wonder if this confuses the issue, and now people think all is well if they drop their bags in the recycling bin.The city will never be able to recycle all of the plastic bags and they cause so much horrible trash along the side of the road. I still think an outright ban is needed. I agree with your point that we lived without plastic bags before, we can live without them again.
Well, even though I am still not ready to give up the bottled water I am all for giving up the plastic bag. Like I stated in the previous blog I have already switched my family over from plastic to paper at the grocery stores. I am fully in agreement with using neither and choosing a personal reusable bag; that’s an excellent alternative!
However, if that’s what we are going to do lets make sure that we wash them before our next trip to the grocery store. I used to work as a courtesy clerk for Vons when I was 16 and truly felt sick when I saw some of our regulars who would use these reusable bags. It was so bad I would usually move over to another register to bag in paper. So please, WASH THEM!!! The fact that something is reusable doesn’t mean stench and stain resistant. THANX!
I'm glad you made the point about washing the bags.
Chico bags can be washed in the washing machine or hand washed, but the reusable bags I have from Trader Joes's I guess I will wash them with a sponge. I think most of the cloth bags can be washed by hand or machine. After you successfully free yourself from plastic, the next step is to lessen or even cut out completely paper bags as well. Every little bit helps!
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