03.15.08
Letter to the Editor
Every day as I ride the bus to and from work, I am able to look at the scenery more because I don’t have to keep my eyes on the road. As I gaze out the window, I am distressed to see plastic grocery bags hanging in the trees and blowing down the streets and sidewalks. A plastic grocery bag has an average useful life of 12 minutes, which is the time it takes to get from the grocery store to the kitchen. Yet it can remain in our landfills, streets, and rivers for up to 1,000 years. San Fransicso has already passed a law banning nonrecyclable plastic bags. Ireland has imposed a 22-cent tax per plastic bag and many large stores are phasing out their use.
According to National Geographic, more than 500 billion plastic bags are consumed worldwide in a year. When one ton of plastic is reused or recycled, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil, 13 cubic meters of landfill space and 13-17 trees are saved. However, the recycling rate for plastic bags is very low. I feel that it is time for South Bend to follow the lead of other cities worldwide and ban the use of nonrecyclable plastic bags. If we can achieve this goal here in South Bend and it spreads throughout the rest of the country, it will be a huge step toward getting these bags off our streets and out of our landfills.
kspitz said,
March 15, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Yes!!!
I was just thinking the same thing! During my weekend in Milwaukee I hopped on a school bus with other conference attendees in order to take a tour of a neighborhood revitalizatin project. On the ride to the site I was gazing out the window..just as you were, and yes, there were ALL THOSE PLASTIC BAGS – in almost every tree, every bush, every little natural area along the side of the road – BAGS, BAGS, BAGS. It is disgusting!
I really think the only way this problem is going to get better is if we simply STOP making them….STOP, period.
Great letter.
James said,
March 19, 2008 at 10:58 pm
That’s a lot of bags every year! I didn’t realize how many until I read your article. I was somewhat aware of the problem from reading about Wal-Mart’s efforts to ‘go green.’ They’ve been criticized a great deal about all the bags they provide consumers, but they’re also working to change the situation. If you’re interested, here’s a link to an article about that:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/wal_marts_new_reusable_bag.php
Basically, it talks about Wal-Marts new carrier bag (made from 85% recycled materials, including old water bottles). The bag itself reads: “Paper or Plastic? Neither.”