At the beginning of March this year the city of Austin started banning the use of plastic bags. This ban includes all plastic bags that are not used for trash, wet items, and freshly baked and/ or cooked items. Some people say this law impedes on our individual freedom, while others state it is better for the environment. Is the government taking a step in the right direction, or is it overstepping its boundaries? Texas Representative Drew Springer has filed his new bill, "Shopping Bag Freedom Act", that would allow businesses and restaurants the ability to offer a customer a bag, made of any material, at the point of sale. I can remember the days of being asked if I would like paper or plastic, but now there is no question; Does this ban on plastic bags really infringe on individuals' right to choose?
Yes the ban would help the environment, by reducing the amount of litter caused by the bags, but there are other ways to reduce the waste; reusing the bags for little trash cans or picking up dog poop. Target used to put the "Top Ten Ways to Reuse Your Bag" on their plastic bags. Now pet owners may be forced to go spend money on special bags made for picking up waste, and people may have to find smaller trash bags at the store, when they would have received a free bag when the purchased there items. However not every person will reuse or recycle their plastic bags, which is why we should offer options, paper, reusable bags, or ask if the person needs a bags. There have been too many times when I go to the store for one or two things that I carried all throughout the store and the cashier automatically puts it in a bag that I do not need. This ban against plastic bags has risen awareness about the waste issue caused by unnecessary use and/ or littering of bags and the affect they have on the environment. But I still do not believe that the government should be able to tell us what we can and cannot put our things in.
I work in a store that has been affected by this ban and now the paper bags we are forced to use are heavier, take up more dry storage, have less in a case, and rip more easily because they are weaker than the plastic. Paper bags also use more paper than plastic bags, so do not start complaining when more trees are being cut down to provide all these paper bags, that cannot be reused for trash bags, because anything wet would destroy the bag. I believe the people should be given the facts about different bags, the affects of littering these bags as well as an option to choose which one they feel works best for them.
1 comment:
Dear Perry's State,
I really enjoyed reading your article on this issue. This has been a recent hot topic in Austin, and continues to have arguments on both sides of it. While I do agree with some of the comments you have made, others I do not. Yes, there are so many other ways we can help the environment by reusing and recycling products. I am a strong advocate for environmental awareness, and I agree that we could all be doing more to help. I love you give different examples of how the plastic bags can be used, and I have done many of those things with my previously used bags. The unfortunate truth in my opinion though, is that the plastic bags do not need to be used in stores to carry our food. The fact is, the ban was put in place to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. This helps with the two problems you wrote about: the extra waste of plastic bags AND the complaints of more trees being cut down to make paper bags. The whole point is not to simply replace plastic with paper, as this would be counter-productive, but to replace BOTH with washable/reusable bags. If everyone did this, the wastefulness of both would be at a minimum. I realize that this is easier said than done, since there are people out there that are not fortunate enough to purchase reusable bags. I would love to see the city of Austin become more of an advocate for this, and put a larger emphasis on "Free Bag" services. There are some speed bumps in this process of change, but all-in-all this is a WONDERFUL change to be happening. The beginning stages of this process are going to be rough, but hopefully over time only using reusable bags will become normal procedure. I hope that your stores troubles will be reduced as shoppers become more aware of the benefits of this change. We will ALL benefit, let us make this a global change!
Post a Comment