Scene setting: shopping at Kohl’s, the checkout line
The checker reaches for a plastic bag.
ME: Oh, I don’t need any bags. I am just going to carry this stuff out.
The checker starts sticking “Kohl’s” tape all over my purchases.
ME: I don’t need stickers either. I just want to carry my purchases out the door.
CHECKER: (Blank stare)
The other 12 people in line are getting restless.
ONE ANGRY LINE WAITER: Why don’t you just take the bag?
ME: I’m just trying to be green. I don’t need a bag. Can I please just carry this out of the store?
CHECKER: Fine.
The American mindset needs to change. Plastic bags have got to go. Why? They take 1000 years to decompose in landfills. And they are not just environmentally-unfriendly, they also aren’t economical. According to cnnmoney.com, “it costs taxpayers $90 every time a city worker in a cherry-picker goes out to remove plastic bags from a tree [in San Francisco].”
So how should we end the plastic bag addiction? Place a tax on plastic bags to encourage shoppers to bring along reusable canvas bags (or even old plastic ones they have lying around the house). Ireland did it in 2002. In the 5 months after the 15 cent per bag tax passed, 3.5 million euros were raised in the first five months. South Africa, Bangladesh, and San Francisco followed suit. Even China banned free plastic bags.
So let’s go, America. Change the script. Scratch: “paper or plastic?” and institute a plasTax.
Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2205419.stm
http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/14/magazines/fortune/pluggedin_gunther_plastic.fortune/index.htm
http://www.takepart.com/2008/11/07/bloomberg-proposes-tax-on-plastic-bags/
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2 comments:
It's ironic how many stores ask by default "paper or plastic" as opposed to "bag or no bag?" Reflects on the overall mentality of the people, that we are going to use bags regardless.
Disclosure: My parents and I always get bags when we shop. We should cut down. On the other hand, we reuse all of the bags we get, so perhaps doing so makes our bag-using a little better.
I think you are on to something here. I carry my purchases in my own arms as often as humanly possible. At the same time, I'm not sure if getting rid of those PAID stickers is such a good idea. Surely there are more pressing concerns, and stores need something like that to control shoplifting. If these stickers did not exist, stores would lose money. Oh, but maybe then they would have to stop buying bags!
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