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Times are changing, and we must also obviously roll with those changes. No matter how we may feel as individuals about the new regulations taking effect regarding the use of plastic bags by retailers, it’s clear that we need to accept them and adapt accordingly.
Yes, it’s convenient having them at home to hold everything from our trash to our treasures, and yet the undeniable fact remains that environmental sustainability has suffered under the weight of too many of these plastic bags clogging our landfills. As convenient as they may be for many of us, it is incumbent on us to accept new ways of hauling our goods home from the stores.
To be honest with ourselves, most of us van cite examples where too many of these bags have been dispensed in the course of transacting business at our favorites markets. How many of us have bought 20 items and left the store with 19 plastic bags to carry them in?
It got out of hand, and a bad situation turned far worse than it should have.
So, we will get used to our new reusable bags, and one day we’ll each look back and reflect on what we may feel were the good old days, or perhaps the bad old days. One thing is sure, there will be less plastic in the landfills. For better or worse.
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While I agree that there has been more plastic waste than there should be, I think that if they simply changed the plastic to a biodegradeable one, such as the material that trash bags are made of, it would still save the environment without the need for us to be inconvenienced.
Many of us shop outside the city where this ban does not exist, so we will simply continue to take plastic bags into the city. I, for one, reuse them frequently for trash and other things.
Not only that, but many supermarket storefronts offer recycling bins where customers can drop off grocery, bread and other plastic bags for no fee. There’s even one in the doorway of the CVS in Magoun Square.
All it takes is a little pre-planning and this plastic bag issue wouldn’t need to be a big one.
Maybe people will get used to it, I’m sure, but unless there is a nationwide change in the use of plastic bags, in the end it won’t make that much of an impact, other than to force residents here to purchase plastic bags when they used to get them for free.