Plastic bags are just another example of all the ways that we’re supposed to ‘save the environment’ that turn out to be bad… for us, and the environment.
I’m fast arriving at the conclusion that we all need to do the opposite of whatever the environmental movement, and for that matter the public health movement, tell us to do. Because more often than not it seems like it’s the opposite that would actually do the most good.
Plastic bags are amazing. I’ve often marveled at the conceptual and manufacturing genius that goes into these teeny tiny things. These amazing devices can carry literally thousands of times their own weight, are dirt cheap to manufacture, compact to transport and distribute, re-usable (with limits) and after being used to carry shopping home they often get re-used to dispose of rubbish, instead of using the thick plastic bin liners. And once they’re in land fill they break down faster than the environmental lobby would like you to believe. (it still takes a while! I’m not suggesting it’s fast, but it’s fast enough when surrounded by dirt and worms and bacteria)
Yes it’s bad that plastic bags end up in waterways and in the ocean. Yes it’s awful that some animals eat them thinking they’re jellyfish. Yes there’s more we can do to reduce the negative impact that poorly managed plastic waste causes to the environment… but pretending that banning plastic bags is a step forward is pure fantasy.
New York are just the latest in a long line of cities determined to discover this truth the hard way. They’ve recently imposed a 5c levy to every plastic bag sold. Everywhere that plastic bag bans (or levies, or other forms of restriction) have been tried we’ve seen a consistent pattern: Increased purchasing of heavy plastic bin liners, high consumption of ‘re-usable bags’ that don’t get re-used nearly enough times to make up for their required materials and energy, and in the case of San Francisco, INCREASED DEATHS!!! No really, I’m not making that up, click the link at the start of this paragraph and read it for yourself!
So I’ll finish where I started: I think we’re better off doing the opposite of what greenies and health bullies tell us to do… not because I want to be difficult or because I enjoy being a prick… but because I’m genuinely, legitimately, sincerely coming to the conclusion that each of us as individuals, and the environment as a whole, would be better off if we did the opposite of what ‘environmentalists’ want us to do. There, I’ve said it.
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