I heard another 'report' on the environmental impact of bags a few days back. The result was that bags - paper and plastic - are inconsequential in the big picture, a miniscule portion of the pollution problem, and the interviewee even said something to the effect that 'Americans will have to hoard their plastic bags just to get through life...'- yeah, I know I should have some quotes or something, but really - the result of this program is of no importance.
What is of importance is that the more we treat small things like they are not part of the problem - or, more importantly, part of the solution, the larger the pool of small things there will be, and all those sayings - many hands make light work, a penny saved... etc. are all testaments to the cumulative effect of small efforts. And we know that there is arsenic in our water, but carve out a coal mine and the tailings concentrate arsenic to highly poisonous levels that we don't want in our water... cumulative effect.
So the next time you hear a news piece telling you that plastic bags aren't really a problem, remember the bus, train or car ride you last took on the beltway surrounding your nearest city, and how many bags were stuck in trees and fences... not only are they a problem, they're ugly too!
Again - my train of belief is that small things do matter, and that living isn't about polluting so that I can have my conveniences. I'd much rather go out of my way to do something more sensitively and more sensibly at a little expenditure of time than to take the easy route. I feel better about it.
Critical thinking is important - please do not simply regurgitate 'facts' from 'studies' that you hear on the radio or read in the rags. They are rarely truths, but usually something spun by some interest or another - like the packaging industry lobby.
Lastly - one simple question. What is wrong with using cloth bags?
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