Plastic Peeve

On the front page of the Peoria Journal Star today, a headline announced that legislation is being considered to do away with plastic shopping bags.

May I comment?

Whoo hoo!

Consider my pet peeve, the plastic shopping bag.  I hate them.

On a personal level, they’re a pain.  They fall over in the car, dumping groceries to roll around in the back, driving me nuts.  Baggers insist on putting just a couple items in each bag, leaving me with an army of the things to load and unload, and then I’m stuck with them.  They multiply at night when no one is looking, then jump out and attack whenever I try to walk past their storage area.

I’ve stared at what I thought was a cool bird for long periods of time before realizing that it was just a white or brown plastic bag stuck in a tree.  And, as dumb as that sounds, I was glad to learn that it’s a common mistake.  “Bird Watcher’s Digest” has had several articles about those blasted bags being the nemesis of bird watchers.

If you’ve ever paid attention as you drive the country roads in Central Illinois, there are plastic bags stuck in trees and bushes in unbelievable numbers.  Just look around, you’ll be amazed. Those ubiquitous plastic shopping bags are everywhere.  They are multiplying in the wild and we need thin the herd. 

On an environmental level, studies estimate that Americans alone use over use over 84 billion plastic bags annually.  Besides being unsightly roadside attractions, they take hundreds of years to break down as they flap from trees, clog storm drains, float in the breeze, fill the bellies, and kill animals that mistake them for food, and clutter landfills.  As they decompose, tiny toxic bits seep into the waterways and the earth, poisoning the planet for hundreds of years to come.

Plastic bags are made from oil, gas, and coal by-products, wasting resources and polluting the Earth by their production.

So, next time the bagger asks paper or plastic, get a jump on the legislators and say paper, or better yet say “No” bag.  Many stores now sell canvas reusable bags, or bring any canvas bag from home.  If you’re stuck with plastic bags, many stores, such as Krogers, have recycling bins inside their front doors.  Consider recycling instead of filling up your local landfill.

With lots of tiny steps in the right direction, we can get closer to the goal of getting rid of those darn bags, before the legislation wheels even start to churn.