Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias
Plastic bag bans are one of the most stupid, short-sighted, naively anti-pedestrian things in play right now.
"We can't stop cars, so lets stop some small thing that doesn't really have lobbyists and is completely meaningless change"
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Typical urban consumer A:
Drives to the grocery store using a 2-ton vehicle that required enormous energy to produce and far more energy to drive than a few plastic bags require.
Typcal lurban consumer B:
Doesn't own a car, thereby saving thousands of pounds of oil from being expended, walks to get groceries, saving fuel. Because he is walking and not driving, doesn't like having to carry around re-usable bags because it's inconvenient to have to carry them around, especially when it's warm out. Likes the so-called one-use plastic bags because they're stronger than paper, they don't dissolve in if it rains before he gets home, and he re-uses them as small trash-can liners or to carry paper things in the rain, or many other purposes (i.e. they're NOT "single-use" to him).
Which consumer is better for the environment? Which consumer does this STUPID law hurt the most? Only suburban idiots who DRIVE everywhere think that banning plastic bags is smart. Not being able to get a plastic bag to take stuff home when you're a pedestrian is just one more reason to buy a car.
This sort of nonsense really makes me swear like a sailor. SUV drivers telling people who don't even own cars that they can't have a plastic bag to carry home their groceries is SICKENINGLY OFFENSIVELY MORONIC.
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Man, I don't even know where to begin with this.
First, I'm absolutely SHOCKED that you think eliminating plastic bags is "completely meaningless change." What are you talking about? Plastic bags suck, for thousands of reasons. I'm not going to get into them here, but they're easy to find.
Second, if you're walking to get your groceries, how does it hurt you to carry a few reusable bags? They fit inside one another (and you're probably not going to carry more than 2-4 full bags home with you anyway) and many snap together or fit over your shoulder, or fold up and fit in your pocket. Plenty of pedestrians do this. Your complaint sounds personal, because this policy doesn't seem to be targeting pedestrians in any way shape or form. "But I use plastic bags, and I'm an eco-conscious pedestrian, so they can't be bad!"
It's not a panacea policy intended to fix all ills. It's one step toward reducing wasteful consumption. Getting gas-guzzlers off the road and encouraging a less car-dependent lifestyle is still a goal. You have falsely painted this as some sort of ridiculous either-or scenario.
People keep forgetting the first of the three Rs is "Reduce!" Then reuse, THEN recycle.
It sounds like you need to be the change you want to see, instead of shoveling the blame everywhere but your own trough.