It could be said that those little mesh bags that Wegmans has been selling are the best money-making scheme since pre-sliced bread. They supposedly save the environment, so it's hard to not get guilted into buying one under the auspices of 'doing one's part.' That being said, you will see that same person the next week walking into the checkout line with a cart of food saying, "Shoot, I forgot my bags." Do they buy more? Do they suck it up and take the plastic? Wegmans doesn't care. They got paid either way.
The thing is, these bags were supposed to be required by now or nearly there. We were supposed to start doing away with plastic bags in the interest of reusable eco-friendly bags that would, to hear the righteous tell it, practically clean the landfills themselves. Folks that weren't getting in line fast enough were going to be charged anywhere from a nickel to twenty cents for each evil duck-choking bag.
But then the bottom dropped out of the economy and suddenly, a nickel a bag was too much for people. Besides the fact that the economy is a poor excuse for such a piddling amount of money, this misses the point: people aren't supposed to keep buying plastic bags, they're supposed to get the message and use the cloth ones because it's the right thing to do.
Most Americans would care more about the right thing to do when the right thing requires even the tiniest amount of sacrifice on their part. That's what got us into this mess in the first place, and it's probably going to make it hard for us to dig ourselves out.
It is time to get the message, though, folks, and get it quick. Conservation is not a political, ideological or scientific debate, and it doesn't end with plastic. It's common sense: if you use less now, then there will be more later.
Use reusable bags regardless of the effect plastic bags have on the environment. If you don't use them, they won't use the energy to make more. That's a good thing. Apply that wisdom to other parts of life. Get out of the shower earlier. Save some water. Buy local so that the gas doesn't get burned to bring you your Texas-grown chicken. I checked; we have chickens here, too. Drive less. Walk more.
This is simple economics: saving anything - energy, food, water, money - means that there will be more when you need it later. Not only that, using less makes it feel fantastic when you have the luxury of using more.
Wake up, people. You want to hold on to some of what we have, because there's no guarantee that it'll be here tomorrow.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
