READERS HAVE ISSUES ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS

by Whit Gibbons

June 6, 2010

The following questions are in response to a column I wrote supporting a District of Columbia law requiring businesses to charge customers five cents for each disposable plastic bag they take.

Q: I have questions about your article on the environmental problems resulting from the use and disposal of plastic bags. Even if we all carry bags to the grocery store instead of getting items packed in plastic and paper, we still have the perplexing issue of how to dispose of everyday garbage that is carried out to the trash can. Much of it is not recyclable, and some of it includes foodstuffs or other items that have to be contained in something. And of course, what about the excessive packaging on most products, all of which is plastic?

Q: Even if I reuse a plastic bag by taking it to the store, I bring home more stuff, much of it plastic, that eventually goes to the landfill. We recycle because we live in an area where recycling centers are handy. But many people, maybe most, do not. How can they do what is right environmentally?

A. "Perplexing issue" certainly sums up the frustration most people feel about overconsumption and overpackaging if they have any sense of environmental responsibility. The five cents per bag user fee does not solve the greater problem of our consumptive society or the fact that such bags themselves have many practical uses that warrant their production. However, the first step in solving societal problems, as in solving personal ones, is admitting that a problem exists. Charging for each plastic bag, even if only a nickel, acknowledges that there is a problem.

With regard to what to use to carry out trash--use a plastic bag. Presumably it will go to a landfill or recycling center and will not become litter. One reason for the D.C. law was to help clean up the Anacostia River, which was littered with plastic bags. Any bag that is properly disposed of, regardless of whether it is reused, is not part of that problem.

A different issue is the problem of overpurchasing. The first step toward a solution is to buy only what you will consume. Disposal is not a problem for people who are, whether by necessity or choice, frugal in making their purchases and therefore have very little "everyday trash" to discard. But most people, at least in the United States, are not inclined to frugality. We purchase what we want, not merely what we need.

The "tragedy of the commons" is a concept that was addressed by Garrett Hardin in 1968. It highlights situations in which the individual is rewarded for overconsumption whereas the group is penalized when a resource is not sustainable or is itself broadly detrimental. In the case of plastic bags and other plastic products, it would be in society's best interest if everyone were conservative in their use, recycled whenever possible, and reused items as long as possible. It takes less effort, however, to have your purchases packed in the plastic bags provided by the store than it does to bring bags from home--and then remember to actually take them into the store. This is human nature, and few simple solutions are forthcoming.

As for overpackaging, a program initiated by Amazon holds out some hope on this front. In 2008 Amazon launched its "frustration-free packaging initiative." Among other things, the initiative eliminates those maddening packages that encase the product in a plastic clamshell and guarantee a burst of language that cannot be printed in a family newspaper. The Amazon initiative should not only save companies money but also help the environment by reducing waste and conserving energy. A win-win situation.

Companies that make plastic bags or the plastic used in packaging are unlikely to sit idly by while changes such as those implemented by the District of Columbia and Amazon become the norm. On the other hand, consumer demand can be a powerful force. And by decreasing overpackaging and overconsumption we will substantially improve the earth on which we live.

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