This is on-topic although it may not appear to be. Those of us who live in Oregon have been told many times that there is a blanket of plastic grocery bags that:
(1) forms a bridge from Oregon across the Pacific Ocean to Asia (although the location of this supposed mass of trash differs according to different news articles); and
(2) forms an island in the Pacific Ocean that is twice as big as the State of Texas (or even bigger!!
)
"Researchers are warning of a new blight on the ocean: a swirl of confetti-like plastic debris stretching over thousands of square miles in a remote expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
"The floating garbage - hard to spot from the surface and spun together by a vortex of currents - was documented by two groups of scientists who trawled the sea between scenic Bermuda and Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores islands.
“The studies describe a soup of micro-particles similar to the “great Pacific garbage patch,” a phenomenon discovered a decade ago between Hawaii and California that researchers say is likely to exist in other places around the globe.”
articles.sfgate.com/2010-04-16/news/20851897_1_pollution-garbage-patch-plastic
The mass has been described as “a giant gloop,” the “Eastern Garbage Patch,” and the “Plastic Vortex.”
pr2live.com/2009/05/27/sea-of-polluting-plastic-currently-twice-the-size-of-texas/
Are local and state lawmakers proposing bans or deposits/fees for plastic bags? Yes.
nwcn.com/news/oregon/Fred-Meyer-drops-plastic-bags-at-10-stores-inside-Portland-98983434.html
oregonbusiness.com/high-five/10-high-five/3795-oregon-to-ban-plastic-bags
Some grocery store chains are supporting proposals which would force consumers to pay for plastic (and sometimes paper) bags. Is this support because the owners are concerned about the environment? Maybe. But there’s another reason for supporting fees and that is ka-ching!!:twocents:
“Grocery stores typically go through 190,000 paper sacks a year, passing the cost — 4 to 8 cents — along to consumers. If the use of paper bags double, as the industry predicts it will in the short term, a grocery store could end up making $20,000 a year off the sale of bags.”
registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25676327-41/bags-plastic-ban-grocery-bag.csp
There is consensus that plastic dumped into the ocean impacts the environment.
“The biggest plastic bag drawback: They’re littered more often, fly away from landfills and garbage cans and often end up in the ocean, where plastic makes up the vast majority of floating debris. There they fill the gullets of sea turtles that mistake them for jellyfish, entangle sea birds and contribute to the garbage gyre in the North Pacific.”
oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/should_oregon_ban_plastic_bags.html
But does this mass of plastic grocery bags in the ocean really exist? Perhaps not.
“Have you heard of the trash patch? It’s a fabled mass of plastic some say is twice the size of Texas. Research from an OSU assistant professor shows that tale is more fiction than fact.”
kval.com/news/local/113046624.html?ref=morestories
So plastic grocery bags may be outlawed and we’re being encouraged to use those cloth bags that can be used over and over. Now it turns out that the size of the plastic bag “island” may be 1% of the size of Texas and the use of “environmentally friendly” cloth bags may lead to the consumption of contaminated foods.
oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/05/cloth_bags_can_make_you_sick_p.html
And what of paper sacks? Are they OK? Well, maybe not.
"With paper bags, the biggest environmental challenge is the amount of energy it takes to make them, Allaway said. So banning plastic bags in favor of paper "wouldn’t necessarily be a win for the environment in the big picture.
“It’s true paper bags biodegrade, and most plastic bags don’t. Degrading is a plus if a bag is littered, Allaway said, but a pitfall in a landfill, where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas.”
(My comment: And THAT leads to air pollutions and global warming, right?
)
oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/should_oregon_ban_plastic_bags.html
My conclusion is that plastic bags, paper sacks, and cloth grocery bags should
all be outlawed and we should all carry our groceries in our bare hands.
Or we should buy reusable plastic bags and wash them thoroughly with hot water and soap. Of course water is very expensive in Oregon (bet you didn’t know that! You’d think that in a state that has an average rainfall of over 27" per year water would be cheap. Uh uh. :nope
And what of those who actually use plastic grocery bags instead of throwing them into the ocean or littering the forests and towns and cities? I have six cats. Count 'em. Six. Kimberlina, KapuKahiNene, Cranberry, Kaelan, Angel, and JordanJade. That means I have an inordinate amount of kitty roca which must be discarded in some way. Hence, the plastic bag. I can’t flush kitty roca. I could allow my dog to eat it; she would enjoy herself immensely as she is a big fan of kitty roca. But I have the feeling that this isn’t a good solution.
My point?
Before taking ANY action it should be determined if a problem actually exists and consensus should be reached on the solutions to that problem, instead of running around all loopy crying "The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!
I am an avid environmentalist, Human beings, those animals who supposedly have reasoning capabilities, have managed to turn this earth into a polluted mess. Animal and plant species are being exterminated because of greed, a lack of understanding, and pure laziness. This HAS to change.
