It's in the bag: a spring cleaning initiative

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Historically, bold and brave people have moved west in this country, but often, innovative ideas have moved east. Progressive legislation on marijuana and gay rights and right-to-die laws all started on the West Coast. Last week, a story in The New York Times highlighted efforts by California lawmakers to ban plastic bags.

In celebration of Spring 2014, I vote yea. Oh, I know I don’t get a vote on the other side (of the Mississippi, that is) but I think New York lawmakers should learn from their western counterparts and propose a ban here on one-use plastic bags.

Mostly, the bags come from grocery stores and chain stores and fruit markets and small businesses. How often have you purchased a tiny item — a candy bar or a pen — and the checkout clerks automatically pops it into a plastic bag? Apparently, most of these bags don’t get recycled, because they jam up the recycling equipment. Flimsy and easily airborne, they land in waterways and trees and open fields. They clog storm drains and block drainage on roads. And you can’t kill them. These silly lightweights can survive for 1,000 years.

If we want our world, from our Long Island neighborhoods to our state to our country, to be cleaner and less cluttered — if we want to begin restoring our waterways — a ban on one-use plastic bags is an excellent start.

I was in San Francisco a few months ago and went to Draeger’s, a fancy-schmancy grocery store in Palo Alto. I bought a few items that cost me a year’s wages, and the checkout clerk asked if I wanted a bag. Her raised eyebrow indicated that I had violated local custom in some way. “Well,” I said, “I have no other way of bringing home my groceries.”

“We can provide a paper bag,” she said, “but it will cost you 10 cents.” Now, after spending $150 for a jar of artichokes, bread and a few grapes, you’d think I wouldn’t balk at the 10 cents. But it ticked me off. And, upon reflection, that’s an excellent thing. San Francisco has a ban on one-use plastic bags. If you need a bag, you can get a paper one for 10 cents, or you can train yourself to bring a multiple-use bag to the supermarket when you go. If you get tagged for 10 cents a few times, it will reinforce the good behavior of bringing along a sturdy bag or bags for your shopping.

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