The Truth About Plastic Bags

According to news reports, the city council in Austin, Texas is considering banning plastic bags. But is it the right thing to do and why won't they put it to a ballot vote?

Are the claims that less than 5% of plastic bags are recycled true? No, those claims are not true. Neither are the claims that plastic bags do not break down. Just put something heavy in a single plastic bag and it will break down before you get it back to your car.

The recycling claims are somewhat misleading. The claims of less than 5% are based on plastic bags that are received by recycling programs. Reuse is recycling and is often encouraged by environmental groups. People use grocery store trash bags for a variety of things other than take groceries home and throw them out. They use them for trash, for storing clothes, for covering

Plastic bags can be used to carry dirty laundry to the laundry room or laundry mat.

Plastic bags can also be used to carry clean clothes to protect from dirt and dust.

If the Austin city council puts the ban to a public ballot vote, then I think they have the right to ban the bags, but only if the ordinance is passed by the public in a ballot vote regarding the matter and as liberal as Austin is, it probably will pass if put to a ballot vote.. But if it don't pass the vote of the public, then the city council should put aside any consideration of banning the plastic bags.

A note about single use: It seems to me that plastic grocery store bags are being referred to as single use bags, that is intentionally misleading. Grocery store bags, the bags that you get from grocery and retail stores like Wal-Mart, H.E.B., Randalls and a variety of other grocery and retail stores are not single use bags.

The reason they are not single use bags is that people re-use them when they get them home. So referring to these bags as single use is misleading. My sister uses them for trash. I also use them for trash, as well as for dirty and clean clothes, and to take aluminum cans to the recycling place.

Conclusion: Plastic bags from retail and grocery stores are a wonderful and re-useable tool that should never ever be banned or outlawed.