Now don’t get too excited, this post is not about Regina George’s insured hair or Cady Heron’s army pants and flip flops—but what I think is slightly more important: plastic bags. In recent news, California became the first state to pass a ban on single-use plastic bags, making them officially illegal in grocery stores beginning July of 2015. To some of you this may seem unimportant.
Why should you care about plastic bags? You might just see a plastic bag as a device you use to carry your groceries. Believe it or not, there is a deeper understanding of it all. Once thrown away, those grocery-carrying devices are a major cause of polluting our beaches, parks, and other landscapes. The disposal of plastic bags into our natural habitats affects not only their aesthetic appeal, but animals and humans alike.
And who even likes plastic bags anyway? I know every time I leave the store with a large load of groceries, those cheap plastic bags get tangled together while simultaneously cutting off the circulation in all ten of my fingers. Don’t worry, the struggle is almost over.
Although this movement is a victory for environmentalists, some are saying that banning plastic bags might actually hurt the environment. Leaders of the opposition, including the American Progressive Bag Association (yes, that exists), are worried about the loss of jobs in the plastic manufacturing business. Other plastic bag enthusiasts are complaining about the minimum 10 cent fee that will be charged for the use of a paper bag. To those people I will say a very common phrase we use here at Chapman—BYOB (bring your own bag).