Editor,
I feel we need a clearer national position from our EPA about trash to help create pathways for communities to lessen what we toss away and how we toss trash.
The Aug. 5 “Sunday Morning” program on CBS ran a piece on how plastic products started in the 1950s and now litter our environment in extremely damaging ways. China used to buy about half our plastic waste but recently chose to decline our trash. Our waterways are filling up with plastic waste, with plastic getting into our diets through food and water.
There are some recyclers working to come up with solutions, but plastic is unlike other products in that it does not break down and is not easy to repurpose. I have an idea for all stores in our area: Give us all a couple of free super-strong, washable and resusable canvas bags and stop all use of plastic bags. We will all get used to bringing in our durable bags as we will need them to carry our goods.
Bags also will act as ads for the stores we frequent as stores can emblazon fun logos and messages on them. If we leave bags in our trunks, we can pay for our products, reload our cart and fill the bags in the parking lot. Stores can send us a coupon to turn in to get our bags. We can all carry our “designer-store bags” whenever we shop and keep plastic bags out of landfills. Should some become threadbare after years of use, we can trade them in for the latest bags a store offers. I have some well-made bags that are 8 years old and look like they are brand new. They wash and dry easily and are a lot sturdier than the cheap plastic bags stores use.
Let’s stop trashing our planet.
Shelley Carey, Carmel
