Comments on: High-School Students Clear Hurdle for Plastic Bag Ban http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/ Patriotism that loves our country, our land, and our planet Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:35:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: English course http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/comment-page-1/#comment-104992 English course Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:37:57 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2503#comment-104992 Excellent article by Timothy B. Hurst about a proposal in Colorado to ban the use of plastic bags in supermarkets passed its first legislative hurdle. Thanks to tbhurst for sending this. Excellent article by Timothy B. Hurst about a proposal in Colorado to ban the use of plastic bags in supermarkets passed its first legislative hurdle. Thanks to tbhurst for sending this.

]]> By: Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in 3 Months http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/comment-page-1/#comment-77564 Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in 3 Months Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:01:37 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2503#comment-77564 [...] ground the plastic bags into powers and mixed them with a concentration of household chemicals and yeast. They indeed [...] [...] ground the plastic bags into powers and mixed them with a concentration of household chemicals and yeast. They indeed [...]

]]> By: sweetrell http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/comment-page-1/#comment-55430 sweetrell Wed, 20 May 2009 09:55:13 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2503#comment-55430 hey you guys, i really love this its so cool. We need more of this,you know. Its just trouble to us folks and our animals. The littering is so common in my small town. hey you guys, i really love this its so cool. We need more of this,you know. Its just trouble to us folks and our animals. The littering is so common in my small town.

]]> By: paul box http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/comment-page-1/#comment-31690 paul box Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:43:56 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2503#comment-31690 I'll bet a dollar to a donut the smokers of this proposed bill discard their filtered cigarettes onto the ground when finished smoking. Gee, the butts will out last the landfill. I'll bet a dollar to a donut the smokers of this proposed bill discard their filtered cigarettes onto the ground when finished smoking. Gee, the butts will out last the landfill.

]]> By: Ken Holmes http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/14/high-school-students-clear-hurdle-for-plastic-bag-ban/comment-page-1/#comment-31681 Ken Holmes Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:26:26 +0000 http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2503#comment-31681 Yikes. We're letting students write legislation now. They simply aren't as well informed about the subject as you may think. Most likely, the facts and figures they presented were from websites run by companies selling reusable bags, who promote bag bans and taxes as part of their marketing strategy. The Ireland bag tax quoted did decrease plastic grocery bag use by 90%, but sales of packaged plastic bags went way up. One manufacturer over had increased production of 400%. People reuse grocery bags, and if they aren't available they purchase bags for those uses - trash can liners, pet pick up, etc. ALL science points to paper bags being far worse for the environment. Look it up. And landfills are designed to keep things for degrading. When things degrade they give off gasses and leach chemicals into the environment. Landfills are engineered to keep this from happening. Plastic bags are inert in landfills. How long something takes to degrade in that type of environment isn't really pertinent. The biggest problem with plastic bags is litter, which isn't solved by bans and taxes on what gets littered. Promoting recycling programs and proper disposal is the better cure for that problem. Yikes. We're letting students write legislation now. They simply aren't as well informed about the subject as you may think. Most likely, the facts and figures they presented were from websites run by companies selling reusable bags, who promote bag bans and taxes as part of their marketing strategy.

The Ireland bag tax quoted did decrease plastic grocery bag use by 90%, but sales of packaged plastic bags went way up. One manufacturer over had increased production of 400%. People reuse grocery bags, and if they aren't available they purchase bags for those uses – trash can liners, pet pick up, etc.

ALL science points to paper bags being far worse for the environment. Look it up.

And landfills are designed to keep things for degrading. When things degrade they give off gasses and leach chemicals into the environment. Landfills are engineered to keep this from happening. Plastic bags are inert in landfills. How long something takes to degrade in that type of environment isn't really pertinent.

The biggest problem with plastic bags is litter, which isn't solved by bans and taxes on what gets littered. Promoting recycling programs and proper disposal is the better cure for that problem.

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