Re: 鈥淏ag ban is more about a gesture,鈥� letter, April 28.
Obviously, the club mentioned in the letter was banning plastic bags partly for the wrong reasons. Gestures and public displays of an institution caring for the environment might also have a positive effect on people鈥檚 attitudes.
There is a practical reason for banning plastic bags and for being very selective and cautious with our production and consumption of plastic in general: Discarded plastic is being found not only on land, which includes the 鈥減edestrian pathways, parks and sport fields鈥� mentioned in the letter, but also in the oceans and even in the Arctic and the Pyrenees. How much of that comes from plastic bags? Impossible to tell.
Plastics degrade in the environment, and they end up as micro particles and nano particles, which are carried by the wind to deposit and penetrate everywhere.
As a child, I went many times to the corner store to buy groceries. I always carried my own bag, and if something needed further packaging, such as lentils or cherries or whatever, the store attendant always used paper.
The letter-writer and I will most likely not see the full effect on the environment, which includes the climate and humans, of the rather irresponsible and ignorant actions of our generation. Rather late, we want to do some cleanup for our children and grandchildren.
听
J.G. Miranda
Victoria
