BY JODY BENSON
Los Alamos
What if you were offered a quick, easy, inexpensive way to clean up litter, lower chemical pollution, and reduce endocrine disruption affecting sexual development and obesity? What if I told you that this action contributes to a healthier, cleaner future for you and your kids? Would you think about it, or dismiss the offer out of hand?
(Remember, it’s quick, cheap, easy.)
What is this tiny little action? Just bring your own shopping bags wherever you go. First let’s clarify what is meant by single-use carry-out disposable plastic shopping bag. These are the brown-Smiths/white-Walmart bags made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These are the ones blowing around town and clogging up waterways.
Next, why are so many cities, countries and the entire European Union concerned these bags? Why should we give up the convenience of use-once-and-toss plastic bags? As I said before: waste, cost (both money and environment), and health.
Start with waste and cost: Los Alamos County residents (excluding the Laboratory) generate 18,000 tons of trash a year. Of that amount, it’s estimated that in Los Alamos County, grocery shoppers at Smith’s use 330,000 plastic bags or about 3/4 ton a month that we must pay to dispose of. Yes, we can recycle bags now, but why recycle when you can eliminate the bag in the first place by simply bringing your own?
Worldwide, we use a million bags per minute. Americans use 102.1 billion bags/year. The Wall Street Journal, estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. If a high percentage of that oil is coming from outside the US, say the Middle East, our use of the disposable bag becomes a national security issue.
Or put it another way, a car could drive about 11 meters on the amount of petroleum used to make a single plastic bag—you can do a back-of-the napkin calculation on how far you can go on 102.1 billion bags.
On to health. About 50% of plastic is used for single-use disposable applications, e.g., the plastic bag. Plastic is not inert, but contains chemicals with toxic potential including: PCBs, Phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl esters, tetrabromobisphenol A, bisphenol A, phthalate, microplastics.
A few things these chemicals cause are breast cancer , endocrine disruption (effecting
sexual development including lower sperm count), and obesity by being toxic to gut
bacteria and mimicking hormones thus interfering with metabolism.
Once again, after 20 years of effort, citizens are proposing to limit the single-use plastic shopping bag. Of course we will continue the educational effort. But along with that, let’s do the heroic thing and take action to create a bag-free Los Alamos. Here are two alternatives: (1) Ban these single-use disposable plastic bags outright as have so many other communities and countries, or (2) impose a fee on bags—both plastic and paper.
The former is legislative, the latter is market driven. In imposing a fee on all bags we would allow shoppers who forget their bags to pay the extra charge, but there would be a monetary incentive to encourage people to bring their own. Does this work? Yes. Ireland imposed a tax on single-use disposable shopping bags (including paper): Even though people buy trash bags, consumption has dropped approximately 90%, from 1.2 billion to 230 million per year. With the (US)24-cent charge, litter has been dramatically reduced; approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to reduced production of bags. Oh, and I’m betting you remember to take your bags to shop inSanta Fe.
Educated and progressive Los Alamos can certainly limit the bag. If you don’t believe me, let your grade-schoolers tell you about what bags do to animals and sea creatures. It’s their future we’re sacrificing for the convenience of a single-use plastic carry-out bag.