I have a thing about plastic bags. I despise them.

I especially hate them when I see them snagged in a tree or blowing around in the street. Have you ever heard of ‘white pollution,’ ‘shopper’s kites’ or ‘witches knickers’? These are all nasty — and fitting — nicknames that people use to describe plastic bag litter.

Now I am not saying that plastic bags are the only nuisance litter out there but the use or mis-use of plastic bags has become somewhat of an epidemic. Plastic shopping bags bestrew landscapes in countries around the world, clogging sewers, getting tangled in fences, catching in vegetation and finding themselves hanging in trees.

Yes, plastic shopping bags do much more than just carry your groceries. But after their main purpose is fulfilled, used plastic shopping bags wave perilously in the wind. Their destiny: to be a burden on the planet indefinitely. 

Does this sound overly dramatic? Well consider this: a plastic bags’ useful life can be measured in actual time (after the moment it is manufactured for the grossly minuscule price of  two cents). This is from the moment you accept it until the moment you no longer need it. This might be for mere minutes or possibly hours, but the actual life of a plastic bag is potentially infinite. Plastic takes years to break down in the environment, and it may never break down in a landfill. 

Everywhere you go people are trying to give them to you, even for the smallest item that couldn’t possibly require plastic packaging to get it home. You may be one of those people that reuses or recycles your plastic shopping bags. That is fantastic, don’t get me wrong but most people have a stockpile that far exceeds their need. So why not reduce? You carried the item to the till didn’t you? The next time you go shopping, refuse the bag. It’s seriously liberating.

Around the world; Ireland has taxed them, Bangladesh and Tanzania have banned them and in South Africa quality restrictions are imposed on plastic bag producers. Non-compliance results in a hefty fine (I suppose when the national flower was identified as a white plastic shopping bag swaying in the shrubbery it was time to take action). Clearly some places in the world have discovered that people can live without plastic bags and that the environment thanks them for it. In Australia, a country that once claimed to use 5.6 billion plastic bags per year, there are now 13 towns where you won’t find a plastic bag. 

We are plagued with the need for convenience when the practical and sustainable solution is so simple. Shop with your own bags — strong sturdy reusable bags — or fill your pack (it is much safer when riding your bike- trust me!). Put things in your pockets, your purse, in a fanny pack, in a box, or even on your head (they do that in some places, you know). 

Whatever you do, the next time you are offered a plastic shopping bag, just say NO!

It’s all about sharing at the Enviro Café, so join the conversation. Submit any environmental questions or comments to envirocafe@fitzhugh.ca

— Nicole Ward is the Environmental Stewardship Coordinator for the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada.