Education, not legislation

I agree with proposals to reduce plastic bag usage [“Ban plastic bags? Fight heats up in Seattle,” page one, Dec. 5] although it would be better to accomplish the task through education rather that legislation.

May we expect a limitation on toilet-paper usage monitored by a video camera? Will Seattle Times subscribers continue to receive a neat, dry copy of The Seattle Times wrapped in a plastic bag?

There is a fine line between a nanny state and a politically correct state and we are walking that precarious fine line.

Yes, let us eliminate as many plastic bags as possible, but through persuasion and reason, not legislation.

— Merle Hanley, Seattle

Compostable plastic

I get used coffee grounds for my garden at Starbucks and sometimes they come in plastic bags marked “compostable.” Perhaps reporter Lynn Thompson could ask Ken Holmes of American Plastics why the company couldn’t use compostable plastic to make its bags. Looks like a win-win solution to me.

— Jerry Jorgensen, Kent

Bag ban would not fix anything

Environmentalists are making the case to the Seattle City Council to ban plastic bags because, among other reasons, plastic bags were found in a gray whale’s stomach.

First, the whale most likely ingested those items somewhere outside the jurisdiction of not only Seattle and Washington but also the USA, so the ban would have no effect.

Second, the whale’s stomach also contained sweatpants, a golf ball, surgical gloves and small towels. Following the same logic, all of those items should also be banned and whatever replaces them should be charged a five-cent fee.

Third, many plastic bags are exempted, including those used by The Seattle Times during inclement weather. There is no way to know if the plastic bags in the whale’s stomach came from a source subject to the ban or one that is exempted.

Fourth, many of the reusable grocery bags, Seattle’s preferred choice, are made of non-recyclable plastics, are made in China and if not washed regularly are unhygienic.

Finally, Seattle already requires the recycling of plastic bags.

— Tim Christomos, Seattle

Bags pollute and cost Seattle

I am an eighth grader following the news story on Seattle banning the plastic bag in class. I think that it is totally right for the Seattle City Council to ban plastic bags. If Seattle were to ban bags, it would protect all environments of Seattle and save money at the same time.

I recently read an article in Muse Magazine about the horrors of plastic bags. While the opposition to the ban say that the plastic bags are recyclable and reusable, the article begs to differ. Yes, technically they are recyclable, but a person can’t just stick their old bags into the blue Seattle recycling bin; the process is specialized, inconvenient and expensive for the city.

Plastic bags multiply their environmental impact with how they are made. They’re made from oil, a valuable, finite resource that’s devastating on the environment. And how many times have you reused your plastic bags from the grocery store? Americans use 300 plastic bags a year, according to the article, and that is way more than we need if we only use them once, let alone reuse them. The one positive quality about plastic bags is their convenience — should we sacrifice the environment and Puget Sound for convenience? If you said yes, then you’re just lazy.

Environmental problems aren’t the only reason to ban the bag. In a time of financial burden, plastic bags are a cost that no city can afford. For example, before San Francisco banned the bag in 2007, it cost the city an estimated $8.5 billion a year from problems at the landfill, recycling bills and litter in parks and streets. It has cost Southern California $1.7 billion since 1990 to clean storm drains of plastic bags that would gunk up the ocean.

The reasons for banning plastic bags clearly outweigh the feeble arguments from the plastics company and grocery stores. Keeping the environment safe and savings for Seattle are far more important than convenience and profit for plastics companies. Even an eighth-grader can see that; will the rest of Seattle?

— Hayley Pike, Seattle